Somewhere back in school Carl Rogers‘ On Becoming a Person was required reading.  Maybe because of the title – and my life-long goal to become “a person” – or maybe because there is something endearing about Carl Rogers himself, whatever the reason this is one of the few books I have held on to for these many years.  The binding of my 1961 paperback edition has fallen apart and only a rubber band keeps the pages bound in some sense of order.

Anyone familiar with Rogers knows that he is considered the father of client-centered therapy.  Rogers took a different approach to therapy from his colleagues of the day, one that was open, flexible, and empowered the client to determine his/her own therapeutic course.  This was a fairly radical approach at the time and even now there are those who dispute Rogers’ techniques.  Admittedly a client-centered session can be difficult to watch, as his interview in 1965 with Gloria illustrates.

The Rogers-Gloria interview is an example of Rogers’ method of using  long silences pierced by a few quiet words of encouragement, highlighting a key component to client-centered therapy –  listening.  Rogers believed that a true understanding of an individual, and the ability Read Full Text