Written by the founder of humanistic psychology, Rogers traces his personal and professional life from the 1960s to the 1980s, and offers new insights into client-centered therapy.
In many ways, Carl Rogers was a revolutionary. Raised in a strict, conservative home, Rogers eventually developed a theory of psychology that swept away old power structures and put the patient in charge of his own treatment. His work continues to be important for what it teaches us about relationships and human potential, as well as about psychology. Unlike earlier practitioners of psychology, like Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung, Rogers did not elaborate a unifying theory of human consciousness. His work is not focused on unconscious drives, collective memory, or hidden impulses. It does not dwell on childhood memories or on sexuality, unless the patient (or, to use Rogers' own word, the client) wants to dwell on those matters. Instead, Rogers focused on what he called the desire for self-actualization. He believed that by creating the right conditions, therapy could release people from whatever was holding them back so that they could discover their true selves and live in harmony with the world around them.Rogers is probably best known for developing what he called nondirective, or client-centered therapy. He argued that people were innately good and possessed the ability to heal themselves, even when they had become seriously disconnected from reality. However, this sort of healing couldn't occur in a vacuum. Rogers stressed the importance of therapeutic relationships to give people the confidence and freedom to develop, so that they could achieve their true potential.Rogers wrote extensively about the difference between his therapeutic approach and older approaches. The traditional psychologist-centered approach, he argued, was bound to be problematic. Its top-down method did not give patients space to really understand their own fears and blind spots, or to come to terms with the kinds of changes they needed to make in their lives.The top-down method is futile, Rogers explained, because whatever insights the therapist presented to his client would not really sink in. If a person is to truly integrate a new set of ideas, he must be ready for them - which often means that he must come to those ideas on his own, after a long period of gradually letting down his defenses. That is why the client-centered approach begins with a relationship, as Rogers explains: "If I can provide a certain type of relationship, the other person will discover within himself the capacity to use that relationship for growth, and change and personal development will occur." The ideal relationship is one of absolute acceptance in which clients could feel safe and secure enough to begin exploring their full selves - not just the narrow, restricted persona they might present to the world, but a fuller and more adaptable self.The works contained in this volume give a rich view of Rogers' principles. They are written in Rogers' typical accessible, engaging style; they are more like conversation than lectures.
In many ways, Carl Rogers was a revolutionary. Raised in a strict, conservative home, Rogers eventually developed a theory of psychology that swept away old power structures and put the patient in charge of his own treatment. His work continues to be important for what it teaches us about relationships and human potential, as well as about psychology. Unlike earlier practitioners of psychology, like Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung, Rogers did not elaborate a unifying theory of human consciousness. His work is not focused on unconscious drives, collective memory, or hidden impulses. It does not dwell on childhood memories or on sexuality, unless the patient (or, to use Rogers' own word, the client) wants to dwell on those matters. Instead, Rogers focused on what he called the desire for self-actualization. He believed that by creating the right conditions, therapy could release people from whatever was holding them back so that they could discover their true selves and live in harmony with the world around them.Rogers is probably best known for developing what he called nondirective, or client-centered therapy. He argued that people were innately good and possessed the ability to heal themselves, even when they had become seriously disconnected from reality. However, this sort of healing couldn't occur in a vacuum. Rogers stressed the importance of therapeutic relationships to give people the confidence and freedom to develop, so that they could achieve their true potential.Rogers wrote extensively about the difference between his therapeutic approach and older approaches. The traditional psychologist-centered approach, he argued, was bound to be problematic. Its top-down method did not give patients space to really understand their own fears and blind spots, or to come to terms with the kinds of changes they needed to make in their lives.The top-down method is futile, Rogers explained, because whatever insights the therapist presented to his client would not really sink in. If a person is to truly integrate a new set of ideas, he must be ready for them - which often means that he must come to those ideas on his own, after a long period of gradually letting down his defenses. That is why the client-centered approach begins with a relationship, as Rogers explains: "If I can provide a certain type of relationship, the other person will discover within himself the capacity to use that relationship for growth, and change and personal development will occur." The ideal relationship is one of absolute acceptance in which clients could feel safe and secure enough to begin exploring their full selves - not just the narrow, restricted persona they might present to the world, but a fuller and more adaptable self.The works contained in this volume give a rich view of Rogers' principles. They are written in Rogers' typical accessible, engaging style; they are more like conversation than lectures.
Dieses Buch ist nach den Worten des Verfassers Ausdruck seiner Überzeugung, daß die Beratung ein erlernbarer, überschaubarer und verstehbarer Prozeß ist, ein Prozeß, der vermittelt, überprüft, verfeinert und verbessert werden kann. Es soll angehende wie erfahrene Berater und Therapeuten zu weiterer Erforschung von Theorie und Praxis anregen. Rogers ist überzeugt, daß wir eher zu wenig als zuviel Vertrauen in die Wachstumsmöglichkeiten des Individuums haben, und er möchte mit seinem Buch dazu beitragen, die im Individuum beschlossenen Wachstums- und Entwicklungspotentiale zu erkunden und zu fördern. Das Buch ist ?im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes ein praktisches Buch, geschrieben von einem Mann, der über langjährige und erfolgreiche Erfahrung als Berater und Psychotherapeut verfügt.? Leonard Carmichael in seinem Vorwort
?Die Entwicklung der Gesprächspsychotherapie in Deutschland läßt verschiedene Abschnitte erkennen. Das Erscheinen der Werke von Carl R. Rogers in deutscher Sprache leitete hier einen grundsätzlichen Wandel ein. Es förderte das Streben nach Selbsterfahrung (sei es in Form von Encountergruppen oder von Lehrtherapien) und begünstigte die Öffnung gegenüber anderen therapeutischen Richtungen. Dieser Band ist geeignet, in weiten Bevölkerungskreisen Resonanz zu erwecken und wird damit die Impulse verstärken, die von der klientenzentrierten Psychotherapie auf die verschiedensten Bereiche therapeutischer und beratender Gesprächsführung in Deutschland ausgehen. Nach unserer Meinung ist es nun an der Zeit, daß die jüngeren Mitarbeiter von Rogers in deutscher Übersetzung zu Wort kommen. Damit wird Kritik an manchen gewohnten Positionen laut werden...Zugleich werden aber Ansätze, die sich schon bei Rogers finden, weiterentwickelt.? Wolfgang M. Pfeiffer
Die klientenzentrierte Gesprächspsychotherapie auf der Grundlage des nicht-direktiven Standpunktes in Beratung und Therapie, bei uns auch kurz ?Rogers-Therapie? genannt, gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung für die Spieltherapie mit Kindern, für Schule und Erziehung, aber auch für die Gruppentherapie Erwachsener. Das Buch enthält eine klare Darstellung der Verfahrensweisen, mit deren Hilfe beratungsbedürftigen Menschen geholfen werden kann, zu einer neuen und besseren Anpassung der Persönlichkeit zu gelangen. Es behandelt nicht nur das Wesen des therapeutischen Prozesses, sondern auch die Probleme, die in der Beratung auftauchen können. Das Buch versucht eine dynamische Integration erfolgreicher Techniken der allgemeinen Beratung und der Beratungsverfahren in besonderen Situationen.
Este libro aborda la psicoterapia desde un punto de vista accesible para todo tipo de lectores. El encuadre psicoterap utico de esta obra rebasa las categor as de conocimiento tradicionales y altera el rol del terapeuta, pues en lugar de encargarle curar a alguien que est enfermo, le asigna la tarea de comprender al otro, de ser el espejo de la expresi n total de la vida del "cliente", convirti ndolo a l en su asesor y a la relaci n terap utica en "asesoramiento" o "consejo". La din mica de la modificaci n se centra, as , en el paciente mismo, eliminando toda actitud directiva por parte del terapeuta y negando la viabilidad de la fragmentaci n de la personalidad del asesorado en "parte enfermas" y "partes sanas". Como consecuencia, asesor y asesorado entran en una relaci n de b squeda del s mismo de cada uno y, en ese contexto interpersonal, desarrollan un di logo -comprometido, emocionalmente intenso y de curso impredecible- en el que el cliente vive una maduraci n afectiva a trav s de sucesivos insights que rescatan e integran la totalidad de su experiencia vivida y le permiten "convertirse" en persona.
Active Listening is a short 1957 work by Drs. Carl R. Rogers and Richard E. Farson, two influential American psychologists. The work brings the counselling technique of active listening to the layperson, demonstrating how it can be applied to interactions between an employee and employer. Carl R. Rogers (1902-1987) was one of the pioneers of the "client-centered" approach to psychotherapy. He is considered one of the founding fathers of modern psychotherapy research and is widely regarded among others in the field as the most influential psychotherapist of all time - viewed even more highly than Sigmund Freud. Dr. Rogers served as a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, where he set up the university's counselling and research clinic, the Industrial Relations Center. He wrote many books on psychotherapy, and in later years, travelled the world to bring his theories to areas of great political and social strife like Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Brazil. Richard E. Farson (1926-2017) had already completed his bachelor's and master's degrees when he met Dr. Rogers in 1949. Dr. Rogers invited Farson to continue his studies with him at the University of Chicago. Farson became Dr. Rogers' research assistant while he completed his Ph.D. in psychology and began counselling at the Industrial Relations Center. Dr. Farson held leadership positions in a number of research institutions. He co-founded the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, where he served as president and CEO. He was later appointed as the founding dean of the California Institute of the Arts School of Design and served as president of the Esalen Institute. Drs. Rogers and Farson collaborated on many projects, including 1957's Active Listening. They also led a 16-hour group therapy session that was recorded and released as a film called Journey Into Self. The film won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Active Listening describes a method of communication used in counselling and conflict resolution. Rather than serving as a passive participant in a conversation, active listeners take a functional role in helping the speaker to work out their issues. As the speaker shares, the listener repeats back what they've heard in their own words. This both confirms that they've heard the speaker and verifies that they understand. Unlike the way many of us instinctively communicate - trying to get another to see things from our own perspective - active listening requires that we see things from the speaker's perspective. The listener must address not only the meaning of the words, but also the feeling behind them, in order to make the speaker truly feel heard. These feelings can be conveyed through words, tone, volume, body language, and even breathing. This method is not without risks. It can be tempting to lose your sense of self in the practice of sensing the feelings of another person. As Drs. Rogers and Farson put it, "It takes a great deal of inner security and courage to be able to risk one's self in understanding another." In contrast to many psychological texts, Active Listening is written for the non-clinician or psychologist. In plain, everyday language, the book explains both the concepts of active listening and how they can be applied to the workplace. Employers who engage in active listening, the book argues, can help employees to become more cooperative, less argumentative, and clearer in their own communication. While the book is written in the context of the employee/employer relationship, the technique can be applied to all relationships in our lives. The concept is still highly influential, and Drs. Rogers and Farson's ideas about client-centered psychology are used in clinical practice today.
Active Listening is a short 1957 work by Drs. Carl R. Rogers and Richard E. Farson, two influential American psychologists. The work brings the counselling technique of active listening to the layperson, demonstrating how it can be applied to interactions between an employee and employer. Carl R. Rogers (1902-1987) was one of the pioneers of the "client-centered" approach to psychotherapy. He is considered one of the founding fathers of modern psychotherapy research and is widely regarded among others in the field as the most influential psychotherapist of all time - viewed even more highly than Sigmund Freud. Dr. Rogers served as a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, where he set up the university's counselling and research clinic, the Industrial Relations Center. He wrote many books on psychotherapy, and in later years, travelled the world to bring his theories to areas of great political and social strife like Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Brazil. Richard E. Farson (1926-2017) had already completed his bachelor's and master's degrees when he met Dr. Rogers in 1949. Dr. Rogers invited Farson to continue his studies with him at the University of Chicago. Farson became Dr. Rogers' research assistant while he completed his Ph.D. in psychology and began counselling at the Industrial Relations Center. Dr. Farson held leadership positions in a number of research institutions. He co-founded the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, where he served as president and CEO. He was later appointed as the founding dean of the California Institute of the Arts School of Design and served as president of the Esalen Institute. Drs. Rogers and Farson collaborated on many projects, including 1957's Active Listening. They also led a 16-hour group therapy session that was recorded and released as a film called Journey Into Self. The film won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Active Listening describes a method of communication used in counselling and conflict resolution. Rather than serving as a passive participant in a conversation, active listeners take a functional role in helping the speaker to work out their issues. As the speaker shares, the listener repeats back what they've heard in their own words. This both confirms that they've heard the speaker and verifies that they understand. Unlike the way many of us instinctively communicate - trying to get another to see things from our own perspective - active listening requires that we see things from the speaker's perspective. The listener must address not only the meaning of the words, but also the feeling behind them, in order to make the speaker truly feel heard. These feelings can be conveyed through words, tone, volume, body language, and even breathing. This method is not without risks. It can be tempting to lose your sense of self in the practice of sensing the feelings of another person. As Drs. Rogers and Farson put it, "It takes a great deal of inner security and courage to be able to risk one's self in understanding another." In contrast to many psychological texts, Active Listening is written for the non-clinician or psychologist. In plain, everyday language, the book explains both the concepts of active listening and how they can be applied to the workplace. Employers who engage in active listening, the book argues, can help employees to become more cooperative, less argumentative, and clearer in their own communication. While the book is written in the context of the employee/employer relationship, the technique can be applied to all relationships in our lives. The concept is still highly influential, and Drs. Rogers and Farson's ideas about client-centered psychology are used in clinical practice today.
