12 Quotes & Sayings By Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers is a pioneer in the field of humanistic psychology and a major force in our culture today. He was born in 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1930 he graduated from Western Reserve University with a degree in psychology. In 1935 he received a degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art and in 1937 he graduated from Case School of Applied Science with a degree in social work Read more

In 1938 he completed a postgraduate year of training at the University of Chicago. In 1945 he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin and began teaching at Adelphi University that year, where he served as chairman from 1963 to 1969 when he retired from that position.

In 1950 Dr. Rogers began his career as an independent clinical psychologist where he pioneered the concept of "unconditional positive regard," which is one of his most significant contributions to psychology and human development. In 1958 Dr.

Rogers created the Theory-Centered Psychotherapy movement, which emphasizes the patient's active participation in their own therapy process, which allows them to make contributions to their own growth and development in a positive way, rather than being passive recipients of a therapist's interpretation or suggestions. Dr. Rogers died on October 25, 1983 at age 76 while on vacation in Switzerland.

1
Real communication occurs...when we listen with understanding. What does this mean? It means to see the expressed idea and attitude from the other person's point of view, to sense how it feels to him, to achieve his frame of reference in regard to the thing he is talking about. Carl Rogers
2
Hearing has consequences. When I truly hear a person and the meanings that are important to him at that moment, hearing not simply his words, but him, and when I let him know that I have heard his own private personal meanings, many things happen. There is first of all a grateful look. He feels released. He wants to tell me more about his world. He surges forth in a new sense of freedom. He becomes more open to the process of change. I have often noticed that the more deeply I hear the meanings of the person, the more there is that happens. Almost always, when a person realize he has been deeply heard, his eyes moisten. I think in some real sense he is weeping for joy. It is as though he were saying, "Thank God, somebody heard me. Someone knows what it's like to be me. Carl Rogers
3
Although the client-centered approach had its origin purely within the limits of the psychological clinic, it is proving to have implications, often of a startling nature, for very diverse fields of effort. Carl Rogers
4
Growth occurs when individuals confront problems, struggle to master them, and through that struggle develop new aspects of their skills, capacities, views about life. Carl Rogers
5
Life, at its best, is a flowing, changing process in which nothing is fixed. Carl Rogers
6
I have come to recognize that being trustworthy does not demand that I be rigidly consistent but that I be dependably real... Can I be expressive enough as a person that what I am will be communicated unambiguously? Carl Rogers
7
The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am then I can change. Carl Rogers
8
I believe that the testing of the student's achievements in order to see if he meets some criterion held by the teacher, is directly contrary to the implications of therapy for significant learning. Carl Rogers
9
The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination. Carl Rogers
10
In a person who is open to experience each stimulus is freely relayed through the nervous system, without being distorted by any process of defensiveness. Carl Rogers
11
The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it. Carl Rogers