1. Discuss Carl Rogers' personal history. Rogers favored a nondirective approach because he did not like telling the client what to do. In 1951, he was at the University of Chicago and started his study into client-centered therapy. In 1957, he was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, where he wrote a paper on creating the right climate for change. In 1962, he became very humanistic. He died in 1987, and today, there are not many Rogerians.

2. Discuss personality as seen by Rogers and Piaget. Jean Piaget saw personality from a cognitive development theory perspective, and this was very similar to the 1951 beliefs of Rogers. Piaget's theory had the seven components of scheme, schema, operation, developmental stages (sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational), assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration (trying to rationalize the denial and distortion of experiences). Rogers' theory, in 1968, consisted of: (a) self is a cognitive map of experience and (b) ideal self is a cognitive map of my ideal.

3. Discuss the causes of problems from Rogers' point of view. Problems are caused when: (a) self does not match real experiences due to denial and distortion of experiences, (b) denial and distortion arise because authority figures placed external conditions of worth on the child (and authority figures still place external conditions of worth on individuals), (c) an inaccurate self-concept creates anxiety, (d) anxiety causes defenses and symptoms, and (e) the same process is true for the self-concept/ideal self discrepancy. We can also have problems when we do not live up to our ideal self.

4. Discuss the theory of therapy from Rogers' point of view. The goal is a more accurate self-concept. To do this, the therapist must remove all external conditions of worth, which maintain denial and distortion. Then, the client can give them up. Rogers cannot tell the client what to do. He must just accept them as they are. The therapist must convey three essential attitudes, which are genuineness (I'll tell you the truth), empathy (I see things from your point of view), and unconditional positive regard (UPR) or acceptance (I know you, tell you the truth, and still accept you). This will let the client admit what they have denied and undistort the experiences that they have distorted.

5. Discuss the techniques of therapy from Rogers' point of view. The techniques are: (a) positive listening (reflection of content, paraphrasing, and summarization), (b) interpretive (reflection of feeling), and (c) whatever you want to do is okay.

				Tom of Bethany

Back To TLEE's Home Page

Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews

Lesson 21. Marital Therapies: Psychoanalytic, Family Systems

 

Send email to: tlee6040@aol.com