On Becoming a Person

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For Rogers (1967), a person who is in the process of self-actualizing, actively exploring potentials and abilities and experiencing a match between real and ideal selves is a fully functioning person. In some instances, behavior may be brought about by organic experiences and needs that have not been symbolized. Such behavior may be inconsistent with the structure of the self, but in such instances the individual does not "own" the behavior. Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and maintained that we behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation. “As no one else can know how we perceive, we are the best experts on ourselves.” Creativity: creative thinking and risk-taking are features of a person’s life. A person does not play safe all the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek new experiences.

On one hand, Maslow portrayed self-actualizers as comfortable with uncertainty, doubt and vagueness. Yet he also stated they are rarely unsure or conflicted (Winston, 2018). As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a result of evaluative interaction with others, the structure of the self is formed—an organized, fluid but consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the "I" or the "me", together with values attached to these concepts. Consequently, it’s the job of a psychotherapist to listen to his/her patient, rather than trying to fix him/her. Carl Rogers took these features of a good relationship and applied them to his work as a psychologist and counselor. The result was a revolutionary way of dealing with a person's issues that overturned the traditional psychologist-patient model, and which had broader implications for successful human interaction. The Good Life Is About Becoming, and Becoming Is About Fulfilling Your Potential Humanist Psychology Is Existentialist PsychologyRogers believed that every person could achieve their goal. This means that the person is in touch with the here and now, his or her subjective experiences and feelings, continually growing and changing. Carl Rogers is widely credited as one of the founders of the humanist (client-centered approach) to psychology. Self-actualization is only possible if there is congruence between how an individual sees themselves ( self-image) and their ideal self (the way they want to be or think they should be). Venter, Henry. (2017). Self-Transcendence: Maslow’s Answer to Cultural Closeness. Journal of Innovation Management, 4 (4), 3-7. Hence the child is not loved for the person he or she is, but on condition that he or she behaves only in ways approved by the parent(s).

He believed that the experience of being understood and valued gives us the freedom to grow, while pathology generally arises from attempting to earn others’ positive regard rather than following an ‘inner compass’. According to Rogers, we want to feel, experience, and behave in ways which are consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self. In fact, when many people wrote to Maslow describing themselves as self-actualized persons, Maslow doubted whether he had sufficiently articulated his theory (Steven, 1975). On one hand, he would characterize them in a certain way, only to provide a contradictory example shortly after. For instance, he described them as accepting reality yet noted they display resignation. Or as free from excessive guilt yet not immune to anxiety and self-criticism (Winston, 2018). Gleitman, Henry & Fridlund, Alan & Riesberg, Daniel. (2004). Psychology (6th Ed.) . New York: Norton.

In his book, “The Organism: A Holistic Approach to Biology Derived from Pathological Data in Man”, Goldstein argued that self-actualization involves the tendency to actualize an organism’s individual capacities as much as possible (Goldstein, 2000). Client-Centered Therapy (1951) further heightened his profile, and in 1954 he received the American Psychological Association's first Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award. In 1964 he moved to La Jolla, California, for a position at the Western Behavioral Studies Institute, and remained in California until his death in 1987. Central to Rogers’ personality theory is the notion of self or self-concept. This is “the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself.” He/she needs to see you as someone in the process of becoming, and not as a finished product; in that way, only he can help you: not by dealing with your past problems, but by dealing with the possibilities that lie in your future; and they are all but endless. The Laws of Human Nature: Rogers’ Shift

They can accept what cannot change yet have the courage to change what they can, displaying wisdom in discerning the difference (Winston, 2018). He is increasingly listening to the deepest recesses of his psychological and emotional being, and finds himself increasingly willing to be, with greater accuracy and depth, that self which he most truly is”.

I believe,” concludes Rogers, “that this statement holds whether I am speaking of my relationship with a client, with a group of students or staff members, with my family or children. It seems to me that we have here a general hypothesis which offers exciting possibilities for the development of creative, adaptive, autonomous persons.” Becoming a Person Rogers was born on January 8, 1902, in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His father, Walter A. Rogers, was a civil engineer, a Congregationalist by denomination. His mother, Julia M. Cushing, [5] [6] was a homemaker and devout Baptist. Carl was the fourth of their six children. [7] Namely, that “the innermost core of man’s nature, the deepest layers of his personality, the base of his ‘animal nature,’ is positive in nature – is basically socialized, forward-moving, rational and realistic.” For Rogers, fully functioning people are well-adjusted, well-balanced, and interesting to know. Often such people are high achievers in society.

In his training as a psychologist, Rogers naturally absorbed the idea that he controlled the relationship with the client, and that it was his job to analyze and treat the patient as if he or she was an object. But he came to the conclusion that it was more effective to actually let the patient, or client, guide the direction of the process. This was the beginning of his famous client-centered (or person-centered) form of therapy. To understand that, we should probably introduce you to the idea of “confirming the other” developed by Martin Buber, an existentialist philosopher and mystic from the University of Jerusalem. However, he did compile (and edited) them after he had discovered that he wasn’t writing for psychotherapists, but for “ people – nurses, housewives, people in the business world, priests, ministers, teachers, youth.” And the safe environment can be created only within the “genuineness and transparency” of a good and trusting relationship.Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have a strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed economically, academically, or athletically. For others, it may be expressed creatively in paintings, pictures, or inventions.