Sublime

Carl Rogers

For Rogers, the cardinal sin in therapy, or in teaching or family life, is the imposition of authority. A radical egalitarian, Rogers sees individuals as capable of self-direction without regard for received wisdom and outside of organizations such as the church or the academy. Despite its origins in the helping relationship, Rogers’s philosophy is

Rogers was, in Isaiah Berlin’s classification, a hedgehog: He knew one thing, but he knew it so well that he could make a world of it.

Rogers stated his central hypothesis in one sentence: “If I can provide a certain type of relationship, the other will discover within himself the capacity to use that relationship for growth, and change and personal development will occur.”

Carl Rogers, one of my most influential mentors, was a master of helping patients to fully accept themselves. Rogers theorized that when our need to self-actualize comes into conflict with our need for positive regard, or vice versa, we might choose to repress or hide or neglect our genuine personalities and desires. When we come to believe that th