Carl Rogers: Pioneer of Humanistic Psychology

Categories: Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers was an American psychologist and the co-founder of humanistic psychology with his work with Abraham Maslow. Rogers main contribution was in clinical therapy and applications of humanism, he started person-centered psychology.Carl Ransom Rogers, he was born January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois and died on February 4, 1987 in La Jolla, California. Carl was one of six children born to father Walter Rogers, a civil engineer and mother Julia Rogers a homemaker and devout Christian. Rogers was a very smart child and began to read before the age five so was able to skip kindergarten and grade one completely ( he was very determined and bright throughout his entire life.

Carl had many career changes before he became a psychologist. His first choices of career were started at the university of Wisconsin where he took agriculture studies, followed by receiving a bachelor's degree in history in 1924. Rogers then enrolled himself at the Union Theological Seminary, but after two years he was on to another field.

Get quality help now
KarrieWrites
KarrieWrites
checked Verified writer

Proficient in: America

star star star star 5 (339)

“ KarrieWrites did such a phenomenal job on this assignment! He completed it prior to its deadline and was thorough and informative. ”

avatar avatar avatar
+84 relevant experts are online
Hire writer

The teachers collage at Columbia University was his last and finally stop, there he completed his M.A in 1928 and his Ph. D in 1931. During his time at Columbia University while working on his doctorate he took place in a child study at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, where he also became the director of. After getting his Ph. D Carl Rogers worked in the academic field for quite some time working in different Universities lecturing and as a professor, in this time he wrote his first books The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child based on his work with distressed children at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was one of these.

Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper
Topic
Number of pages
Email Invalid email

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

"You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy"
Write my paper

You won’t be charged yet!

Thought his career he wrote 19 books and countless articles all involving his humanistic views. Carl Rogers had very similar views on phycology as that of Abraham Maslow, but he added, for a person to "grow", they need an environment that provides them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to and understood). Without these, relationships and healthy personalities will not develop as they should, much like a tree will not grow without sunlight and water.( Rogers believed that for this to work the therapist needed to be very open minded, show support and have no judgment toward the client, they were to feel like they could talk about anything they thought, felt or experienced without the fear of being judged, the therapist needs to accept the client for who they are, both positive and negative. With Carls beliefs about how a person can grow and self-concept, he believes it starts as a child and is very much influenced by the parenting we get, if a parent shows unconditional love then the child has a greater chance of growing up with a healthy self-concept, and children that feel they have to prove their love to theirs and don't have a good support system, may grow up with low-self esteem and feelings of worthlessness. Carls fully function person theory stated that he thought every person could achieve their goals as long as they were a fully functioning person. He characterized these fully functioning people as; Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions accepted. Negative feelings are not denied, but worked through (rather than resorting to ego defense mechanisms). Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding prejudging and preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate the present, not always looking back to the past or forward to the future (i.e., living for the moment). Trust feelings: feeling, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted. People's own decisions are the right ones, and we should trust ourselves to make the right choices. 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. Fulfilled life: a person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new challenges and experiences. ( Carl Rogers biggest contribution to psychology was his person-centered therapy, he was one of the first to use the term client instead of the term patient. This focuses on the person and not the problem, to help give the client better independence and coping strategies for now and the future to do on their own. In my option Carl helped shape the way therapy is done, it is no longer just based solely around just diagnosing the problem but can now be used to help the client grow and become a fully functional person, that does not have the worry of being judged for being themselves. He changed the way we look at people with mental health problems, we now know that in no way shape or form do we have the right or need to judge someone for the way the feel, the best thing to do is to be there for support and help work through the problems they might have, and I completely agree with this, his theory came at the right time before it was too late, to change the way we view mental health. I read a quote from carl rogers that says the following We cannot change, we cannot move away from what we are, until we thoroughly accept what we are, The change seems to come about almost unnoticed(Google pictures) , this quote seemed to really sum up his views and I thought it was a great quote for life.Citations Why Carl Rogers' Person-Centered Approach Is Still Relevant. (R.D March 22, 2019). Retrieved from S. (1970, January 01). Saul McLeod. Retrieved from Rogers Biography - Life of American Psychologist. (2014, January 03). Retrieved from T. E. (2019, January 31). Carl Rogers. Retrieved from K. (R.D March 22, 2019). Explore the Life and Theories of Carl Rogers. Retrieved from was Carl Rogers? Everything You Need to Know. (R.D March 23, 2019). Retrieved from Melanie KleinMelanie Klein was an Australian born British Psychoanalyst born March 30th, 1882 in Vienna Australia, to middle-class Jewish parents, her father was a dental surgeon and mother was a homemaker, she was the youngest of four children and was their last because she was unplanned and rejected by them. Melanie died on September 22nd, 1960 in London England.After Melanie's mother died in 1914 she looked for treatment for herself to get through her mothers death and the way she was treated as a child, also the death of her brother and sister when she was a younger, this is where she first came in to contact with the field of psychoanalysis, she was seeing Sandor Ferenczi for this treatment from 1914 to 1917, she later divorced her husband around this time. Klein was first wanting to go into the medical field like that of her father but after her own psychoanalysis treatment she was deeply fascinated with this field and became a psychoanalysis herself, even without finishing schooling, specializing in the treatment of children, she was guided and worked under Karl Abraham where he suggested that she try it out on her own children. Melanie Klein was a pioneer in the treatment of children. She was among the first to use psychoanalysis on children and implemented several never-before implemented techniques and tools. ( Unlike Sigmund and Anna Freud who believed that children under seven could not be helped because they couldn't co-operate properly, Melanie believed that children could in fact be helped they just needed the right environment, she came up with the idea to use toys and play as ways for children to express how they are feeling and could be used as a way to control child anxiety. This technique was the foundation to her theories, she talks about it all in the book The Psychoanalysis of Children that she wrote in 1932. Through child's play Melanie also was one of the people to come up with the object relation theory, which emphasizes interactions between individuals; people are the objects in the theory. The theory places special significance on the relationship between a mother and her child, as well as the larger family unit. There is also a strong emphasis in object relations on the ways in which the past can affect the present. ( her lack of education and outlier status as a divorced, single mother, Klein's tenacity for the subject matter allowed her to be a leading psychoanalytic thinker of her time. Throughout her long career working with children, Klein made a lasting impact on the field of psychoanalysis, publishing findings that had previously been deemed unnecessary or impossible be her predecessors. Her work also remains highly relevant, with her theories about object relation being used in textbooks to this day. ( Another interesting fact that I found was that Klein's own daughter Melitta, had opposing views of that of her mother.In my opinion Melanie Klein was an amazing woman in that she accomplished so much for being a woman, divorced and a single mother in a time that would have heavily shamed her for that, and she was still able to create theories that we still use today. I believe that she has helped us advance in child psychology and without her work with child and child's play we might not have been able to have that knowledge needed to help children before it becomes to late for help at all. References Britannica, T. E. (2019, March 26). Melanie Klein. Retrieved from Klein trust. ( R.D 2019, March 25). Retrieved from Klein (1882-1960). ( R.D 2019, March 25). Retrieved from D., Kimball Danika, D., & Engel, K. (2016, March 24). Melanie Klein, the Founding Mother of Children's Psychology. Retrieved from Mary Whiton CalkinsMary Whiton Calkins was an American psychologist born March 30th, 1863 in Hartford, Connecticut to her father a Presbyterian minister and her mother a homemaker, she was the oldest of five children. She was always someone who enjoyed education, even as a child.Mary had a very extensive education, she graduated from Smith College in 1885, was at the University of Leipzig for a short time while in Europe with her family, after she got back she went on to work at Wellesley College in 1887 to teach Greek, she did so well as a teacher she was asked to teach a new course called psychology. In order for Mary to be able to teach psychology it was required of her to have studied the subject for at least one year. There were not many schools that offered a psychology course at that time and even more so that would accept a woman, she got invited by William James at Harvard University to sit in on his lectures, but was not allowed to be a student. After her required time Calkins was still interested in pursuing psychology more, so in 1892 Harvard allowed her to attend but still not as a student but a guest. She completed everything she needed for her Ph.D. But Harvard University refused to give a degree to a woman. During her time at Harvard she was the first person to discover the psychology of selves, she called it a reconciliation between structural and function psychology. ( She also invented the paired association technique which is the pairing of two terms, usually words that are a stimulus and a response. Mary believed that the conscious self was the main and most important focus of psychology.Mary Calkins went on the be the first women to be elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1905, sadly with all her hard work Mary retired as just a research professor.In my option Mary Whiton Calkins made a huge impact of psychology although most people do not recognize that, she paved the path for women all over to go into the field of psychology and by reading about her you get the sense to never give up just because you are a women or different or just not the normal standard person for the job, if you put your mind to it you can achieve it. I think this quote by Mary Calkins really sums up how she was treated for just being a women and possibly the start of how things started to change, "The student trained to reach decisions in the light of logic and of history will be disposed to recognize that, in a democratic country, governed as this is by the suffrage of its citizens, and given over as this is to the principle and practice of educating women, a distinction based on difference of sex is artificial and illogical. This quote shows how I felt about the unfair treatment for women in psychology after I was denied a Ph.D. from Harvard, even though I had met all of the requirements." ( Citations Moazedi, M. L. (R.D. 2019, March 26). Born this day ... Mary Whiton Calkins. Retrieved from Retrieved March 27, 2019, from K. (2018, December 1). The Influence of Mary Whiton Calkins on the Field of Psychology. Retrieved from T. E. (2019, March 26). Mary Whiton Calkins. Retrieved from

Updated: May 03, 2023
Cite this page

Carl Rogers: Pioneer of Humanistic Psychology. (2019, Aug 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/carl-rogers-was-an-american-psychologist-and-the-cofounder-of-humanistic-psychology-essay

Carl Rogers: Pioneer of Humanistic Psychology essay
Live chat  with support 24/7

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

get help with your assignment