Carl Rogers for President

Person-Centered psychotherapy rests on three simple constructs: Unconditional Positive Regard, Congruence, and Empathy.

And that’s it. Those are the necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change.

The mind rebels (the cognitive behaviorists rebel). Surely there must be more to it! What about reality checking, questioning, focusing, mutual goal setting, confrontations and influencing techniques of all kinds?

In response, Carl Rogers offers one of the most influential and powerful ideas in the history of psychotherapeutic theory: The Relationship Heals.

The relationship heals. Anything that interferes with or complicates the relationship slows down the healing. The relationship heals because the client, every client, wants to heal. Human beings, Rogers tells us, are, in fact, good, constructive, and trustworthy.

This is not to say they don’t do atrocious things. Rogers was no stranger to violent offenders. He worked with all kinds. More than that, he opened his heart, and he opened it wide, to all kinds.

So, if we’re actually good, what makes us bad?

Think of a plant. A plant with proper soil, sunlight, and water grows strong. It exhibits an inherent vitality and coherence. It’s beautiful. A plant in bad soil, with inconsistent light and inadequate water, looks sad and tangled, deflated, bent.

So too with the person. The person who finds herself in adequate conditions flourishes, she “actualizes.” When conditions are bad – when her actualization process is interrupted by a paucity of love and support, or explicitly challenged by damaging cultural norms – the mind splits. She loses contact with that inner compass which would make her – which is – bright and whole. She gets depressed or blows up city hall.

Psychotherapy, then, is the process of putting the person back in touch with himself. The therapist simply stays present with the client, fully present and attentive, with warmth and genuineness. The therapist repeats back what he hears in paraphrases; he reflects feelings. Through that resurrective process the client comes to find what is true for him. He becomes a whole person in the world, a person who cares deeply for himself and for others. He connects.

I love this vision. And I love Carl Rogers. Where many psychologists share ideas, Rogers shared himself. His writing is as much a manifestation of a human heart as a brilliant mind. And he did great research. He was the first to record sessions, study transcripts, and examine what really worked for clients, and what didn’t.

So I say, Carl Rogers for President! Elect Carl Rogers! Short of that, work from the heart, share yourself, be true, and love the world. Amen. Over and out.

P.S. To see a beautiful example of Carl Rogers in action, click here.