Life and Personality Theory of Carl Rogers

Kirschenbaum (1979) points out that Carl Rogers, unlike the better known psychologists with whom his name is associated, such as Maslow, Perls, Buhler, and Fromm, is a product of midwestern America rather than an immigrant background, and he has roots that extend far back into American history (p. 1). Rogers began his work in the twenties as a practicing psychologist. He himself has noted the course his work has taken in the years since: "I have made diagnostic studies of children and have developed recommendations for treatment of their problems; in 1928 I developed an inventory of the inner world of childhood which--may heaven forgive me--is still being sold by the thousands. I have counseled with parents, students, and other adults; I have carried on intensive psychotherapy with troubled individuals--normal neurotic, and psychotic; I have engaged in and sponsored research in psychotherapy and

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en and their parents in trouble. Rogers worked with an increasing number of troubled children referred by dozens of social agencies throughout the community, and these children represented every behavior and personality problem imaginable: enuresis, stealing, lying, extreme sex curiosity, sex perversions, sadism toward animals or younger children, extreme withdrawal or aggressiveness, incest, stammering, eating dirt and worms, and numerous other comparable problems (Kirschenbaum, 1979, pp. 63-5). Rogers utilized several different treatment approaches, though his own interests moved toward intensive psychotherapy during his years at Rochester; he was also much impressed with the power of environmental therapy. Kirschenbaum (1979) feels that Rogers' work at Rochester became the basis for all his subsequent work, with the central idea being to support his theory that human beings, like animals and plants, have an innate "drive toward health" which can be nurtured by the right type of environment (pp. 75-6). For Rogers, the most basic drive of the human being was seen as that toward self-actualization. This drive may come into conflict at times with the need for approval or positive regard from the self and others. The child
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Approximate Word count = 1923
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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