Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogerswas an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approachto psychology. Rogers is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research and was honored for his pioneering research with the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions by the American Psychological Associationin 1956...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionOther
Date of Birth8 January 1902
CityOak Park, IL
CountryUnited States of America
We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.
The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.
People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner." I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.
When the other person is hurting, confused, troubled, anxious, alienated, terrified; or when he or she is doubtful of self-worth, uncertain as to identity, then understanding is called for. The gentle and sensitive companionship of an empathic stance… provides illumination and healing. In such situations deep understanding is, I believe, the most precious gift one can give to another.
In my early professionals years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?
It would not take very long to recoup our money, ... It would be a very short payback.
The relationship which I have found helpful is characterized by a sort of transparency on my part, in which my real feelings are evident; by an acceptance of this other person as a separate person with value in his own right; and by a deep empathic understanding which enables me to see his private world through his eyes.
Then we got another letter saying, 'OK, we're back in the business. Then we started going back to Lubbock. But then about a week later, around the end of the year, we were notified that they were sending out contract amendments that in our case was going to change our base price for an autopsy -- we had a contract that was only two months old at the time -- that they were going to raise those contract costs over 100 percent.