Carl Rogers Biography
(Psychologist)
Birthday: January 8, 1902 (Capricorn)
Born In: Oak Park
Carl Rogers was an important American psychologist and educator who along with Abraham Moslow founded the Humanistic Approach’ to psychology. As a teenager, living on a farm nurtured an interest in agriculture which later led to an interest in science, but he also developed a special compassion and understanding for people. He was a very good listener, but it took him some time to find his own path. He changed his major three times before settling on clinical psychology. He rejected the dominant approaches to Psychotherapy and Psychology of the time based on his experience with troubled children, and started developing his own approach. He worked as psychotherapist while teaching, which gave him unique opportunities to explore his ideas. His Person-Centered approach would end up turning the fields of Psychotherapy and Psychology upside down. The approach transferred equally well to education, industry, and conflict resolution. Believing the therapist and client to be equals, his approach changed forever the therapist-client relationship. He believed strongly that, with help, people are capable of understanding their own problems and figuring out how to solve them for themselves. He was relentless in researching, testing, and understanding his approach and the human mind. Today, the Person-Centered Approach is the most widely used therapy approach in the United States