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Carl Rogers and the Perspective of Wholeness

Jordyn Hatfield

Department of Psychology, Biola University

PSYC411-02: Theories of Personality

Dr. Poston

April 16, 2020

Carl Rogers and the Perspective of Wholeness

Carl Rogers was one of the most prominent pioneers of humanism in the field of

psychology. This diverged from the traditional path of psychology at the time, which was heavily

focused on psychoanalysis, a contribution made by Freud. Where Freud employed techniques

such as interpretations and dream analysis, Rogers emphasized unconditional positive regard and

reflective listening in his therapy practice. Not only did Rogers differ from Freud in this way, he

also reinforced the notion that people are inherently good and was very optimistic in his view of

humanity. Freud held to “his belief that man is basically and fundamentally hostile, anti-social,

and carnal” (Walker, 1956, p. 89) which led to his theory having extensive avenues for the

therapist to directly influence the individual in counseling. Rogers developed Person-Centered

Therapy to avoid this type of influence and interpretation by therapists. The main focus of

Person-Centered Therapy is the individual seeking counseling and functions under the

assumption that there is some relationship between the therapist and the client where clients

express their experiences and receive unconditional positive regard (Velasquez & Montiel,

2018). Rogers perceives wholeness as an individual who has reached self-actualization. This is in

contrasting view from scripture which states that wholeness is supplied by Jesus Christ as a

result of yielding our nature to His. In this paper, the key concepts of Carl Rogers’ theory will be

discussed as well as personally applied and will be concluded with an examination of wholeness

from a Rogerian framework and a Christian worldview.

Personality According to Roger

View of Psychic Structure

Unlike other theories that have many facets to what makes up an individual, Rogers is

heavily focused solely on the notion of the self. For Rogers, this self-concept is the way in which
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individuals consciously process themselves, their surroundings, and experiences (Engler, 2014).

The purpose of this self-concept is that it is the focus of person-centered therapy therefore

deserves to be understood. Rogers makes various distinctions within the self-concept. The first

being the notion of the real self. The real self is how individuals perceive themselves and “has

directly an affect on how a person feels, thinks, and acts in the world” (Ahmad & Tekke, 2015,

p. 30). Rogers believed that this real self is an individual’s truest form of personality since it is

the most authentic. While the real self is the reflection of who an individual is, the ideal self

reflects their ambitions and goals. These qualities are not yet possessed by the individual but

rather desired. Much of the ideal self is derived from the environment of the individual as it is

the self that considers the values of others and creates an optimal image of who the individual

ought to be (Ahmad & Tekke, 2015). This differs from various areas in behaviorism that state

that an individual is the product of their environment and in its radical forms, that human lives

are completely deterministic (Engler, 2014). Rogers declines the notion of being completely

deterministic and highly integrates free will in his theory. Individuals are responsible for their

behavior and are the deciding factor in their actions.

With the distinction between the real self and the ideal self, there is a relationship

between the two that Rogers calls the organismic self. The organismic self is the real self that is

in the process of moving towards actualization. This self-actualization that Rogers believes all

individuals are striving for is when an individual’s potential is fully achieved. The process by

which to attain self-actualization is functioning in such a way that the real self begins to look

similar to the ideal self.

Rogers termed this union of the real self and the ideal self as congruence. An individual

that is able to accept their experiences for what they are without distorting them has congruence
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in their self-concept (Engler, 2014). Rogers deems congruence as a marker for psychological

health since distortion between the real self and the ideal self does not occur. Such distortion

leads to incongruence. When the real self is far from the ideal self, tension arises which causes

anxiety for the individual. This unhealthy state of incongruence is Rogers’ main aim in his

psychotherapy practice. Because of the lack of harmony, the individual experiences hindrances

to change and a maladjustment to the growth process which leads to being unable to reach self-

actualization.

Theory of Motivation and Development

In regard to Rogers’ theory of motivation, he states that all individuals have the tendency

to grow and improve the real self. Rogers names this the self-actualizing tendency. The self-

actualizing tendency seeks to create an accurate self-concept (Ahmad & Tekke, 2015). There is

an innate desire for growth in every individual and to cultivate new experiences so that they may

reach their full potential. The self-actualizing tendency is comprised of two dimensions. The first

is the psychological aspect. This states that individuals will view others as worthwhile in the

pursuit of their potentials. Second is the biological aspect that focuses on the basic needs of

humans – food, water, and air. These can be driving factors in the need to self-actualize.

Congruence is key to the self-actualizing tendency. This is due to the fact that self-actualization

is achieved when the ideal self aligns with the real self.

A tool that individuals employ in Roger’s theory of motivation to achieve self-

actualization is the organismic valuing process. The organismic valuing process is the way that

individuals evaluate all experiences to determine if the experiences further growth towards self-

actualization (Engler, 2014). This requires individuals to have an understanding of what they

deem as important and what will lead to a fulfilled life. The organismic valuing process has an
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element of altruism where the interests of others and society are desired to be pursued along with

the self goals (Sheldon, Arndt, & Marko, 2003). Rogers viewed this process as universal among

humans and is contingent on supportive environments. The importance of appropriate and

supportive environments is that the individual will feel encouraged by this atmosphere as well as

motivated to seek out growth.

Moving to Rogers’ theory of development, focus is placed on the interaction between

individuals and their environment. While the environment plays an important role in facilitating

the development of the self-concept, it does not determine the personality of the individual.

Roger states that there are two basic needs in the interaction with one’s environment (Engler,

2014). The first is positive regard which is the experience that an individual is loved and

accepted for their real self. Rogers then goes further to develop two subtypes of positive regard

which are unconditional positive regard and conditional positive regard. Unconditional positive

regard is possibly one of the most prominent aspects of his theory. The notion of unconditional

positive regard is that there is a complete absence of conditions to one being accepted in both

their positive and negative attributes (Rogers, 1957). Rogers emphasizes this in the client-

therapist relationship as a necessary and sufficient element to a healthy environment that

promotes change. Conditional positive regard attaches conditions, or qualifications, to the giving

of worth and acceptance. This subtype of positive regard is vast in the lives of many individuals

and can be commonly found in many relationships. Between unconditional positive regard and

conditional positive regard, the latter may hinder growth as the self is reliant on specific actions

that yield love and acceptance. The second basic need, according to Rogers, is positive self-

regard. Positive self-regard occurs when an individual is experiencing a favorable view of the

self which is accompanied by self-acceptance (Engler, 2014). The significance of positive self-
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regard is that it furthers a supportive environment for change and directs the development of

growth inwards.

Psychopathology

To understand Rogers’ psychopathology, one must recognize the goal that Rogers

perceives as the healthiest. His emphasis on the self-actualizing tendency is to recognize that

once self-actualization is reached, an individual can be considered a fully functioning person

(Rogers, 1961). This term of fully functioning person refers to people who are “well balanced,

well adjusted, and interesting to know” (Ahmad & Tekke, 2015). Their characteristics include

being open to experience fully without the pressures of having to distort them. Not only do they

accept their experiences, a fully functioning person lives in the present to discover life for

themselves and have organismic trust in such experiences. Lastly, these individuals have a

degree of creativity that allows them to adjust to challenges and seek out opportunities of growth.

With the knowledge of fully functioning people, it is easier to comprehend the model of therapy

that Rogers develops.

Rogers’ person-centered therapy has created a lasting impact in the field of psychology.

This theory revolutionized psychotherapy by reversing the traditional roles. In Freud’s model,

the client supplies information for the therapist to interpret and analyze. Through observation and

empirical studies, Rogers discovered a different approach that placed the client in the dominant

position while the therapist provides the appropriate environment (Goldfried, 2007). Rogers

firmly believed that given the correct environment and attitude, the client will facilitate healthy

change on their own accord (Engler, 2014). He developed six seemingly simple conditions that

are necessary and sufficient for therapeutic personality change. These conditions from Rogers

(1957) goes as follows:

1. Two persons are in a psychological relationship.

2. The client is experiencing incongruence.

3. The therapist is congruent in themselves.

4. The therapist has unconditional positive regard for the client.

5. The therapist has clear empathy for the client.

6. With minimal communication from the therapist, empathy and unconditional positive

regard is understood by the client.

The attitude of empathy is extremely important to Rogers’ psychopathology. Rogers defines

empathy as the perception of “the internal framework or reference of another with accuracy and

with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the person,

but without ever losing the ‘as if’ condition” (Rogers, 1975). Rogers highly believes that the

therapist’s ability to enter the inner world of the client increases therapeutic change experienced

by the client. This is due to the environment that empathy creates. Empathy fosters a sense of

being understood and known as opposed to feeling ostracized by one’s experience and

perception. An attitude of acceptance is cultivated for the client in which they experience

unconditional positive regard from the therapist. The effect of unconditional positive regard

increases the client’s self-acceptance thus enhancing their congruence which moves them to

healthy self-actualizing tendencies. Rogers also emphasized the need for the congruence and

genuineness of therapists. He presents an interesting notion that the need to diagnose a client can

actually hinder the psychotherapy process. The diagnosis may act as a hindrance for the therapist

to establish an empathetic environment marked by unconditional positive regard and earnestly

experience the therapeutic change process with the client. When the therapist is congruent in

their experience, the client is able to move towards congruence as well.

The final condition of Rogers’ person-centered therapy points to his technique of

reflective listening. While others have demeaned this approach, Rogers asserts empirical data

that reflective listening is a necessary and sufficient tool for a client’s therapeutic change

(Rogers, 1975). This style of response from a therapist is meant to exhibit the unconditional

positive regard and maintain the dynamic of client dominated speech throughout therapy.

Another has viewed this approach as “nourishing the silence in the client’s voice” (Sundararajan,

1995). This is to encourage the client to sufficiently hear their own thoughts and words so that

they are also able to reflect on what they are experiencing. The focus of the therapist in reflective

listening is solely what the client is saying about themselves, especially the ambivalent or

negative emotions. The response of the therapist should exhibit understanding and acceptance

while also acting as clarification of the client’s experience.

Rogers’ lasting impact on the field of psychology is inescapable as it starkly contrasted

from his predecessors’ approaches. With the focus on the experience of the client and the aim to

provide an empathetic environment permeated with unconditional love and acceptance, the client

is able to create therapeutic change of self-actualizing tendencies that will yield a fully

functioning individual.

Personal Application of Roger’s Theory

My ‘Self’

Examining my own life and personality development can accurately be explained in

Rogers’ framework of the self-concept. I believe that I am naturally serving and meek which

causes difficulty in introspection. Because of this, my real self often focuses my experience as a

result of others’ experiences. In the world around me, I look to others. This is not to say that I

lack independence but rather that I take my strong independent nature to the context of people
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around me. I think in terms of how to help others and what I am able to do for them. This is

because I think of myself as a good friend and a reliable person. To my core, I believe I am a

genuinely kind person and have a love of learning. This is reflected in my experience as a

roommate and as a student. My roommates know that I would do absolutely anything for them

and have demonstrated this on multiple occasions. As a student, I enroll in challenging classes

and am planning on attending graduate school. I perceive my real self to be the most genuine part

of me.

As I encounter new experiences, I set new ambitions and strivings to accomplish. This

idealized version of myself in part comes from my values and the values of those around me.

Because I value my friendships, I strive to be the best kind of friend for those around me.

Someone who is dependable, loving, and encouraging. I also value my relationship with God

which includes the influencing values of my church and Christian community. Striving to be

more like Jesus is a daily decision that moves me closer to the person I perceive that I ought to

be.

In many points of my life I have experienced incongruence between my ideal self and

real self. As I strive to be a dependable person, situations that do not permit me to help someone

or interfere with a commitment that I have made cause extreme stress and anxiety. The same

goes for my relationship with Jesus, when it is not where I perceive it ought to be, I experience

anxiousness and a feeling of incongruence. The moments when I experience my self-actualizing

tendencies bring about a sense of alignment in my life and mental state. Being able to move

towards growth, change, and my potential has brought me into a state of congruence.

Experience of Positive Regard

One of the most intriguing aspects of Rogers’ personality theory is his concept of positive

regard, but more specifically his commentary of unconditional positive regard. Such a thing

seems impossible for any human to give. The only close example I am able to muster up is the

parent-child relationship. Yet, situations may arise in which conditions or qualifications for

acceptance may present themselves. I have experienced this with my own parents. While I do

know that they give me all their love and it is seemingly unconditional, the display of such love

may have some unspoken or even unknown conditions. Obedience, compliance, success, and

independence are a few conditions in which the display of love and acceptance may be

contingent on. This is not to say that I do not have loving parents nor that I do not constantly

experience their love, it is simply a representation of the infeasibility of humans giving

unconditional love.

I can say that I have, in part, experienced true unconditional positive regard from God. In

my relationship with Him, I have full knowledge that I am completely known, loved, and

accepted. This has had a tremendous impact on my self-actualizing tendencies since I am able to

recognize that I am supported in my growth and changes.

Integration of Wholeness

After extensive coverage of Carl Rogers’ theory of personality, an integration of Rogers’

key concepts and scripture will conclude this paper. Specifically, the aim will be to explore the

question “What is true wholeness in the life of an individual?” It is important to recognize how

these two means of revelation, general and special, may seem to contradict themselves yet may

also acts as building blocks for each other.

Psychological Considerations
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Rogers’ theory is characterized by the notion of moving towards self-actualization

through person-centered therapy, unconditional positive regard, and self-actualizing tendencies.

Ultimately, Roger views a fully functioning person as an individual who has achieved complete

congruence between the real self and the ideal self while embracing new experiences and

reaching their full potential. It is at this stage that Rogers would deem an individual as “whole”.

This concept of being whole is derived from a single source of authority (Lamberton, 1993).

Being a humanist, that single source of authority is the individual. The self-experience becomes

the primary source of truth (Rogers, 1961). Wholeness for Rogers is the fully functioning person

that is able to self-actualize in a way that is good and best for them so that there is no experience

of tension but rather alignment with their free will.

Biblical Reasonings

C.S. Lewis asserted that wholeness is completely derived from Jesus Christ. It is when an

individual forsakes their real self and seeks Christ that the new, whole self will be presented

(Lewis, 1952). This is reaffirmed in scripture when Jesus teaches that those who yield their

earthly self to Him will find a new life with Him (Matthew 16:25, NIV). The self that Jesus

Christ offers is rooted in the source of absolute truth, God the Father, and maintained by the

Holy Spirit. Achieving wholeness for a Christian is taking on an eternal perspective where the

focus is on the glory of God and reconciliation of all creation (Matthew 6:33, NIV).

Degree of Wholeness

Wholeness is the state in which there is complete unity and harmony. For Rogers, this is

achieved by a single source of authority. While Lewis may not attribute that source as the

individual alone, he would agree with the notion of a single source of authority. This

commonality between the two perspectives brings about another interesting point. Rogers and
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Lewis ascribe ultimate truth to the source of wholeness. While there cannot be two sources of

absolute truth, the way in which individuals have self-actualizing tendencies may contribute to

the understanding of biblical wholeness. As humans, there is a constant desire for growth. This

may not always be directed in the healthiest of manners, but a need for betterment is evident.

Rogers provides the emphasis that individuals have the capacity to grow and change (Lamberton,

1993). Where theology is consistent with Rogers’ theory is concerning the role of unconditional

positive regard. The therapist is the one providing this unconditional positive regard to the client

while God provides all of humanity with unconditional positive regard. This is foundational in

the movement towards wholeness. Rogers’ wholeness remains at the individual level, where one

experiences unity with themselves, theology’s wholeness transcends the individual so that

harmony with God and His creation is the new experience. True wholeness would most likely be

greater than an individual’s power to change. Lewis explains how accepting the new self

provided by Jesus also results in an adjustment of the heart (1952). No human can impart to

themselves a new life, identity, and heart therefore the fullest sense of wholeness lies within the

power of God to the individual life.

References

Ahmad, N. & Tekke, M. (2015). Rediscovering Roger’s Self Theory and Personality. Journal of

Educational, Health and Community Psychology, 4(3), 28-34.

http://dx.doi.org/10.12928/jehcp.v4i3.3682

Engler, B. (2014). Humanism. In T. C. Holland & P. Leeds (Eds.), Personality Theories (9th ed.,

pp. 330-349). Wadsworth, Inc.

Goldfried, M. R. (2007). What has Psychotherapy Inherited from Carl Rogers? Psychology:

Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 44(3), 249-252. DOI: 10.1037/0033-3204.44.3.249

Lamberton, H. H. (1993). Carl Rogers’ View of Personal Wholeness. Institute for Christian

teaching. 1.

Lewis, C. S., (1952). Mere Christianity. Harper One.

Rogers, C. R. (1975). Empathetic: An Unappreciated Way of Being. The Counseling

Psychologist, 5(2), 2-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/001100007500500202

Rogers, C. R. (1961). On Becoming a Person: A Therapist`s View of Psychotherapy. Houghton-

Mifflin.

Rogers, C. R. (1957). The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality

Change. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 21(3), 95-103.

https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045357

Sheldon, K., Arndt, J., & Marko, L. (2003). In Search of the Organismic Valuing Process: The

Human Tendency to Move Towards Beneficial Goal Choices. Journal of Personality,

71(5), 835-869. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/1467-6494.7105006 

Sundararajan, L. (1995). Echoes after Rogers: “Reflective Listening” Revisited. The Humanistic

Psychologist, 23, 259-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.1995.9986828

Velasquez, P. & Montiel, C. (2018). Reapproaching Rogers: a discursive examination of client-

centered therapy. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 17(3), 253-269.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2018.1527243

Walker, D. E. (1956). Carl Rogers and the Nature of Man. Journal of Counseling Psychology,

3(2), 89-92.