Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers was an influential American psychologist best known for pioneering client centered therapy and humanistic psychology in the 1960s. Carl Rogers' contribution to psychology includes his development of client-centered therapy, a non-directive approach that emphasizes the therapist’s role in providing empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard, allowing clients to explore their thoughts and feelings in a supportive environment. The humanistic psychology movement centered on the idea that everyone is unique and that mental health professionals should treat their patients as such. Humanistic principles are concerned with the growth of an individual’s self-worth, fulfillment, love, and autonomy, which was a revolutionary approach to therapy at the time. Today, the non-directive, client-centered approach of Carl Rogers is viewed as an integral part of humanistic psychology.

Who was Carl Rogers?

Early life and University of Wisconsin

The American psychologist Carl Rogers was born on January 8th, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois. His father was a civil engineer and his mother was a homemaker. Rogers was born Carl Ransom Rogers, the fourth of six children in a Christian family. After high school in Oak Park, Rogers began a course of study in agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, but eventually switched to studying religion. During this time, he relocated to China for six months for the World Student Christian Federation Conference. This profound cultural experience changed his thoughts toward religious fundamentalism, and he began to embrace intellectual and spiritual freedom, which may have been further supported by humanistic therapy.

Seminary and Columbia University

Rogers would later graduate, marry Helen Elliot, and relocate to New York City to attend the Union Theological Seminary. While attending the Union Theological Seminary, his interests shifted. In New York, he would come to develop his interest in psychology and psychiatry. After two years, Rogers left the Union Theological Seminary and enrolled in Columbia University's Teachers College. He would eventually earn his master's and Ph.D. from Columbia University, in 1928 and 1931, respectively. After graduating from Teachers College, Rogers spent time teaching at the University of Rochester and began writing his first book, The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child, which examined troubled children in clinical settings over a span of 15 years. Rogers gained most of his clinical experience working with troubled youth, and that perspective is reflected in many of his early publications.

Ohio State University and early career

Rogers became a professor of clinical psychology at Ohio State University in 1940 and wrote his next book, Counseling and Psychotherapy, in 1942. The book offered insights into some of the foundations Rogers believed in, such as emphasizing the need for a therapist's positive regard and acceptance of a client, establishing the basis of unconditional positive regard in client-centered therapy. 

Publications and teaching roles

Throughout his career, Carl Rogers held different teaching and lecturing positions, wrote books, and founded a counseling center, among other contributions to psychology and counseling.  He would return to the University of Wisconsin system, this time as a professor. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he wrote one of his seminal books titled On Becoming Human.

In 1945, he participated in setting up a counseling center connected to the University of Chicago and authored Client-Centered Therapy six years later. These two publications established Rogers' theories toward psychotherapy and counseling and brought him to the forefront of the field. Rogers would go on to write several other important books and articles on counseling, interpersonal relationships, and psychology, including:

• Carl Rogers on Personal Power: Inner Strength and Its Revolutionary Impact (Delacorte, 1977)
• Counseling with Returned Servicemen (McGraw-Hill, 1946)
• “The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change” (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1957)
• A Way of Being (Houghton Mifflin, 1980)

Later career and death

Rogers moved to La Jolla California in 1963 where he was a resident at the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute (WBSI) and founded the Center for Studies of the Person. He continued his work in California and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. That year, he died from a heart attack following an operation on his hip. Rogers is widely considered one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century. The Center for Studies of the Person continues Rogers’ mission of helping clients achieve self-fulfillment by hosting events, training professionals, and conducting research. 

Carl Rogers' contributions to the field of psychology

There are primarily two known Carl Rogers therapy contributions in the field of psychology. The first is his concept of client-centered therapy (also known as Rogerian therapy). The second is his role in beginning the humanistic psychology movement. Let’s examine both of these in a bit more detail.

Client centered therapy 

It’s clear from his background that Rogers had an inherent interest in helping others. Perhaps this is why he so emphasized the relationship between client and therapist in his methods. In fact, according to Rogers, the client is the one who should lead the sessions and dictate the course, speed, and duration of the treatment. Initially, this was called non-directive therapy—but because clients still look to counselors for guidance, Rogers felt that the name needed to be more accurate. That’s how the term “client-centered therapy” was born (though it would be later renamed to “person-centered therapy”).

According to person-centered approach, a therapist needs to display three key traits to be effective:

1. Congruence, or being genuine and honest with the client
2. Empathy, or being able to understand, feel, and identify with them
3. Positive regard, or having warmth and acceptance towards them and letting them know they’re valued

This line of thinking suggests that the counselor's personal qualities are more important than any special techniques or training. It also injects more humanity into therapy sessions, rather than simply viewing the client as a patient. These people-focused principles are why Rogers is recognized as one of the founders of the humanistic movement in psychology.

Rogers' daughter, Natalie Rogers, further contributed to humanistic psychology with her focus on person-centered expressive arts therapy. Natalie and Carl worked together to open the Person-Centered Approach workshops, which utilized art therapy techniques to help participants express and understand themselves.   

Sigmund Freud created the concept of psychoanalysis and suggested that mental disorders can be treated by bringing thoughts from the unconscious to the conscious. Behaviorism was founded by Edward Thorndike and John B. Watson and relied on things like external stimuli and reward systems to explain human and animal behavior. Proponents of the humanistic approach, like Rogers, argue that these earlier concepts focused too much on the scientific study and actions of people as organisms rather than considering them as individuals with unique thoughts and feelings.

Unconditional positive regard

Carl Rogers emphasized the principle of unconditional positive regard from therapist to patient. Unlike conditional positive regard, which only validates expressions of acceptable emotions and behaviors, Rogers suggested that for one's self-actualization to occur, people should be able to feel accepted for expressing different facets—their genuine, whole self—not just parts that are praise-worthy externally. Unconditional positive regard is a primary principle of Rogers’ person-centered therapy.  

An individual receiving only conditional positive regard may be more risk averse, reluctant to try something new and make mistakes, and in the process be less likely to experience personal growth and fulfill the potential they envision for themselves. Someone who is provided unconditional positive regard, however, may feel more comfortable taking steps toward personality change, improved relationships, mental and emotional wellness, and other life enhancements. 

Carl Rogers' self-concept

Central to Rogers’ theory of personality is “self-concept”, which comprises one’s own ideas about who they are. Rogers describes the "self-concept" as being split into two components—the “real self”, which is who we actually are, and the "ideal self", which is our notion of who we'd like to be. While our goals may change throughout our lives, our sense of self-esteem is tied to our self-concept and ideal self acting in so-called congruence. When our self-image and ideal self are incongruent, we may develop low self-esteem and experience maladaptive behaviors and feelings.  

Rogers expounded upon his theory of the self by outlining 19 propositions. These propositions illustrate the process of self-actualization. For example, proposition four states, “The organism has one basic tendency and striving – to actualize, maintain, and enhance the experiencing organism”. Proposition nine describes the self-structure, or self-concept, that can fulfill this basic tendency. According to this proposition, the self-structure is a “consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the ’I’ or the ‘me’ together with values attached to these concepts”.

Fully functioning person

Rogers' idea of the fully functioning person relates to a person who is fully able to accept and process their evolving experiences. The fully functioning person Rogers envisioned was open to new experiences, accepting of both positive and negative feelings that may arise. They trusted their instincts, avoided prejudgments and preconceptions, and led a fulfilling life. They lived, as Rogers put it, “An increasingly existential lifestyle”, meaning they did not try to force moments to conform to their self-concept. This embrace of one’s own life Rogers referred to as the good life. 

How does client centered therapy work?

There are a few main tenets of client-centered therapy that make it different from other methods. First, instead of using the word "patient", the word "client" is preferred. Second, rather than the therapist actively trying to find a solution to the client’s issues by asking questions or providing advice, the client essentially grows and improves on their own. In fact, using the word "client" is by design, since the idea is to put them on an equal level with the counselor.

Next, the goal is to allow the client to speak their thoughts freely and without judgment in a safe atmosphere facilitated by the three necessary characteristics of the therapist mentioned above: congruence, empathy, and positive regard. The therapist's goal is to understand the client's perspective and, in general, to only ask questions when in need of further clarification. Finally, the concept of understanding is a crucial part of the process. One of the primary principles of client-centered therapy is that the client knows more about themselves than anyone else. They’re the real expert in their own situation, and the therapist is simply there to provide the environment in which the client can find answers to their problems through self-realization.

Client-centered therapy today

The ideas of Rogers still influence the mental health field today. If you’re interested in working with a therapist who practices client-centered therapy or uses other effective, modern techniques, you can get matched with a qualified, licensed mental health professional through an online therapy platform like BetterHelp. 

Online therapy options