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Part III    Humanistic/Existential Theories312
seminary toattend Teachers College onafull-time basis withamajor inclinical and
educational psychology. From thatpoint on,henever returned toformal religion. 
Hislifewould nowtakeanewdirection—toward psychology andeducation.
In1927, Rogers served asafellow atthenewInstitute forChild Guidance in
NewYork Cityandcontinued towork there while completing hisdoctoral degree. 
Attheinstitute, hegained anelementary knowledge ofFreudian psychoanalysis, but
hewasnotmuch influenced byit,eventhough hetrieditoutinhispractice. Healso
attended alecture byAlfred Adler, whoshocked Rogers andtheother staffmembers 
withhiscontention thatanelaborate casehistory wasunnecessary forpsychotherapy.
Rogers received aPhDfrom Columbia in1931 afterhaving already moved 
toNewYork towork withtheRochester Society forthePrevention ofCruelty to
Children. During theearly phase ofhisprofessional career, Rogers wasstrongly influ-
enced bytheideas ofOttoRank, whohadbeen oneofFreud’s closest associates 
before hisdismissal from Freud’s inner circle. In1936, Rogers invited Rank toRoch -
ester fora3-day seminar topresent hisnewpost-Freudian practice ofpsychotherapy. 
Rank’s lectures provided Rogers withthenotion thattherapy isanemotional growth-
producing relationship, nurtured bythetherapist’s empathic listening anduncondi -
tional acceptance oftheclient.
Rogers spent 12years atRochester, working atajobthatmight easily have
isolated himfrom asuccessful academic career. Hehadharbored adesire toteach 
inauniversity afterarewarding teaching experience during thesummer of1935 at
Teachers College andafterhaving taught courses insociology attheUniversity of
Rochester. During thisperiod, hewrote hisfirstbook, The Clinical Treatment of the 
Problem Child (1939), thepublication ofwhich ledtoateaching offer from Ohio 
State University. Despite hisfondness forteaching, hemight haveturned down the
offer ifhiswifehadnoturged himtoaccept andifOhio State hadnotagreed tostart
himatthetop,withtheacademic rankoffullprofessor. In1940, attheageof38,
Rogers moved toColumbus tobegin anewcareer.
Pressed byhisgraduate students atOhio State, Rogers gradually conceptual -
izedhisownideas onpsychotherapy, notintending them tobeunique andcertainly 
notcontroversial. These ideas wereputforth inCounseling and Psychotherapy, pub-
lished in1942. Inthisbook, which wasareaction totheolder approaches totherapy, 
Rogers minimized thecauses ofdisturbances andtheidentification andlabeling of
disorders. Instead, heemphasized theimportance ofgrowth within thepatient (called 
byRogers the“client”).
In1944, aspartofthewareffort, Rogers moved backtoNewYork asdirector 
ofcounseling services fortheUnited Services Organization. After 1year, hetooka
position attheUniversity ofChicago, where heestablished acounseling center and
wasallowed more freedom todoresearch ontheprocess andoutcome ofpsycho -
therapy. Theyears 1945–1957 atChicago werethemost productive andcreative of
hiscareer. Histherapy evolved from onethatemphasized methodology, orwhat in
theearly 1940s wascalled the“nondirective” technique, tooneinwhich thesole
emphasis wasontheclient–therapist relationship. Always thescientist, Rogers, along 
withhisstudents andcolleagues, produced groundbreaking research ontheprocess 
andeffectiveness ofpsychotherapy.Final PDF to printer