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 person-centered approach is a way of being, not a set of techniques.
I have come to feel that the only learning which significantly influences behavior is self-discovered, self-appropriated learning.
The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it.
The greatest need in the world is for people to be heard, to be understood, to be accepted.
I have found that people are just as wonderful as flowers, if you just look at them from the right perspective.
To be with another in this fashion means that for the time being, you lay aside your own views and values in order to enter another's world without prejudice.
The more I am open to the realities in me and in the other person, the less do I find myself wishing to rush in to 'fix things.'
The facilitation of significant learning rests upon certain attitudinal qualities in the personal relationship between facilitator and learner.
The fully functioning person is a person who is continually striving to realize his or her full potential.
The major barrier to mutual interpersonal understanding is our very natural tendency to judge, to evaluate, to approve or disapprove, the other person's statement or behavior.
I find that the more I can be genuine in the relationship, the more helpful I am.
We cannot teach another person directly; we can only facilitate his learning.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
Growth occurs when one person is in contact with another who is congruent, empathic, and unconditionally positive.
The only way to be truly happy is to be yourself.
The self is a fluid and changing structure, not a fixed entity.
I have learned that I cannot be a therapist to another person if I am not a therapist to myself.
The goal of therapy is not to solve problems, but to help people grow.
The more I am able to be myself, the more I can help others to be themselves.
The most important thing in life is to be true to yourself.
Contemporaries of Carl Rogers
Other Psychologys born within 50 years of Carl Rogers (1902–1987).