Carl Rogers: Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic Psychologist Carl Rogers concocted the idea of a Phenomenal Field, which is the totality of an individual’s subjective experiences. Inside one’s Phenomenal Field are parents, pets, loved ones, friends, significant others, college memories, great achievements, and even select to day-to-day experiences. Inside my Phenomenal Field, one would find: my boyfriend Daniel, my mother and father, the yearbook award I won my senior year for being editor-in-chief, my plaque for 4 years of dedication to the Hersey Speech team, my Grandma Gretel, and my dogs Zoë and Sadie. Along with those memories are acceptance to Roosevelt, and admissions into the Honors Program and PTK. All those people, awards, and accomplishments are just a few of the things I pride myself in and would be found in my Phenomenal Field. The thought process behind Rogers’ method was, as a therapist, Rogers would have to become immersed within the client’s Phenomenal Field; put himself in their shoes so to say, and get their perspectives along with past experiences in order to fully comprehend their being.

Rogers later went on to coin the term self-concept. The self-concept is a conscious awareness of one’s personal identity; it is also a portion of the Phenomenal Field. The self-concept is the (1) value of one’s own personal experiences and (2) what is assimilated or taken over from another. An example of valuing my own personal experiences would be my love for public speaking which I did for 4 year on Speech Team and later realizing that I wanted to be a teacher and public speak the rest of my life (despite the fact my parents wanted me to be a doctor)! An example of taking something from another person is my friend Melissa; she is really into show tunes and therefore after being exposed to that particular type of music for so long, I began to like show tunes as well.

The most superlative difference that Rogers explored was the concept of congruence vs. incongruence. Rogers stated that the personality is like a triangle made up of the real self, the perceived self, and ideal self. According to Rogers, when there is a good fit between all three components, the person has congruence. This is a healthy state of being and helps people continue to progress toward self-actualization; having a self-concept and behavior that matches. Incongruence is having a self-concept and behavior that does not match. One maintains incongruence by (1) denial of experiences, (2) distortion of experiences, and (3) subception (or subliminal perception). Incongruence leads to anxiety; the greater the incongruence, the greater the anxiety. Rogers went on to list four basic needs, which determine whether one becomes congruent or incongruent. The 4 basic needs according to Rogers are (1) maintenance (food clothing, shelter), (2) enhancement (growth and development), (3) Unconditional Positive Regard, and (4) Positive Self Regard. If these four basic needs are met, a person will become congruent.

Now, numbers 1 and 2 of the four basic needs are simple enough. But, what exactly are Unconditional Positive Regard and Positive Self Regard? Unconditional Positive Regard is an if / then statement. An example is “if you do your homework, then I will love you.” Conditional Self Regard is Unconditional Positive Regards evil nemesis. A child brought up in a family that utilized Unconditional Positive Regard would hear such phrases as “I love you, however, I don’t love your actions.” The child would be taught that their behavior is bad and that they are loved. A congruent individual will age to be a fully functioning person. A fully functioning person has the characteristics of (1) openness to experience, (2) existential living, (3) creativity, and (4) genuineness, congruence, and authenticity. Genuineness is a person who shares intimated details willingly, is non-defensive, and is perceived as not playing a role or not a plastic person.

The therapeutic approach for Psychotherapy Rogers used was Client-Centered Therapy. Rogers did not entitle his therapy “Patient”-Centered Therapy because of the power difference. In Client-Centered Therapy, it is the responsibility of the client to figure out what is wrong and make the changes. With the word “patient” in the title, it alludes to the notion that the therapist has the power and authority to “fix” the broken patient. Rogers employed three conditions that were necessary for therapeutic change. His three conditions were (1) empathy / empathetic listening, (2) acceptance (UPR), and (3) authenticity (the therapist must be almost congruent).

Rogers’ theory also taught me who I want to be: not my parents. When I bring a child into this world, I do not want to love them only if they clean their room, or only if they get the grades, or only if they have friends that I approve of. I want to love them because they are. I want to give my children Unconditional Positive Regard and not leave them to find Positive Self Regard on their own after years of feeling worthless. I want to teach them the difference between hating them and hating their behaviors.