Carl Rogers Get Real Essay

Carl Rogers said, in his introduction to Person-Centered therapy, on the first of the infamous Gloria Tapes, 1965, “...perhaps, if she senses realness in me, she will be able to be a little more real within herself.” The term get real, popular in the sixties is about being realistic through understanding or acquiring a deeper insight into what is actually going on. Rogers, believed that the client could “get real” about their problems, with minimal help from the therapist, and once “real” could see clear and positive paths toward behavior modification. Humans, according to Rogers have an organismic need to actualize into happy adult beings, but cultural pressures, that create conditional circumstances for success, leave the client unhappy or stuck when the cultural

Raised in a farm household, with strict protestant and “rugged individual” values, Rogers, the fourth child, was an independent, intelligent and self-disciplined child, who also felt isolated, and unloved. Motivated toward love, the missing link to his happiness, Rogers began his college studies in agriculture, according to his parent’s wishes, but changed majors, almost immediately, to religion and prepared for ministry (Boeree, 2006). He had a natural disposition and inner need to nurture and to love; the ministry was a path to actualize those feelings. During his

First, two people must be in psychological contact, and the first person or client must be there because of some incongruence in their life, leading to anxiety, or vulnerability. These two conditions, followed by genuineness, unconditional positive regard and empathy will create the sixth state, a communication style that is automatically client directed (Tursi & Cochran,