Carl Rogers

CARL ROGERS

Biography

Carl Ransom Rogers was a renowned American psychologist and educator Born in Oak Park , Illinois on January 8 , 1902 , he was the fourth of six children . Rogers was the middle child in a large , close-knit family where hard work and a highly conservative (almost fundamentalist Protestant Christianity were about equally revered (1959 ,

. 186 . His father was a civil engineer and through his mother 's influence Rogers grew in a strict ethical environment . When Carl was twelve years old his family moved to a farm and he became

interested in scientific agriculture . This interest in science carried over to college where during his first years he was fond of the physical and biological sciences

After his graduation from the University of Wisconsin in 1924 , he attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he became exposed to a liberal , philosophical viewpoint regarding religion Transferring to Teachers College of Columbia University , he fell under the philosophical influence of John Dewey and was introduced to clinical psychology , by Leta Hollingworth . He was awarded the master 's degree in 1928 and the doctorate in 1931 by Columbia . His first practical experience in clinical psychology and psychotherapy was obtained as an interne at the Institute for Child Guidance , which had a strong Freudian orientation . Rogers observes that the sharp incompatibility of the highly speculative Freudian thinking of the Institute with the highly statistical and Thorndikean views at Teachers College was keenly felt (1959 ,

. 186

Rogers received his doctor 's degree in psychology he joined the staff of the Rochester Guidance Center and later became its director . During this period , Rogers was influenced by Otto Rank , the psychoanalyst , who had by that time broken away from the orthodox teachings of Freud

By 1940 , Rogers moved on to accept in invitation to become professor of psychology at Ohio State University . This shift from clinical setting to the academe made a great impact for Rogers . But even on the early part of his career , Rogers was already interested in adapting scientific methods to the study of psychotherapy . In 1942 he became the first person to record , transcribe , and publish a complete , verbatim psychotherapy case . Since then , the recording of therapy interviews and their use in research and training have become an accepted part of the profession . Under the stimulus provided by intellectually curious and critical graduate students , Rogers formulated his own views on psychotherapy which he published in his book Counseling and Psychotherapy (1942 . In 1945 , he went to the University of Chicago as professor of psychology and executive secretary of the Counseling center where he elaborated his client-centered method of psychotherapy formulated a theory of personality , and conducted research on psychotherapy (Rogers , 1951 Rogers and Dymond , 1954 . He published his theory in his major work , Client-Centered Therapy

In 1957 , Rogers returned at the University of Wisconsin as a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin . During those years , he headed a research group that made an intensive controlled...