Carl Rogers: Self-Actualization Theory

There are a lot of subjects we could discuss about Rogers including his theory of personality and the client-centered therapeutic approach that came out of his work. We could discuss the conditions that a person would need in childhood to become fully functioning and self-actualizing as an adult. I struggled to decide what to focus on here because it is all so rich.

Let’s start by reading two professional journal articles that flank Rogers’s work across a range of time.

Read this piece about empathy by Rogers himself at

http://www.sageofasheville.com/pub_downloads/EMPATHIC_AN_UNAPPRECIATED_WAY_OF_BEING.pdf Links to an external site.

Now, read this “tribute” piece:

Kirschenbaum, H. (2004). Carl Rogers life and work: an assessment on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Journal of Counseling and Development, 82, p. 116–124. Find it at http://potentiality.org/drjwilcoxson/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/Person-Centered-theory-Carl-Rogers-100-yerars-Literature-Review-2.pdf Links to an external site.

Now, have some fun completing a few assessments of empathy and some other related variables:

assessment of empathy online: http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/1259030539/student_view0/chapter3/self-assessment__assessing_your_emotional_empathy.html Links to an external site.

UPDATE: the assessment above is not scoring for most students. It didn’t work for me either today. So, here is an alternate site to consider. Scroll toward the bottom for some fun empathy assessments, such as the yawn test. ☺ http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Test.htm Links to an external site. 

a variety of assessments, including empathy: http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/books/hoerr2016_appendixa.pdf Links to an external site.

Post responses to the following:

1. What did you learn from the readings that you didn’t know before? Be sure to discuss something that is genuinely interesting to you. [write at least 250 words per article]
2. Please report your scores (or those of a confidential person if you are not comfortable sharing) on each measure of empathy. Consider what these results mean for you. Discuss ways to increase your empathy. Are there ways that high empathy can be detrimental to your person? Consider your scores on the other traits; do you think any of them relate to your empathy levels? [write at least 250 words here too]

Assessments included:

1. Empathy 1 (from mheducation)
2. Empathy 2
3. Self-Control
4. Integrity
5. Embracing Diversity
6. Grit