Carl Rogers (Psychologist) - Biography

By Kimberly Swanson, M.S.- PSY, CNA

Dr. Carl Rogers (Psychologist)

In 1902, Rogers was born in Oak Park, Illinois.  Dr. Rogers received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 1924, a M.A. from Columbia University in 1928, and his Ph.D. in psychotherapy from Columbia University in 1931 (Hall, 1997).  In 1940, Rogers became a professor at Ohio State University where he taught psychology and remained until 1945. He then transferred to the University of Chicago in 1945 where he served as the professor of psychology and the executive secretary at the Counseling Center (Hall, 1997). In 1957, he worked at the University of Wisconsin in the school of psychology and psychiatry.  He later continued to work at various colleges and universities.

Carl Rogers is a psychologist who has written 16 books and several articles on human personality (Journal Psyche, 2015).  Rogers developed techniques which reshaped therapy dynamics.  In traditional setting, the therapeutic relationships were based on the ideologies and principles of psychologists such as Freud and others; their ideologies suggested that that psychotherapist guides the patient and the patient follows the doctor’s lead (Journal Psyche, 2015).  American psychotherapist, Carl Rogers, created the non-directive, client-centered, technique to therapy, which emphasized person-to person interaction between the psychotherapist and the client (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016);  the client is the one who makes the decision as to how long the sessions will last for treatments (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016).

Rogers suggested that the psychologist and patient dynamics would more efficient if there is a mutual understanding between the two.  Rogers expanded his theory to include the theorization of personality learning, cross-cultural relationship, and etc. within the field of counseling and psychology (Journal Psyche, 2015). 

References

Encyclopedia Britannica (2016).  Carl R. Rogers.  Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-R-Rogers.

Hall, K.J.  (1997). Carl Rogers.  Retrieved from http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/rogers.htm#Biography.

Journal Psyche.  (2015). Revisiting Carl Rogers Theory of Personality.  Retrieved from http://journalpsyche.org/revisiting-carl-rogers-theory-of-personality/.

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