Carl Rogers, biography of a humanist

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) is considered one of the psychotherapists of the 20th century, equaling figures such as Sigmund Freud in transcendence.. Although he has his detractors, what few dare to question is the impact of his work on the history of psychology.

This psychotherapist developed his work at a time when you could practically only choose between behaviorism and psychoanalysis. However, in practice, many psychotherapists found that the two paradigms were not always effective. Rogers opened a new path that is still valid today..

Along with Abraham Maslow, Rogers is considered the founder of humanistic psychology., an approach based on empathy and absolute respect for the people who come to therapy. His model is known as “client-centered therapy” or “person-centered therapy.”

Carl Rogers and his origins

Carl Rogers was born on January 8, 1902 in Oak Park (Illinois, United States), a suburb near Chicago. He was the fourth of six siblings. His father was a prestigious civil engineer and his mother a traditional housewife. There was a strong religious tendency in his family. which Rogers defined as “very strict and uncompromising”.

He learned to read very early and that is why he began his primary education in second grade. When I was 12, the family He moved to a farm 30 miles from Chicago.. Apparently, her parents were seeking to keep the boys away from “the temptations of suburban life.”

Carl spent his entire adolescence there and He found two of the great interests that he would maintain throughout his life: butterflies and agriculture. It is said that this was his first approach to science. Otherwise, he was a rather solitary young man, quite independent and quite disciplined.

From agricultural work to psychology

In 1919, he began studies in agricultural sciences at the University of Wisconsin. However, at the age of 2 he began studying history. Later, he began his training in theology in a seminary, since he believed he had a priestly vocation. In 1922 he was selected to participate in an international conference of the World Student Christian Federation, in China.

The event lasted six months, during which changes began to occur in Rogers’ ideas. In particular, The approach to Eastern culture led him to doubt some basic aspects of his religion. Upon returning to the United States he resumed his history studies and graduated.

Shortly afterward he would marry Hellen Eliot, whom he had known since she was a child. She also attended a new theological seminary in New York, later undertaking her studies in psychopedagogy at Columbia University. He obtained his doctorate in psychology in 1931. and since then he had a brilliant career in this area.

Some contributions that have marked the evolution of psychology

Rogers was initially greatly influenced by the great thinkers of his time. She began her clinical practice in the Department of Child Studies of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. There he felt that theoretical paradigms were not always so effective in certain specific cases.

After 12 years of working with juvenile delinquents, he taught several courses at the University of Rochester. In 1940 he became a professor at Ohio University and by then he was already aware that he had developed a new model of psychotherapeutic care. So, his first publications appeared, which aroused criticism, but also a lot of interest.

Dr. Rogers prescribed three keys for successful psychotherapy: empathic understanding, unconditional positive acceptance and congruence. This last one is the most important and also the most complex. It assumes that there is not much distance between what someone is and what they should be. Or, in other words, a synchronization between what one does and what is most authentic about oneself.

Rogers not only turned psychotherapy on its head, but He also developed a theory of personality and proposed the model of “non-directivity” in pedagogy.. He wrote until the end of his life, in 1987. His most notable work was Therapy focused on the clientpublished in 1951. He received numerous distinctions and is remembered today as one of the greats of psychology.

You might be interested…