Robinson On Becoming a Person

A must read for anyone truly interested in understanding themselves or others. You don't need to be in a counselling/psychology/psychotherapy situation for this to appeal. It is the one of the most insightful books written on how we develop as a person, how to become whole and to understanding what it means to be human. Carl Rogers is truly awakened when it comes to understanding the whole person. He is a pioneer in the field of mental well being and his work has been pushed to the side in exchange for others methods designed as a quick fix and quick turnover of getting people off waiting lists for therapeutic services. If more people worked in this way, we would be a much healthier society on every level.

Rogers is credited as the founder of the person centred counselling system in the 1950s. Which he copied off Eldon Mayo's Hawthorn program in the 1920s (listen, don't talk; give your whole attention to them, or pretend to; never argue or give advice).Mayo's work was to increase factory productivity. Carl Rogers lived at a time when language from psychology was invading family life, and he exploited this. He melded his strong Christian background with "modern" workplace psychology to create a cultural meme. It's all about redemption after the fall. Our early childhood affects everything (so he says) but we still all have the chance to be saved (to grow in his words). Hallelujah! It's a cultural frame that fits perfectly with capitalism. Self self self (couched as Person centred so that it doesn't seem as narcissistic as it is). How can a 12 year old girl who wants to transition really know that this is right (Tavistock was successfully sued by one such Autistic girl)? What if the client is Autistic?The meme works well as, just like Christianity, it explains why the world is what it is (why some people are hosed), and offers redemption, if you follow the rules. It's very adaptable as there is no science involved, so you can explain contrary emotions; it uses words rather than feelings (words can be interpreted any way). It both makes one responsible for one's mental well-being, while removing any notion of moral culpability. It's all about self reliance and putting the self at the centre of the world. Which chimes with capitalism and endless choice. And why it has been successfull. It is rocket fuel to endless markets, including the markets for love and sex. Rogers worked for the CIA for many years under cover of the Human Ecology Fund. Similar to the "Men Who Stare at Goats" project. He tried to explain this away by saying that it wasn't very successful. But it lasted over 10 years?If you need this book you could do with a true friend. Rather than an ersatz one that Rogers says will work.

This book may have been groundbreaking in its day, but its day was a long time ago. Originally published in 1961,and mostly written in the ten years preceding that, it is very dated now. Despite the views of some Amazon reviewers, things have moved on since then. It's like reading a book on the history of transport that ends with the invention of the bicycle.Rogers's tedious writing style doesn't help - he has to justify, qualify and over-analyse everything - but the real problem is the repetitive content: the book takes 400 pages to present Rogers's one main idea that if you allow people to talk, and talk, and talk without disagreeing or directing them, they will eventually come to understand themselves better and reach some degree of self-actualisation.The included examples from his clients in therapy are barely coherent and demonstrate nothing worthwhile; one of his clients begins to talk about bodily symptoms at their FORTY SECOND hour-long session. Some therapists would use this as a starting point - the somatic bridge - not by arriving there after a year of analysis. Rogers gives no specific examples of what conditions were helped by his methods, and it appears his practice was mainly about giving educated Americans a vehicle to talk about themselves.You can talk forever about your emotional problems but all you will do is displace them or suppress them more effectively and they will remain unresolved. This book offers no solutions for real people and the fact that people are still reading it and referring to it shows that some people are still happier avoiding real problems than they are at dealing with them.

This book is essential if you want to understand how Carl Rogers developed his theory, and then his practice. If you read this, and you are a student counsellor, you get an example of what being authentic feels like to a witness. Nice perk is, you learn what tutor to trust. In other words, while recounting his life and his decisions, Rogers models being authentic, empathetic, and having unconditional positive regard - as opposed to faking the core conditions. At the end of the book, you come to understand that person centered counselling isn’t just a modality, but a way of being instead.

Great quality book, well printed and delivered in good condition. The book itself is a tough read as Rogers writing is very of its time and long winded. But his premise is one that features not only for counsellors but everyone day to day.