Ch11. Carl Rogers' Theory of the Person

Transcription

1 P370 Textbook Page 1 Ch11. Carl Rogers' Theory of the Person April :00 PM I. Introduction Will: belief that a person decides on & initiates his/her own action, also the self-determination and understanding that ne can make choice "All behaviours, without exception, is completely determined by and pertinent to the phenomenal field of the behaving organism" Maslow called it the "third force" in psychology Human needs are ordered hierarchically Was against deterministic, scientific psychology b/c it was "imposing something alien to the experience of the person" Used organism b/c it gave off a sense of wholeness, completeness II. Carl Roger' Person-Centred Theory (A) Carl Rogers: Personal History Born in Illinoi in wealthy suburb family, 4th of 6 children, in a close knit, highly conservative, hard working family Father was civil engineer turned farmer; lived in giant farmhouse (upper middle class neighbourhood) b/c father used to be engineer, was exposed to science Parents were strict and religious, saw innocent things as sinful ex. the wickedness of soda pop; others behaves dubiously (smoking, playing cards, going to movie, drinking) and one should tolerate and avoid them Isolated him from making friends, felt like outsider --> spent his time reading books University of Wisconsin, agriculture major, active at church --> chosen as delegate to go to China --> exposure turned him from fundamentalism --> WHAT IF JESUS WAS JUST ANOTHER MAN Changed major to history. wrote to family to explain his religious epiphany, got married against their objections Not 100% reject, but became more liberated in his religious outlook --> committed to freedom of philosophical thought (whether it dis/agrees with church) Columbia University to study psychology Worked in the Guidance Centre (child study department of society for the prevention of cruelty to children) in NY for 12 years found Freudian learning unhelpful --> diverse staff and everyday clinical experience were better Felt that clients knew/had a good idea of what the problem is, which ones to deal with first and how to deal with it, and it would be better for therapists to let clients direct the flow/process of therapy Wrote and research extensively on client-centred therapy to expand on more than a new pathway Went back to teach in Wisconsin as professor of psychology/psychiatry --> met with unsupportive psychology colleagues who were ruthlessly competitive and harsh to (his) graduate students Hoped to work with schizophrenics, but client centred approach didn t work out In later years became more humanistic to discovering what makes people become fully functioning III. Emphasis

2 P370 Textbook Page 2 Scientific approach is one with the fewest potholes of self-deception in understanding humans, however there s no such thing as an objective truth Four major emphases: Theory of psychotherapy (client centred) and personality change --> Theory of personality: derived from psychotherapy, you can draw out models of P to form hypotheses about personality dynamics, growth, development, impediments --> theory of fully functioning person implications: interpersonal relations, family life, education, group leadership, group conflict IV. Major Concepts of Person-Centred Theories (A) Rogers: Phenomenal Field Emphasis on immediate experience of the given moment; that is, all that is going on within envelop of organism/individual (P), even those that P are not aware of e.g,. hunger, even if you re engrossed in gaming that you don t notice it, when you smell or remember food; but not the biological things like changes in your blood sugar --> psychological, and and physiological Empathic understanding: approximately appreciating another s experience; perceive P s internal frame of reference and recognizing significance/emotionally meaning as if you were P (B) Rogers: Self and Self-Concept Self-concept: formed by the experiences of the self; the organization consistent conceptual gestalt composed of perceptions of the characteristics of I/Me to others and to various aspects of life Ideal self: further differentiation; self concept with P would most like to possess, places highest value for him/herself Q-technique: is a way to study individuals Rogers saw this as a way to gain access of self concept that penetrates private experiences (C) Rogers: Measurement of Self-Concept Q-sort: give P 100 card with self-descriptive statements. have P rank them into a few piles ranging in how accurate is this of you Forced normal distribution Asked to repeat, so that the second time reflects ideal self Used to measure differences over time, before/after treatment (D) Rogers: Self-experience Self-experience: awareness of self that is differentiated out of experiences early in course of development Need for positive regard: P infers regard, positive or negative, of another person Reciprocal, b/c when you have positive regard for others, you fulfill your own needs too Can do without if you have strong self-concept Need for positive self-regard: become significant social other for self (E) Rogers: Conditions of Worth Conditions of worth: that you are more positively regarded b/c of what you did When self experience is avoided (/sought) because it is less (/more) worthy than self regard, then P has acquired condition of worth ex. mother says I don t like it when you do that, is setting conditions of worth Experiences associated with negative conditions of worth threaten self --> we tend to distort or avoid them Pursuit of positive regard from others b/c of perceived conditions of self worth is

3 P370 Textbook Page 3 psychologically destructive! --> and being true to yourself (F) Rogers: Congruence and Incongruence the relation between self-experience and self-concept State of congruence when self-experience are accurately symbolized and included in selfconcept in accurate symbolic form aka, integrated, whole, genuine Incongruence: when experiences conflict with self e.g., through conditions of worth I m a bad person for doing that --> may perceive experiences selectively, may be distorted or partially/wholly denied --> self concept now has inaccurate perceptions (G) Rogers: Threat and Anxiety Incongruent experiences causes threat, which causes anxiety, which causes defences to protect self from violation of conditions of worth as last attempt to preserve positive self-regard Selective inattention: a form of defence; directs attention away from experience that carry anxious meaning Dissociation: a form of defence; partial/total disconnection between memories of past, awareness of identity and immediate sensations, control of bodily movement Resorting to these defenses = psychologically maladjusted; when discrepancy gets too big and defenses don t work = breakdown Subception: perception below threshold of awareness (H) Rogers: Motivation Self-actualization is the only motivation Inborn drive towards growth and self-enhancement; includes meeting physiological needs, self-expressiveness, self-development; seeking autonomy Can be thwarted/warped but not destroyed ex. like potato sprouts during the winter in storage. they will never fulfill full potential but still striving to become Believed that children/adults possess necessary capacities to learn/grow V. A Theory of Therapy and Personality Change Scientific paradigm of psychotherapy: conditions (IV) --> process (IV/DV)--> outcome (DV) Conditions -- requirement for inaugurating person-centred psychotherapy: 2 people in contact, not infrequently Client is in state of incongruence, and depending on magnitude, may be vulnerable, anxious, threatened, disorganized, or self-described as adjusted (if using defense mechanisms) Therapist is in state of congruence Therapist holds unconditional positive regard for client -- will not discriminate as being less worth of positive regard Therapist shows emphatic understanding of client s internal frame of reference ( as if reservation), acknowledge that one cannot fully understand Client perceives therapist s unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding Rogers was against deliberate altering feelings/behaviours of the client Have the therapist paraphrase what the client said Process: Clients feel free to express feelings non/verbally...and expressed feelings are about themselves Increased differentiation between external environment & self experience, increasingly symbolized accurately

4 P370 Textbook Page 4 Expression of emotions deal with incongruence Client experiences threatened when they learn of incongruence, b/c in presence of unconditional positive regard (therapist) Client fully experiences in awareness Self Concept is reorganized to assimilate experiences Increased congruence b/c incorporating formerly threatening experiences with less distortion/defensiveness) Client experiences unconditional positive regard without threat...and comes to feel unconditional positive self-regard Clients see selves as locus of evaluation (gradual increase over time) Client reacts to experience more in accord with organismic valuing process, rather than conditions of worth Outcomes: Clients are congruent and open to experiences perceive objectively effective problem solving improved psychological adjustment decreased vulnerability to hitherto experiences ideal self-concept is more realistic/attainable self concept is more congruent with ideal self-concept reduced psychological/physiological tension/anxiety increased positive self-regard locus of evaluation/choice is more in the self values are determined by organismic valuing process perceive others more realistically behaviours are perceived/experienced as more under self-control (not a victim) more social, mature, creative, adaptive person VI. Personality Development If parents give unconditional positive regard, children will learn to experience positive selfregard Conditions of worth implies some things are acceptable while others are not --> hard for children to distinguish Roger s program for child rearing is demanding for parents: I understand you d feel really great about smacking your brother, and I love you and want to you to happy. but I have feelings too and I m upset when you do that. Both our feelings are important, and we are free to have our own feelings. Very idealistic Moves away from conditions of worth, encourages self which is congruent, fosters organismic valuing system <--> enhanced creative potential in small children, maintained through adolescence Key is unconditional positive regard VII. Implications (A) Rogers: [conditions of] Fully Functioning Person open to experience with no defensiveness experiences are symbolized accurately in awareness self-structure is congruent with experience self-structure is dynamic b/c new experiences are assimilated if you are fully functional, your past takes a backseat and no longer shapes you experiences self as locus of evaluation valuing of others, experience, self is accord with totality of person & is organismic no conditions of worth for self

5 P370 Textbook Page 5 experiences unconditional regard creative, adaptive, unique approach to new situations experiences harmonious relations with others b/c of mutual positive regard (B) Rogers: [conditions for successful] Interpersonal Relations 2 people need to be involved congruence in the relationship mutual positive regard tension arises when there are failures of contact, incongruence in one/both parties, increased defensiveness communication deteriorates to superficiality, cycle of personal distortion facilitate with increase contact, mediated by a congruent facilitator (empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard for antagonists) (C) Rogers: Education and Family Life Role of education is to release inborn tendency towards growth and development If children are taught = blunted creativity and stifled potentials Improved family life (unconditional positive regard, communication, empathic understanding, openness to their experience) VIII. Research Focus on person-centred psychotherapy (A) Rogers: Self-reference in Client Centred Therapy When clients make references about self, it's usually: positive, negative or ambivalent Successful cases = more self-approval, decrease in negative self-ref (B) Rogers: Self-esteem Change in Client Centred Therapy Hard to attribute reason to changes in self-esteem is hard Over therapy, rather than self-concept moving towards ideal self-concept, the concept of ideal self was changing to become more realistic/attainable (C) Rogers: Creative Effects of a Creativity-Fostering Environment In a study, child rearing measures were associated with creative potential IX. Person-Centred Theory in Perspective Emphasizes the importance of the client's perspective/experiences Critic: It's very vague and not objective hard to study scientifically Anti-intellectual (just need to listen and be empathetic) Overreliance on self-report