Carl Rogers's Life and Work: An Assessment on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth

Abstract

This article summarizes the life and work of America's most influential counselor and psychotherapist, Carl Rogers. He developed the client‐centered, person‐centered approach; popularized the term client; pioneered the recording of counseling cases; conducted landmark research on counseling and psychotherapy; and was a leader in the humanistic psychology movement, and more. Later, he applied the person‐centered approach to resolving intergroup and international conflict. Work on the client‐centered approach continues, and current research validates many of Rogers's earlier contributions.

Similarities between Prescott Lecky's Theory of Self-Consistency and Carl Rogers' Self-Theory

“…These pages contain many direct quotes from Lecky (1945Lecky ( , 1951. In Kirschenbaum (2004) there is no mention of Lecky, but later in his book (Kirschenbaum, 2007), Lecky is cited on six pages after Kirschenbaum was alerted by Merenda of Lecky's work at Columbia during the period Rogers was a graduate student there (see Kirschenbaum, 2007, pp. 234-240).…”

“…Self-theory of Personality Four decades prior to the publications of the two major biographies by Kirschenbaum (2004Kirschenbaum ( , 2007, Constantine "Gus" Dallas submitted a Ph.D. dissertation, "A Biography of Rogers," at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In the Dallas biography, Rogers' theory of personality was compared with Lecky's theory of self-consistency (Dallas, 1964, pp.…”

“…An article by Kirschenbaum (2004) stimulated the author, who was a student of Rogers at the University of Wisconsin in 1957, to contemplate the issues discussed there. Merenda and Kirschenbaum continued correspondence from 2004 to 2007.…”

“…Howard Kirschenbaum is the most prominent biographer of Carl Rogers, beginning 30 years ago (Kirschenbaum, 1979) and including a voluminous book (Kirschenbaum, 2007). An article by Kirschenbaum (2004) stimulated the author, who was a student of Rogers at the University of Wisconsin in 1957, to contemplate the issues discussed there.…”

Cultural competency: a path to deliver healthcare to ethnic minority and aboriginal populations

“…This concept believes that human growth and development takes place through our actions" (Heinonen & Spearman, 2006, p. 245). Krischenbaum (2004) also admits that life and culture are an endless process of creativity, even if only in small ways. Human beings, including all living creatures, are driven to grow and strive for optimal health, and require resiliency in the face of cultural diversity.…”