A.

OVERVIEW OF PERSONCENTERED THEORY

Also known as Client-centered, Person to Person, Group-centered, and Student-centered. (Client-centered is the term used for his therapy) Rogers developed a HUMANISTIC

*1924- He entered the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He became disenchanted with the doctrinaire attitude of religious works
He desired more freedom to explore

1926- He left the seminary to attend new ideas Teachers College, major in clinical and educational psychology. o 1924- He was married to Helen Elliot and together **Free-choice, self-directed, forward moving (this o 1928-He obtained his MA concept is contrary to BF Skinners people are o 1931- He received his PhD from always controlled) Columbia after having moved to New Theory York to work with Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children How can I help this person grow and for 12 years. develop? rather than What caused this person to develop in this manner? o 1939- He wrote his first book, The Clinical Treatment of the Problem B. BIOGRAPHY Child (which led to a teaching offer o Born: January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, from Ohio State University. Illinois, U.S. o 1942- Published his book Counselling Fourth of six children and Psychotherapy where he o Parents: Walter Rogers; Civil engineer emphasized the importance of the Julia Cushing; to whom Carl was growth within the patient. closer o He died February 4, 1987, following *His parents were both devoted surgery for a broken hip. religious Honors he received: *Even He believed that they cared o First president of the American for their children, He also believed that Association of the Applied Psychology they are controlling their child-rearing and American Academy of practices. Psychotherapist. o At the beginning of his high school o President of American days, they moved to a farm 45-miles Psychological Society (1946-1947). West of Chicago because his parents o 1956 He was a cowinner of hoped for a wholesome and religious the 1st Distinguished Scientific atmospherean ISOLATED Contribution Award presented by ATMOSPHERE. APA. o The personal life of Rogers was mark C. NINETEEN PROPOSITIONS by change and openness to experience. WHY? 1. All individuals (organisms) exist in a continually changing world of *During his elementary school days experience (phenomenal field) of which (in Oak Park Illinois w/ Ernest they are the center. Hemingway and the children of Frank Lloyd Wright) He wanted to be a 2. The organism reacts to the field as it is scientific farmer, He entered University experienced and perceived. This of Wisconsin as agriculture major. perceptual field is "reality" for the individual. *He became less interested in agriculture and more devoted to 3. The organism reacts as an organized religion. During his 3rd year, He was whole to this phenomenal field. deeply involved in religious activities 1 BS PSYCH2A1-1 GROUP 8: CARL ROGERS

4. A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes differentiated as the self. 5. As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a result of evaluational interaction with others, the structure of the self is formed . 6. The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize, maintain and enhance the experiencing organism. 7. The best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of reference of the individual. 8. Behavior is basically the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as experienced, in the field as perceived. 9. Emotion accompanies, and in general facilitates, such goal directed behavior, the kind of emotion being related to the perceived significance of the behavior for the maintenance and enhancement of the organism. 10.The values attached to experiences, and the values that are a part of the self-structure, in some instances, are values experienced directly by the organism, and in some instances are values introjected or taken over from others, but perceived in distorted fashion, as if they had been experienced directly. 11.As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either, a) symbolized, perceived and organized into some relation to the self, b) ignored because there is no perceived relationship to the self-structure, c) denied symbolization or given distorted symbolization because the experience is inconsistent with the structure of the self. 12.Most of the ways of behaving that are adopted by the organism are those that are consistent with the concept of self. 13.In some instances, behavior may be brought about by organic experiences and needs which have not been symbolized.

14.Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such that all the sensory and visceral experiences of the organism are, or may be, assimilated on a symbolic level into a consistent relationship with the concept of self. 15.Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies awareness of significant sensory and visceral experiences. 16.Any experience which is inconsistent with the organization of the structure of the self may be perceived as a threat, and the more of these perceptions there are, the more rigidly the selfstructure is organized to maintain itself. 17.Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of threat to the self-structure, experiences which are inconsistent with it may be perceived and examined, and the structure of self revised to assimilate and include such experiences. 18.When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and integrated system all his sensory and visceral experiences, then he is necessarily more understanding of others and is more accepting of others as separate individuals. 19.As the individual perceives and accepts into his self-structure more of his organic experiences, he finds that he is replacing his present value system .

D. THE PERSON CENTERED THEORY

I. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS Formative Tendency all matter, both organic and inorganic, tends to evolve from simple to complex form. Ex: Humans, from infancy to childhood then will turn to adolescence. Actualizing Tendency predisposition to move toward completion or fulfilment. o Maintenance - similar to Maslows lowest hierarchy of needs; need for food, air and safety. But it also includes the 2

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tendency to resist change and to seek the status quo. o Enhancement willing to learn and to change; to become more, to achieved and to developed. II. THE SELF AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION Properties of the Self: 1. The self develops out of the organisms interaction with the environment. 2. It may introject other peoples value and perceived this in a distorted fashion. 3. The self strives for consistency. 4. The organism behaves in ways that are consistent to the self. 5. Experiences inconsistent with the self-structure are perceived as threats. 6. The self change as a result of maturation and learning. Self-actualization tendency to actualize the self as perceived in the awareness. o Difference between organism and self. Organismrefers to the whole personconscious, unconscious, physiological and cognitive. Self awareness. The Self-Concept aspect of ones being and ones experiences that are perceived by our awareness. o Difference of organismic self and perceived self Organismic Self- portions of it may be beyond the persons awareness or simply not owned by the person. Perceived self- the self which the person is aware of. The Ideal self ones view of self as one wish to be. III. AWARENESS Levels of Awareness o Ignored and Denied Ignored if one cannot attend to a certain stimuli; Denied one attend to

the stimuli but contradicts it from ones self. o Accurately Symbolized both non-threatening and consistent with the existing self-concept. o Distorted reshaping experience which is not consistent with the view of ones self. Denial of positive Experiences IV. BECOMING A PERSON An individual must make contact with another person. Positive regard the developed need of a person to be loved, liked or accepted by another person. (From others) Positive self-regard experience of prizing or valuing ones self. V. BARRIERS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH Conditions of Worth they perceived that their parents, peers or lovers accept them only if they meet their expectations. o External Evaluations our perceptions of other peoples view of us. It prevent us from being completely open to our own experiences Incongruence - develops when the perceived self and the organismic self do not match. o Vulnerability when people are not aware of the discrepancy between their organismic self and significant experience. o Anxiety and threat it is experienced as we gain awareness of such incongruence. Defensiveness protection of the self against anxiety. Disorganization we experienced it as our distortion and denial are insufficient to block out incongruence. VI. THE PERSON OF TOMORROW Congruence, Unconditional Positive Regard and Empathy o Congruence when the persons organismic experiences are 3 GROUP 8: CARL ROGERS

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matched by an awareness of them and an ability and willingness to openly express these feelings, o Unconditional Positive Regard when the need for positive regard exists without any conditions or qualifications. o Empathy when one person accurately sense the feelings of another person. Characteristics of Fully Functioning Person/Person of Tomorrow o More adaptable o Open to their experiences o o o o o Trust in their organismic selves Live fully in the moment(existential living) Harmonious relations with others More integrated Basic trust of human nature Greater richness in life

E. RELATED RESEARCH
Self-Discrepancy Theory The cornerstone of mental health was the congruency between how we really view ourselves and how ideally would like to be. Motivation and Pursuing Ones Goal Setting and pursuing goals is a way for people to organize their lives in a way that leads to a desirable outcomes and adds meaning to daily activities. THEORETICALLY, SUCCESSFUL CLIENTS WILL BECOME PERSON OF TOMORROW

4 BS PSYCH2A1-1 GROUP 8: CARL ROGERS