On Becoming A Person ( Carl Rogers)

16 Pages 4097 Words

t is the client who knows what hurts… and can be relied upon for direction of movement in the process”. I liked this chapter as it turned a name into a man I could get to know through his own words and papers.
Chapter two, is a summery of the Rogerian general hypotheses developed over the six year span, from 1954 to 1960. His over all hypothesis he sums up in one sentence. “ If I can provide a certain type of relationship, the other person will discover within him self the capacity to use that relationship for growth, and change and personal development will occur.” Here is the initial concept of “unconditional positive regard” we all associate with Rogers. Does it work well in any relationship, including therapy? I don‘t know yet bet it‘s a nice thought. I fits my concept of people well.
Chapter Three of “On becoming A Person”, puts forth the characteristics of Rodgers “helping relationship”. This relationship again and again through out the book is stated as interpersonal and is for therapeutic and daily relationships. Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience. No other person's ideas, and none of my own ideas, are as authoritative as my experience. It is to experience that I must return again and again, to discover a closer approximation to truth as it is in the process of becoming in me. I have a bit of a problem with this since he is the first to point out experiences can be manipulated. To be real, to be honest, and to be ever holding everyone in unconditional positive regard is almost a paradox. But then, maybe its rare that some don’t have the patience to always put “self’ in shoes other than their own. The interest of “self” will continue to come first in all individuals. It is not the dog catching the car that fulfills his ambitions it’s the pursuit its self that keeps him running after it Still, in this sense, Rogers has a v...