Carl Ransom Rogers was born in 1902
in Oak Park, Illinois. Rogers was the
fourth of six children born to his
parents, a civil engineer, and housewife.
Rogers was a high achiever in school
from an early age. He could already read
before age 5, so he was able to skip
kindergarten and first grade entirely to
enter school in the second grade.
When he was 12, the family moved from
the suburbs to a rural farm area. He
enrolled at the University of Wisconsin
in 1919 as an agriculture major but later
changed to religion with plans to
become a minister.
It was a visit with a school group to
Beijing and a bout of illness that caused
him to start reconsidering these plans.
After attending a 1922 Christian
conference in China, Rogers began to
question his career choice. He graduated
from the University of Wisconsin in
1924 with a bachelor's degree in History
and enrolled at the Union Theological
Seminary before transferring to
Teachers College of Columbia University
in 1926 to complete his master's degree.
Part of the reason he chose to abandon
his pursuit of theology and switch to the
study of psychology was a course he took
at Columbia University taught by the
psychologist Leta Stetter Hollingworth.
Rogers decided to enroll in the clinical
psychology program at Columbia. He
completed his doctorate at Columbia in
1931.
After receiving his Ph.D., Rogers spent a
number of years working in academia,
holding positions at Ohio State
University, the University of Chicago,
and the University of Wisconsin. It was
during this time that Rogers developed
his approach to therapy, which he
initially termed "nondirective therapy."
This approach, which involves the
therapist acting as a facilitator rather
than a director of the therapy session,
eventually came to be known as client-
centered therapy.
Client-centered therapy, also known
as person-centered therapy, is a non-
directive form of talk therapy.
Rogers was deliberate in his use of the
term client rather than patient. He
believed that the term patient implied
that the individual was sick and seeking
a cure from a therapist. By using the
term client instead, Rogers emphasized
the importance of the individual in The goal of this is to allow the client to
seeking assistance, controlling their gain a clearer understanding of their
destiny, and overcoming their own inner thoughts, perceptions, and
difficulties. emotions.

Rogers believed that the therapist should By exhibiting these three characteristics,
remain non-directive. That is to say, the therapists can help clients grow

therapist should not direct the client, psychologically, become more self-
aware, and change their behavior via
should not pass judgments on the client's
self-direction. In this type of
feelings, and should not offer
environment, a client feels safe and free
suggestions or solutions. Instead, the
from judgment. Rogers believed that
client should be an equal partner in the
this type of atmosphere allows clients to
therapeutic process. develop a healthier view of the world
and a less distorted view of themselves.
Rogers explained:

"Unconditional positive regard

means that when the therapist is
experiencing a positive, acceptant
attitude toward whatever the client is at
that moment, therapeutic movement or
change is more likely. It involves the
therapist's willingness for the client to
be whatever feeling is going on at that
moment - confusion, resentment, fear,
anger, courage, love, or pride…The
therapist prizes the client in a total
rather than a conditional way."

Empathic Understanding