Rogers: Person-Centered Theory Flashcards
Carl Rogers
Best known as the founder of client-centered therapy
Carl Rogers
developed a humanistic theory of personality that grew out of his experiences as a practicing psychotherapist
Carl Rogers
Unlike most of these other theorists, however, he continually called for empirical research to support both his personality theory and his therapeutic approach
Names of his therapy and theory
client-centered in reference to Rogers’ therapy and the more inclusive term person-centered to refer to Rogerian personality theory.
What are the basic assumptions of person-centered theory?
the formative tendency and the actualizing tendency
Formative Tendency
a tendency for all matter, both organic and inorganic, to evolve from simpler to more complex forms
Actualizing Tendency
the tendency within all humans (and other animals and plants) to move toward completion or fulfillment of potentials (Rogers, 1959, 1980).
This tendency is the only motive people possess.
Actualizing Tendency
The need for maintenance
It includes such basic needs as food, air, and safety; but it also includes the tendency to resist change and to seek the status quo.
The need for enhancement
This need to become more, to develop, and to
achieve growth
Enhancement needs are expressed in a variety of forms…
This includes curiosity, playfulness, self-exploration, friendship, and confidence that one can achieve psychological growth.
T or F. The actualization tendency is limited to humans only
False. Other animals and even plants have an inherent tendency to grow toward reaching their genetic potential—provided certain conditions are present.
Three conditions Rogers deemed as necessary and sufficient conditions for becoming fully functioning or self-actualizing person
- congruence
- unconditional positive regard
- empathy
Self-actualization
a subset of the actualization tendency and is therefore not synonymous with it.
actualization tendency
refers to organismic experiences of the individual; that is, it refers to the whole person—conscious and unconscious, physiological and cognitive
self-actualization
the tendency to actualize the self as perceived in
awareness.
Rogers (1959) postulated two self subsystems. What are these?
- self-concept
2 the ideal self
The Self-Concept
includes all those aspects of one’s being and one’s experiences that are perceived in awareness (though not always accurately) by the individual. Not identical with the organismic self.
What happens to people who are inconsistent with their self-concept?
Experiences that are inconsistent with their self-concept usually are either denied or accepted only in distorted forms.
The Ideal Self
defined as one’s view of self as one wishes to be
What is indicated when a wide gap between the ideal self and the self-concept occurs
incongruence and an unhealthy personality
Awareness
“the symbolic representation (not necessarily in
verbal symbols) of some portion of our experience”
Cite the three levels of awareness
- some events are experienced below the threshold of awareness and are either ignored or denied
- some experiences are accurately symbolized and freely admitted to the self-structure. Such experiences are both nonthreatening and consistent with the existing self-concept
- involves experiences that are perceived in a distorted form. When our experience is not consistent with our view of self, we reshape or distort the experience so that it can be assimilated into our
existing self-concept.
Denial of Positive Experiences
many people have difficulty accepting genuine compliments and positive feedback, even when
deserved.
positive regard
the person develops a need to be loved, liked, or accepted by another person
positive self-regard
defined as the experience of prizing or valuing one’s self
The source of positive self-regard, then…
lies in the positive regard we receive from others, but once established, it is autonomous and self-perpetuating.
Barriers to Psychological Health
- conditions of worth
- incongruence
- defensiveness
- disorganization
Conditions of Worth
“A condition of worth arises when the positive regard of a significant other is conditional, when the individual feels that in some respects he [or she] is prized and in others not”
Conditions of worth
Conditions of worth become the criterion by which we accept or reject our experiences.
external evaluations
Our perceptions of other people’s view of us. These evaluations, whether positive or negative, do not foster psychological health but, rather, prevent us from being completely open to our own experiences
