XAVIER UNIVERSITY - ATENEO DE CAGAYAN

COLLEGE OF NURSING

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of NCM 105.1:

Care of Clients with Maladaptive Patterns of Behavior

Carl Rogers Humanistic Theory

Submitted to:
Maam Jesusa Gabule, RN, MN
Maam Ma. Jesseca Monsanto, RN, MAN

Submitted by:
ROSALES, Evan Joseph
SALIDO, Mailyne Nicole
SARIP, Waffa
TALIAN, Arraceille Anne
BSN-3 NB

November 14, 2016

Carl Rogers Humanistic Theory:

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanistic psychologist who agreed with the main
assumptions of Abraham Maslow, but added that for a person to "grow", they need
an environment that provides them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure),
acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being
listened to and understood).

A. Discuss briefly the assigned theory:

In Rogerss Humanistic theory: he believed that all behavior is motivated by

self-actualizing tendencies, which drive a person to achieve at their highest level. As
a result of their interactions with the environment and others, an individual forms
a structure of the self or self-conceptan organized, fluid, conceptual pattern of
concepts and values related to the self. If a person has a positive self-concept, they
tend to feel good about who they are and often see the world as a safe and positive
place. If they have a negative self-concept, they may feel unhappy with who they
are.
Rogers further divided the self into two categories: the ideal self and the real self.
The ideal self is the person that you would like to be; the real self is the person you
actually are. Rogers focused on the idea that we need to achieve consistency
between these two selves.

We experience congruence when our thoughts about our real self and ideal self are
very similarin other words, when our self-concept is accurate. High congruence
leads to a greater sense of self-worth and a healthy, productive life. Conversely,
when there is a great discrepancy between our ideal and actual selves, we
experience a state Rogers called incongruence, which can lead to maladjustment.
Rogers also added that during the development of the self-concept, unconditional
positive regard should be emphasized. According to Rogers, people raised in an
environment of unconditional positive regard have the opportunity to fully actualize
unlike those who are raised in an environment of conditional positive regard, in which
love and appreciation are only given under fulfilling certain conditions, therefore they
are forced to develop outside of their own true actualizing tendency; this contributes
to incongruence and a greater gap between the real self and the ideal self.

B. Implication in Nursing Practice

The key components of Rogers approach to psychotherapy include unconditional
positive regard, accurate empathy and genuineness. These are considered qualities
of the therapist enacted in relation to the client in terms of humanistic therapy.
In terms of these qualities, unconditional positive regard is a view of a person or
client that is accepting and warm, no matter what that person in therapy reveals in
terms of his or her emotional problems or experiences. This means that an individual
in the context of humanistic psychotherapy, or in therapy with a humanistic
psychologist or therapist, should expect the therapist to be accepting of whatever
that individual reveals to the therapist. In this context, the therapist will be accepting
and understanding regardless of what one tells the therapist.
Accurate empathy is represented as understanding a client from that persons own
perspective. This means that the humanistic psychologist or therapist will be able to
perceive you as you perceive yourself, and that he will feel sympathy for you on the
basis of the knowledge of your reality. He will know you in terms of knowing your

thoughts and feelings toward yourself, and he will feel empathy and compassion for
you based on that fact.
As another quality enacted by the humanistic therapist, genuineness is truthfulness
in ones presentation toward the client; it is integrity or a self-representation that is
real. To be genuine with a client reflects qualities in a therapist that entail more than
simply being a therapist. It has to do with being an authentic person with ones client.
Carl Rogers believed that, as a therapist, one could be authentic and deliberate
simultaneously. This means that the therapist can be a real person, even while he
is intentionally saying and doing what is required to help you.

The goal of therapy from the humanistic orientation is to allow the client to achieve
congruence in term of his real self and his ideal self. This means that what a person
is and what he wants to be should become the same as therapy progresses.
Self-esteem that is achieved in therapy will allow the client to elevate his sense of
what he is, and self-esteem will also lessen his need to be better than what he is.
Essentially, as the real self is more accepted by the client, and his raised self-esteem
will allow him to be less than some kind of ideal self that he feels he is compelled to
be. It is the qualities of unconditional positive regard, accurate empathy and
genuineness in the humanistic therapist that allow the therapist to assist the client in
cultivating congruence between the real self and the ideal self from that clients
perspective.

Based upon standards that make them feel inadequate, the mentally ill respond to
stigma by internalizing it. If the mentally ill person can achieve the goal of
congruence between the real self and the ideal self, their expectations regarding who
they should be may be reconciled with an acceptance of who they are. As they
lower their high standards regarding who they should be, their acceptance of their
real selves may follow naturally.

Carl Rogers said, As I accept myself as I am, only then can I change. In humanistic
therapy, the therapist can help even a schizophrenic accept who they are by

reflecting acceptance of the psychotic individual. However, when the schizophrenic

becomes more able to accept who they are, they can then change. Social
acceptance is crucial for coping with schizophrenia, and social acceptance leads to
self-acceptance by the schizophrenic.

The accepting therapist can be a key component in reducing the negative

consequences of stigma as it has affected the mental ill patient client.

This, then, relates to conditions of worth and the actualizing tendency. Conditions of
worth affect the mentally ill more severely than other people. Simple acceptance
and empathy by a clinician may be curative to some extent, even for the chronically
mentally ill. If the schizophrenic individual is released from conditions of worth that
are entailed by stigmatization, then perhaps the actualizing tendency would assert
itself in them in a positive way, lacking distortion.

In the tradition of person-centered therapy, the client is allowed to lead the

conversation or the dialogue of the therapy sessions. This is ideal for the psychotic
individual, provided he believes he is being heard by his therapist. Clearly, the
therapists mind will have to stretch as they seek to understand the clients subjective
perspective. In terms of humanistic therapy, this theory would seem to apply to all
individuals, as it is based upon the psychology of all human beings, each uniquely
able to benefit from this approach by through the growth potential that is inherent in
them. In terms of the amelioration of psychosis by means of this therapy, Rogers
offers hope.
C. Importance in Nursing Practice
The concept of person-centered care has long been associated with the nursing
profession, and understood in principle as, establishing mutual trust and
understanding with individuals, respecting their values and rights as a person, and
developing therapeutic relationships with them and others associated with their care.
Helping the individual to have realization in care makes them to tolerate the

incongruency of their illness and also helps them to plan for future, to do this, there is
the need to build a baseline value history of the patient through biographical
accounts and narrative story (Meyers, D.T. 1989).
In person-centered practice respect for patient's values are identified as being
central in order to achieve an effective process of the concept (Dewing, J. 2002;
William,B. & Grant. 1998; McCormack 2001).
It is important to develop a clear picture of what patient's values about their life and
how they make sense of what is happening around them for it would help in gaining
a sense of understanding and thus facilitating in establishing a therapeutic
relationship.
This theory further strengthens the implementation of individualized nursing care; in
its every phase from assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation,
sensitivity to the patients person and humanity is emphasized and realized.

Reference:
1. Reitan, A., PsyD. (2013, February 24). Humanistic Theory and Therapy,
Applied to the Psychotic Individual. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from
http://brainblogger.com/2013/02/24/humanistic-theory-and-therapy-applied-tothe-psychotic-individual/