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)
We are, in fact, dealing with a process, not a static entity.
The most potent force for change in the world is the individual's own capacity for self-direction.
The core of the therapeutic relationship is a relationship of trust.
The person-centered approach is based on the premise that human beings are inherently good and capable of self-direction.
When I try to be something I am not, I lose contact with myself and with others.
The fully functioning person is a person who is open to experience, lives existentially, and trusts his or her own organismic valuing process.
The client-centered approach is a way of being, not a set of techniques.
The most effective learning is discovery learning.
The human being is a forward-moving organism.
The only true security a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
The person-centered approach is a philosophy of life, not just a theory of therapy.
The core conditions of therapy are congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy.
To be fully human is to be open to all of one's experience, to be aware of one's feelings, and to be able to express them freely.
The individual has within himself vast resources for self-understanding, for altering his self-concept, his attitudes, and his self-directed behavior.
The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
The goal of education is to facilitate learning, not to transmit knowledge.
The person-centered approach is a way of being with others, not a way of doing to others.
The more I am open to what is real in me, the more I can be open to what is real in others.
The most important learning is that which is self-initiated and self-evaluated.
The client-centered approach is based on a profound respect for the individual's capacity for self-healing and growth.
Contemporaries of Carl Rogers
Other Psychologys born within 50 years of Carl Rogers (1902–1987).