Roger Flashcards
● Rogers was more concerned with helping people than with discovering why they behaved they way they did
● he did not feel comfortable with the notion of a theory; his preference was to be a helper of people rather than being a constructor of theories
Person-centered theory
his theory was previously called _______
nondirective approach
Rogers’ theory follows an _______ framework
➔ example: if the therapist is congruent and
communicated unconditional positive regard and accurate empathy to the client, then therapeutic change will occur
if-then
● the tendency for all matter (both organic and inorganic) to evolve from simpler to more complex forms
● examples: vapor can eventually turn into a snowflake; cells develop into complex organisms
Formative Tendency
● the tendency within all humans to move toward completion or fulfillment of potentials
● this tendency is the only motive that people possess
Actualizing Tendency
What are the two subcategories of actualizing tendency?
maintenance and enhancement
similar to the basic needs in the lower steps of Maslow’s hierarchy; also includes the tendency to resist change and to seek the status quo
maintenance
the need to become more, to develop, and to achieve growth; can be seen in people’s willingness to learn things that are not immediately rewarding
enhancement
What are three necessary and sufficient conditions to become a fully self-actualizing person?
1) congruence
2) unconditional positive regard
3) empathy
infants begin to develop a vague sense of self when a portion of their experience becomes personalized and differentiated in awareness as “I” or “me” experiences
➔ they begin to evaluate experiences as positive or negative by using the actualizing tendency as a criterion
The self and self-actualization
the organismic self’s tendency to move toward fulfillment
Actualization tendency
refers to the whole person–conscious and unconscious, physiological and cognitive
organismic self
subset of the actualization tendency;the perceived self’s tendency to reach fulfillment
Self- actualization
What are two self subsystems?
the self-concept and the ideal self
● all aspects of one’s being and experiences that an individual is consciously aware of self-view
● different from the organismic self
Self Concept
● one’s view of self as one wishes to be
● contains all attributes that a person aspires
to possess
The ideal self
having a wide gap or discrepancy between the ideal self and the self-concept
incongruence
• the symbolic representation (not necessarily in verbal symbols) of some portion of our experiences
• synonymous with consciousness and symbolization
awareness
What are the three level of awareness?
1) Ignored or denied experiences
2) Accurately symbolized experiences
3) Distorted experiences
● events that are experienced below the threshold of awareness
Ignored or denied experiences
● experiences that are non threatening and consistent with the existing self-concept
● freely admitted into the self-structure
Accurately symbolized experiences
● when experiences are not consistent with our view of self, we reshape the experience so it can be assimilated/incorporated into our existing self-concept
Distorted experiences
● the first minimum experience necessary to become a person is to make contact with another person
Becoming a person
● being loved, liked, or accepted by another person; prerequisite for positive self-regard
positive regard
● the experience of prizing or valuing one’s self
positive self-regard
● is initially dependent on the positive regard we receive from others, but once established, it is autonomous and self-perpetuating
positive self-regard
What are the barriers to psychological health?
Conditions of worth
Incongruence
Defensiveness
Disorganization
• perception that other people only love and accept you if you meet those people’s expectations and approval
● we see that our _______ if we perceive that some of our behaviors are approved and some disapproved
● may lead to incongruence; when we ignore our own perceptions/experiences and start believing appraisals of others, we become estranged from our real or organismic self
Conditions of worth
● our perception of other people’s view of us
external evaluations
● the perception of discrepancies between organismic self, self-concept, and ideal self
● happens when we do not accurately symbolize organismic experiences into awareness because they appear to be inconsistent with our self-concept
● the source of psychological disorders
Incongruence
● exists when we are unaware
of the incongruence within our self
vulnerability
● experienced as we gain awareness of the incongruence
anxiety and threat
➔ state of uneasiness or tension
whose cause is unknown
anxiety
➔ awareness that our self is no
longer whole or congruent
threat
➔ these two feelings can represent steps
toward psychological health because they signal us that our organismic experience is inconsistent with our self-concept
Anxiety and threat
• the protection of the self-concept against anxiety and threat
• done to keep our perception of our organismic experiences consistent with our self-concept
Defensiveness
What are the two chief defenses the two chief defenses?
distortion and denial
➔ misinterpreting an experience in order to fit it into some aspect of our self-concept; we perceive it in our awareness, but we fail to understand its true meaning
distortion
➔ refusing to perceive an experience in awareness, or at least we keep some aspect of it from reaching symbolization
denial
● happens when defenses fail to function
● behavior becomes disorganized when the
incongruence in a person is either too obvious or occurs too suddenly to be denied or distorted
Disorganization
● this is Roger’s way of labeling psychologically unhealthy people, as he did not like using terms such as “neurotic” and “psychotic”
Disorganization
● in order for therapeutic growth to take place, the following conditions are necessary and sufficient
Condition
Types of conditions.
1) Counselor Congruence
2) Unconditional Positive Regard
3) Empathic Listening
● a _____, who is a complete human being with feelings of joy, anger, frustration, confusion, and so on
● a _______ who is not passive, not aloof, and not static
● they wear no mask, do not attempt to fake a pleasant facade, and avoid any pretense of friendliness or affection when these emotions are not truly felt
Counselor Congruence
● when therapists have a warm, positive, and accepting attitude toward what is the client
● accepting another person without any conditions or qualifications
● the therapist accept and prize their clients without any restrictions or reservations and without regard to the clients’ behavior
Unconditional Positive Regard
● when therapists accurately sense the feelings of their clients and are able to communicate these perceptions so that clients know that another person has entered their world of feelings without prejudice, projection, or evaluation
● does not involve interpreting clients’ meanings or uncovering their unconscious feelings
● the therapist sees things from the client’s point of view and the client feels safe and unthreatened
Empathic Listening
● parallel to Maslow’s self-actualizing person
The person of tomorrow
Give the 7 persons of tomorrow
1) More adaptable
2) Open to their experiences
3) Live fully in the moment
4) Harmonious relations with others
5) More integrated
6) Basic trust of human nature
7) Greater richness in life
● they are more likely to survive
● they would not merely adjust to a static
environment but would realize that conformity to a fixed situation have little long-term survival value
More adaptable
● accurately symbolizing one’s experiences rather than denying or distorting them
Open to their experiences
● not depending on others for guidance because they trust that their own experiences are the best criteria for making choices
Trust in their organismic selves
● they see each experience with a new freshness and appreciate it fully in the present moment
Live fully in the moment
● the tendency to live in the moment
existential living
● they feel no need to be liked/loved by everyone because they know that they are unconditionally accepted by someone
Harmonious relations with others
● more whole
● being able to bridge the gap between their
real self and ideal self
● can openly express whatever feelings they
are experiencing
More integrated
● they would not harm others merely for personal gain
● they would care for others and be ready to help when needed
Basic trust of human nature
● they would not distort internal stimuli nor buffer their emotions
● they would feel more deeply than others
Greater richness in life
