Personal Growth
According to humanistic psychology, there is more to life than simply having
all of your immediate needs met. Suppose tomorrow you inherited several
million dollars, settled down with someone who will admire and love you
always, and were promised a long and healthy life. Would you be happy?
For how long? Humanistic theorists maintain that people are not content
when their immediate needs have been met. Rather, they are motivated to
continue their development in a positive manner. If left alone, unencumberedby life ’s difficulties, we eventually progress toward some ultimately satisfying
state of being. Carl Rogers referred to this state as becoming a fully func-
tioning individual. Abraham Maslow (1970) borrowed the term self-
actualization to describe it: We become self-actualized as we become “more
what one idiosyncratically is, to become everything that one is capable ofbecoming ”(p. 46).
This growth process is assumed to be the natural manner of human de-
velopment. That is, we progress toward this satisfying state unless certain
problems prevent us from doing so. When these obstacles block our growth,
humanistic psychotherapy can be helpful. However, the therapist does not
put clients back on track. Only the client can do that. Rather, the therapist
allows clients to overcome their problems and continue growing. Rogers
describes this ever-unfolding of one ’s self as a “process of becoming. ”
CARL ROGERS
Humanistic psychology could ask for no better example of how to live
life fully than the career of Carl Rogers. Rogers pioneered humanistic psycho-
therapy and was the first therapist to popularize a “person-centered ”ap-
proach (Rogers, 1951). He later became an important figure in the growth of
encounter groups as a means of therapy (Rogers, 1970) and expanded what
he learned from psychotherapy into a general theory of personality (Rogers,1961). Late in his career, Rogers applied the humanistic approach to social is-
sues such as education and world peace (Rogers, 1969, 1977, 1982). For
many people, Rogers ’optimistic view of humanity and belief in each indivi-
dual’s potential for fulfillment and happiness provide a pleasant alternative
to some of the approaches to personality covered thus far.
The Fully Functioning Person
“The good life, ”Rogers said, “is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction,
not a destination ”(1961, p. 186). Like other humanistic theorists, Rogers
maintained that we naturally strive to reach an optimal sense of satisfaction
with our lives. He called people who reach this goal fully functioning.
So what are fully functioning people like? Rogers identified several char-
acteristics. Fully functioning people are open to their experiences. Rather
than falling into familiar patterns, they look to see what life will throw their
way. Related to this, fully functioning people try to live each moment as itcomes. The idea is to experience life, not just pass through.“Whether one calls it
a growth tendency, a
drive toward self-actualization, or a
forward-moving
directional tendency,it is the mainspring of
life.”
Carl RogersCarl Rogers 279