Carl Rogers
Founder of client-centered therapy
Most quoted
"When the other person is hurting, confused, troubled, anxious, alienated, terrified; or when he or she is doubtful of self-worth, uncertain as to identity, then understanding is called for. The gentle and sensitive companionship of an empathic stance… provides illumination and healing. In such situations deep understanding is, I believe, the most precious gift one can give to another."
— from A Way of Being, 1980
"I have found the greater the degree of congruence of experience, awareness, and communication on the part of one individual, the more the ensuing relationship will involve: a tendency toward reciprocal communication; a tendency toward more mutually accurate understanding; improved psychological adjustment and functioning in both parties; mutual satisfaction in the relationship."
— from A Theory of Therapy, Personality and Interpersonal Relationships, 1959
"I believe it will have become evident why, for me, adjectives such as happy, contented, blissful, enjoyable, do not seem quite appropriate to any general description of this process I have called the good life… I believe they would be perceived as by-products of the directions I have described."
— from On Becoming a Person, 1961
All quotes by Carl Rogers (245)
The only way to be truly helpful is to be truly yourself.
The goal of education is the facilitation of learning.
The person who is truly open to experience is the person who is truly free.
The self is not a fixed entity, but a fluid and changing process.
The more accurately the therapist is able to perceive the client's feelings and meanings, the more effective the therapy will be.
The capacity for self-direction is present in every individual.
The most effective way to deal with conflict is to understand the other person's frame of reference.
The only true authority is the authority of one's own experience.
The core of the human being is positive and trustworthy.
The purpose of therapy is not to solve problems, but to help the individual grow and develop so that he can cope with problems more effectively.
The only way to understand another person is to try to see the world through their eyes.
The more deeply I can understand and accept myself, the more deeply I can understand and accept others.
The process of therapy is essentially a process of re-education of the self.
The therapist's task is to create a climate in which the client can feel safe enough to explore his or her own experience.
The fully functioning person is not a 'finished product' but a person in process.
The only way to be truly helpful is to be truly present.
The most effective way to help another person is to listen to them with understanding and acceptance.
The only true security is the security of being oneself.
The more I can be myself in the relationship, the more I can help the other person to be himself.
The capacity for growth and change is inherent in all human beings.
Contemporaries of Carl Rogers
Other Psychologys born within 50 years of Carl Rogers (1902–1987).