Fully functioning people learn to trus t their feelings. If something feels
right, they ’ll probably do it. They aren ’t insensitive to the needs of others,
but they aren’ t overly concerned with meeting the standards of behavior so-
ciety sets for them. If a fully functioning woman wants to cut her hair or
quit her job, she probably won ’t stop herself just because others might notCarl R. Rogers
1902 –1987
Like the inevitable unfolding
of one ’s true self that he
promoted, Carl Rogers ’
interest in science and hisconcern for people carried
him from Midwest farm boyto leader of the humanisticmovement in psychology.
Carl was a shy but very intelligent boy growing up inIllinois. He had a particular fondness for science, andby the time he was 13 had developed a reputation asthe local expert on biology and agriculture.
Ironically, the Rogers household was anything but
warm and affectionate. Openly expressing emotions,
later a key feature of Rogerian therapy, was notallowed. As a result, like two of his siblings, Carldeveloped an ulcer by age 15.
Rogers went to his mother and father ’s alma
mater, the University of Wisconsin, in 1919 to studyagriculture. He planned a career in farming but soonfound agriculture unchallenging. He took acorrespondence course in psychology one summer butfound it boring. He finally settled on religious studies.When he left Wisconsin with his new wife, Helen, in1924, he went to Union Theological Seminary in NewYork to prepare for a career as a minister.
Two developments in New York changed the
direction of his life. First, intensely studying theologycaused him to question his own religious beliefs. “The
Christian religion satisfies very different psychologicalneeds in different men, ”he observed. “The important
thing is not the religion but the man ”(as cited in
Kirschenbaum, 1979, p. 45). The second developmentwas a renewed introduction to psychology. While atthe seminary, Rogers and several classmates tookpsychology courses across the street at ColumbiaUniversity. These classmates included TheodoreNewcomb and Ernest Hilgard, who also went on to
become important figures in psychology.
A career in theology promised Rogers an
opportunity to help people, but his faith continued towane. “It would be a horrible thing to have to profess
to a set of beliefs in order to remain in one ’s
profession, ”he said. “I wanted to find a field in which I
could be sure my freedom of thought would not be
limited ”(as cited in Kirschenbaum, 1979, pp. 51 –52).
Much to his parents ’dismay, Rogers left the church to
pursue graduate study in psychology at Columbia.
After graduation, Rogers worked at a child
guidance clinic in Rochester, New York. Later hejoined the faculty at Ohio State University and theUniversity of Chicago before returning to theUniversity of Wisconsin in 1957. Throughout this time,
Rogers battled with the established Freudian approachto psychotherapy and the dominant behavioral
influence in academia. But in time he began to win
many of these battles. When the AmericanPsychological Association handed out its first annualaward for distinguished scientific contribution in 1956,Carl Rogers was the recipient.
In 1963 Rogers moved to La Jolla, California,
where he founded the Center for Studies of the Person.The thread that ties Rogers ’career together is his
genuine concern for people. “Rogers seemed ordinary, ”
a colleague wrote. “He was not a sparkling
conversationalist. [But] he would certainly listen toyou, and with real interest ”(Gendlin, 1988, p. 127).
Rogers devoted the last 15 years of his life to the issuesof social conflict and world peace. Even in his 80s heled workshops and communication groups in suchplaces as the Soviet Union and South Africa. Rogerscontinued to write extensively and to shape thediscipline of psychology until his death in February1987.
Roger Ressmeyer/Roger Ressmeyer-Starlight/CORBIS280 CHAPTER 11 The Humanistic Approach