Carl Rogers
The mid-twentieth century saw a significant reorientation in clinical psychology, as a number of practitioners and theorists began to challenge prevailing models of therapy and push toward approaches that placed the individual at the center of the therapeutic relationship. Carl Rogers, born on January 8, 1902, in Oak Park, Illinois, became one of the central figures in this shift, working as a psychologist, psychotherapist, university teacher, and non-fiction writer throughout his career as a citizen of the United States.
Rogers was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Union Theological Seminary, and Teachers College, and he went on to contribute to the field in ways that extended beyond clinical practice into research. He was one of the founders of humanistic psychology and became known especially for his person-centered approach to psychotherapy. In addition to his work as a psychologist and psychotherapist, he also worked as a film producer and wrote non-fiction in English throughout his career. He is widely considered one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research, a recognition that reflects the scope of his contributions to the formal study of therapeutic outcomes and methods.
Rogers received several honors during his lifetime. He was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received an honorary doctorate from Leiden University. He was also awarded the Humanist of the Year award and received the APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology. He died on February 4, 1987, in La Jolla, California.
Quotes by Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers's insights on:
People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner." I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.
We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.
When someone really hears you without passing judgment on you, without trying to take responsibility for you, without trying to mold you, it feels damn good. . . . When I have been listened to and when I have been heard, I am able to re-perceive my world in a new way and to go on. It is astonishing how elements which seem insoluble become soluble when someone listens. How confusions which seem irremediable turn into relatively clear flowing streams when one is heard.
I realize that if I were stable, prudent and static; I'd live in death. Therefore I accept confusion, uncertainty, fear and emotional ups and downs; because that's the price I'm willing to pay for a fluid, perplexed and exciting life.
Growth occurs when individuals confront problems, struggle to master them, and through that struggle develop new aspects of their skills, capacities, views about life.
I believe I know why it is satisfying to me to hear someone. When I can really hear someone, it puts me in touch with him; it enriches my life. It is through hearing people that I have learned all that I know about individuals, about personality, about interpersonal relationships.
People only seriously consider change when they feel accepted for exactly who they are.
