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1 Key Concepts of Rogers and Person-Centred Theory Introduction Carl Rogers contributed greatly in the development of counselling strategies in the field of psychology, as he formulated a humanistic theory based on the assumptions of the Abraham Maslow, which is of great help to caregivers. In his analysis, he observed that an individual needs a special environment if he or she is to realise the much-needed growth. The individual must always learn to accept the situation as it exists unconditionally as this would mean positive regard. Rogers suggested that an individual could not develop without observing the principles of openness and acceptance, as they facilitate understanding of the problem. The understanding of Rogers was that each person has the potential to develop to an extent of accomplishing individual goals and realizing the desires and wishes in daily life. If a clear path is followed, therefore, chances are high that an individual will reach self-actualization stage whereby personal needs are met with ease. In fact, this was the major assumption of his analysis in the field of psychology. Unfortunately, he gave several conditions that must be met and a clear procedure that has to be followed for self-actualization to take place. In my essay I will explore two key concepts of Roger’s theory of person-centred, including actualization tendency and the seven stages of the process.

The Actualizing Tendency Concerning self-actualization, Rogers concluded that any living organism has the basic tendency and striving, which is to actualise, maintain, and enhance the

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experiencing (Rogers, 1951, p: 487). In this regard, he was against the deterministic approach employed by both the psychoanalysts and behaviourist psychologists noting that people behave the way they do mainly because of the influences of the surrounding environment. In this case, rarely does another person have a clue on other people’s behaviours. Based on this, the individual is best suited to provide a solution to the problem facing him or her. From my eleven years of experience as a manger I’ve observed a lot of different behaviours of my staff. For instance, an individual who grow up without siblings behaves in a different way from kids which comes from bigger family. A while ago, I had a situation, where a few members of my staff were complaining about a new staff member named Ana ( this was her first job). She couldn’t adapt to the rest of the group; she wouldn’t become a team player. She would fight with another members, saying- this is my customer, this is my sale, creating an unhealthy environment and atmosphere. Having a meeting with Ana I tried to understand her behaviour instead of telling her off. I found out that she grew up, without any siblings, most of the time getting whatever she wants without sharing things with other kids. She was a spoiled child. Unfortunately, in that time, Ana wasn’t able to reach the self-actualization stage because of several reasons, with childhood experiences being the major factors. After a few meetings, Ana realized and admitted that she never had to share things with others and she understood that her behaviour was not acceptable. I would say, today she has become a team player and is a happier person.

3 I like Rogers’ statement, where he likened human growth to the development of a “growing potato sprout” which is expected to grow to its full potential in the case that the conditions are favourable. If the surrounding is constraining, the plant might not attain its potential the same way an individual will not thrive to achieve the likely potential in case the environment is restrictive. However, he was quick to note that the case of a human being is different and cannot be compared directly to that of the plant since people vary in terms of personalities meaning they are likely to develop differently. The scholar was optimistic of the human behaviour because he suggested that people are usually intentionally good in the sense that they aim at doing the right thing in society through creativity. However, some conditions force them to be destructive, especially when their self-concepts or the external limitations prevail over the assessment process. Therefore, self-actualization is only achieved when an individual strives to reach the congruence stage whereby he or she adopts the social norms and principles as stipulated in the society. I agree with Rogers’ analysis which, suggests that self-actualization can only be attained when the ideal self is congruent with the real behaviour or the self-image. In other words, the aspirations of the individual regarding what he or she would want to be should be consistent with his or her personality. He referred an individual who reaches the self-actualization stage is the fully functioning person and this could simply be determined by the experiences that an individual went through in the childhood stage. A person, who experiencing self-actualization in life is always in touch with the society meaning he or she is always experiencing positive feelings, growing continually, and always willing to change as per the new rules and regulations. The fully functioning person is an ideal type and many individuals are

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unable to achieve the status, but he encouraged people to view this as a journey or the means to an end instead of considering as the completion of life since an individual should be prepared for change. Rogers went a notch higher to name the features of an actualizing individuals, one being openness to positive and negative experiences implying that an individual should not be in denial of negative emotions, but instead he or she should resort to ego defence mechanisms. The second characteristic is existential living whereby an individual has to establish a relationship with various experiences as they emerge in life meaning evasion of anticipations and prejudices is encouraged. Therefore, an individual has to live a life that appreciates the present instead of reflecting on the past failures or focusing too much on the future. In others, an individual should focus on what is going on currently in his or her life and try as much as possible to find solutions. A few years ago, I opened a beauty salon. I made a few bad decisions which led me to the situation where the only option was to sell my shares to my partner. That was only solution I had. It was a painful decision and a big disappointment. That At that time I was focusing too much on the future, making big plans. I became blind, I couldn’t or I didn’t want to see the reality. At that time, because the circumstances and conditions were unfavourable, I wasn’t able to grow, reach potentialities or actualize. Rogers (1980, p: 121) points out “Only under unusual or perverse circumstances do these potentialities become actualized. It is clear that the actualizing tendency is selective and directional a constructive tendency, if you will“

5 The third feature entails trusting the feelings, instincts, and the gut-reactions. In this case, each person should understand that his or her decisions are the most important in life and the process of making them should be viable. Today, when I reflect on my failure with the salon, I have to honestly admit that I didn’t want to listen to my instinct and I didn’t want to acknowledge my feelings. I was pushing away my thoughts, I wouldn’t say loudly (out loud?) that I was wrong and, because I was stubborn, I paid the price. The fourth characteristic of self-actualization as suggested by Rogers is creativity in terms of reasoning in the sense that an individual is expected to take risks instead of playing safe always. In fact, this is known to play a critical role in initiating change and adjusting accordingly to suit the new expectations. The last feature involves living a fulfilled life meaning a self-actualizing person is happy and satisfied with the way life is taking him or her. The theorist claimed further that living a satisfied life gives an individual the chance to explore new opportunities and adopt new changes. An analysis of Roger’s ideas on self-actualization reveals that fully functioning people are well adjusted to the societal rules, well balanced in the sense that they understand their responsibilities and roles in various places, and are always interesting in the way they handle their issues. I believe that most of us strive to make the very best of our existence and we tend to become fully functional people. Rogers (1963, p: 1-24) summarised his theory of actualisation in the following terms:” We are, in short, dealing with an organism which is always motivated, is always ‘up to something’, always seeking. So I would reaffirm, perhaps even more strongly after the

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passage of a decade, my belief that there is one central source of energy in the human organism; that it is a function of the whole organism rather than of some portion of it; and that it is perhaps best conceptualized as a tendency towards fulfilment, toward actualization, toward the maintenance and enhancement of the organism.”

Seven Stages of Process Apart from discussing various concepts related to his theory of person-centred, Rogers gave a process through which therapy should be conducted. The process is important in the understanding of how counselling should take place. He suggested that client’s growth in self-development can be identified as ‘Seven Stages of Process’ Stage One: The first stage explains the emotional condition of the client since he or she will always be defensive in the sense that nothing will be said to help in the identification of the problem. Sanders (2006) ’If it ain’ t broke, don’t fix it’ or ‘ a leopard can’t change its spots’ Additionally, individuals are usually reluctant to accept the situation as it exists in the first stage meaning acceptance of the reality is the major problem that the counsellor has to deal with in the first stage of the conversation. At this stage, the therapist is requested to employ all tactics that will make the client speak out his or her problems since the process cannot go on without any prior information on the issue at hand. Whenever a problem happens, people are often in a state of denial and they try to blame other people for what might have happened to them. When I start my therapy I would say I was typical example of stage one. Full of attitude: I don’t need it, I have to because is part of my course. I would lead my dialog to conversation and would ask my therapist questions instead of talking about my feelings,

7 problems, issue. I was trying to play with her some sort of game. To escape from talking I would say: so what do you thing…pushing her into conversation, then she would say, but I’m here to listing to you not to talk, but I would say I prefer to have conversation as I need it. That was my defensive way of protecting something which was inside me and I didn’t want anybody to discover it. In that time was very hard for me to talk about my feelings, I didn’t want and didn’t know how to express them. I lost my father when I was two, then my mother start drinking for few years. Feelings …. There was no such a subject in my home. Growing up in difficult conditions I learned how to survive and I become independent very early. I can adapt to different situations and face any problem. After joining the person-centred course I realized that every day I’m carrying on a big heavy bag full of ‘conditions of worth’ which I start collected from my very early years… I have to be strong, I must be good, I have to be nice to people so they will like me , they will want me, maybe my mother will love me…… Stage Two: In the second stage, the case is slightly different because the client tends to be less rigid as compared to the first stage since he or she might be willing to talk. However, the nature of information given is scanty in the sense that only external events will be discussed about and the ones that are of importance in resolving the issue would be avoided (Bower, 2000, p: 1390). Stage Three: In the third stage, the client will see the need of reporting the issues facing him or her. Rogers (1961, p: 136) “I believe it will be evident that many people who seek psychological help are at approximately the point of stage three. They may stay at roughly this point for a considerable time describing non-present feelings and exploring the self as an object, before being ready to move to the next stage.”

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Unfortunately as Rogers said, he or she will pretend to be an object to an extent of avoiding talking about present events facing him or her in life. The third stage is the most important since the counsellor will start noting down the problems as presented In fact, Rogers was of the view that therapy should start at this point since the counsellor will start asking pertinent questions that will facilitate the revelation of additional information. Once the client learns that what might have happened to him or her is normal, he or she will start talking about deep feelings in the fourth stage. Stage Four: In this stage, the counsellor is encouraged to develop a strong relationship with the client that will create a favourable environment for the flow of information. Merry (2000, p: 61) “Notice that the client is starting to accept responsibility for what is happening, even though the fearfulness and hopelessness of it are apparent.” The counsellor is then expected to collect as much information as possible. During my therapy sessions the main subject was my job. Session after session I would complain about my boss, how difficult he become, making new rules but the same time I would say I know that this is not right but…but…but I have been eleven years with the company and I used to work under stress, so I have to be strong, I have to prove that nothing will break me (condition of worth). At this stage I was acknowledging my feelings, I was angry but still I wouldn’t say loudly

I wouldn’t

admitted that I don’t deserve to be treat that way. I notice that something was changing in my thinking and as much I was trying to talk only about the situation at work not how I feel, I become aware of the process.

9 Stage Five: In the fifth stage, the discussion will be in a critical stage whereby the client expresses present emotions and starts to rely more on personal decisionmaking capabilities. In fact, quite a number of them will accept the situation and try as much as possible to resolve it. Rogers (1961, p: 139) “Feelings are expressed freely as in the present” Stage Six: In the sixth stage, the client shows a desire to grow rapidly towards congruence meaning he or she will start developing unconditional positive regard towards other people, including the therapist. Merry (2000, p: 62) “It is characterised by feelings, previously suppressed, becoming fully experienced in the present moment. This awareness is acute, clear and full of meaning. The self which hitherto has been experienced as somewhat fragmented is now experienced as an integrated wholemind, body, emotion and intellect, and clients experience moments of full congruence.” If the stage is navigated well, the formal therapy ends and the client start focusing on the realization of high needs. Few weeks ago, on my 15th session I finally accepted me as a person, who got the rights to feel and express the feelings. I was able to say, I’m so angry and I don’t deserve to be treat that way at work and I felt so good when my therapist said: after fifteen sessions I heard, what I want to hear. Stage Seven: In the last stage, the client is expected to be fully functioning meaning he or she will have attained the self-actualization stage. In many cases, the individual will be responsive to the needs of others to an extent of showing unconditional positive regards towards them.

Joanna Kalapus 10 Summarizing the Seven Stages Rogers (1961, p: 132) stated: “…I see the successive stages of the process by which the individual changes from fixity to flowingness, from a point nearer the rigid end of the continuum to a point nearer the “in-motion” end of the continuum. If I am correct in my observation then it is possible that by dipping in and sampling the qualities of experiencing and expressing in a given individual, in climate where he feels himself to be completely received, we may be able to determine where he is in this continuum of personality change.”

Conclusion Rogers concluded his analysis by noting that good life is never fixed since individuals have the chance of changing. Again, he underscored the fact that selfactualization is not in any way related to virtue, contentment, and happiness, but instead it entails an extensive process that is acquired through several processes in life. In fact, self-actualization cannot be attained without imparting the sense of self-worth to children at tender ages. An individual with a higher sense of worth is always motivated to accomplish the most complex tasks and responsibilities leading to self-actualization. Parents who train their children to accept conditional positive regard are not good caregivers since such individuals will never have a strong sense of worth needed in reaching the self-actualization stage. His final conclusion was that a clear process should be followed when administering therapy to an individual wishing to attaining selfactualization.

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References

Bower, Byford. (2000). “Randomized controlled trial of non-directive counselling, cognitive-behaviour therapy, and usual general practitioner care for patients with depression. II: Cost effectiveness.” British Medical Journal 321.2: 1389-1392. Merry, T (2000). Learning and Being in Person-Centred Counselling. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.61 Merry, T (2000). Learning and Being in Person-Centred Counselling. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.62 Rogers, C (1980). A way of being. United States of America: Houghton Mifflin Company. 121 Rogers, C (1963.) The actualizing tendency in relation to ‘motives’ and to consciousness. In Jones, M. (ed.) Nebraska symposium on motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1-24 Rogers, C (1961). On Becoming A Person. London: Constable & Robinson Ltd. 132139 Rogers, C (1951). Client-Centered Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications and Theory . London: Constable & Robinson Ltd. 487 Sanders, P (2006). The Person-Centred Counselling Primer. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. 90

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