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Carl Rogers' name sounds innocuous maybe because of an unconscious association with the mild -mannered Mr. Rogers from the television series. The communication theorist, Rogers, is a surprising character who offers the world a radical picture of human connection that serves to shake up cozy paradigms. Reading his work has jarred my world. Carl Rogers, according to Timothy Leary, is not what he appears to be but is a “Libertarian Humanist Anarchist cross-dressing as a gentle, dignified, sober scholar” (Leary, 1996) . His ideas resonate with the hearts of people who long for true community, to be heard, to be unjudged. Rogers admits of his own desire to be heard, “I can testify that when you are in psychological distress and someone really hears you without passing judgment on you, without trying to take responsibility for you, without trying to mold you, it feels damn good” (Rogers, 1980) .
Authentic, deep human connection has a magnetic and healing effect. Experiencing the other in honesty and awareness is a profoundly sacred encounter between “essentially spiritual beings” (Leijssen, 2008) . Energy, enthusiasm, and hope for human transcendence characterize the writings and ideas of Carl Rogers. Many of his words leave the reader with a sense of centeredness and quiet. He presents to the world a vision for the uncharted adventures of human engagement and release of human potential. His ideas that were to him “all shiny and glowing with potentiality” he discovered “can to another person be a great threat. (Kirschenbaum,H., Henderson,V., 1989) . Howard Kirschenbaum, Rogers’ biographer and interpreter, claims him as “America’s most influential counselor and psychotherapist—and one of its most prominent psychologists.”
References
Leary, T. (1996). Commentary. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(2), 301-307.
Leijssen, M. (2008). Encountering the Sacred: Person-centered therapyu as a spiritual practice. Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, 219-225.
Rogers, C. (1980). A way of being. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/video/m30jsZx_Ngs-carl-rogers-gloria-counselling-pt.aspx
I've a long professional history as a psychotherapist and attempted to follow the lead of Dr. Rogers in my practice. Only recently did it occur to me to consider that his approach to human interaction was one of the best models possible for anarchist communities.
ReplyDeleteGiven that some years ago I evolved into ethical veganism, it is heartening to consider that his approach also lends itself wonderfully to interacting with all sentient beings, not just the human ones.
Thanks for posting this. Most students of psychotherapy were taught the Rogerian approach to client interaction because it was supposedly easy to understand and unlikely to do harm. Few apprehended the depth of radicalism involved in his teachings. I found his therapeutic approach to be of the utmost difficulty, not least because it requires authenticity as well as avoidance of manipulation, authority and coercion of any shape, manner or form. It is profoundly demanding of the practitioner in the requirement for persistent genuineness...and extremely rewarding for the exact same reason.