Carl Rogers: The Humanistic Psychodynamic Approach

Carl Rogers was a pioneer in psychology, particularly humanistic psychology where he centered his career on a person-centered approach to therapy. His unique approach was used to understand personality and human relationships. Rogers figured that people were trying to strive for satisfaction within their lives, and who are open to their life experiences, instead of following a basic path for themselves. His technique is used today and is considered the “norm” for humanistic psychology today. The humanistic approach is important in psychology because was a response to the limitations that was found in Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinners psychoanalytical theory and behaviorism respectively. The approach uses self-actualization, where a person realizes their capabilities and creativity. There are four key points that are central to the perspective. These are “emphasis on personal responsibility, an emphasis on the ‘here and now’, a focus on the experience of the individual, and an emphasis on personal growth” (Burger, 2015). Personal responsibility is the idea that …show more content…
This is a type of talk therapy where the client learns to get a sense of themselves when their feelings and behaviors are being affected in a negative way. The major themes of this therapy are congruence which the therapists does not hide behind professionalism and actually relate to their clients and using unconditional positive regard instead of conditional positive regard. Empathy is also used in the situation where the therapists tells their patients that they want to understand what is going on in their lives. These attitudes allow the clients to feel more open with their therapists without fearing that they are going to be judged. It allows for a person to become more of a fully functioning person according to what Rogers had described a fully functioning person to