Carl Rogers’ phenomenological theory

This psychologist emphasized how we construct our own interpretations of reality.

Each person has his or her own unique way of grasping reality, of thinking and processing what happens to us, and of acting according to our perceptions, previous experiences, beliefs and values.Each person has his or her own unique way of perceiving reality, of thinking and processing what happens to us, and of acting according to our perceptions, previous experiences, beliefs and values. In other words, each human being has his or her own personality.

This construct has been studied from many different theories and points of view, as well as those problems and disorders that derive from a lack of coordination and adequacy between personality characteristics and the events of everyday life. One of them is the phenomenological theory of Carl RogersOne of them is the phenomenological theory of Carl Rogers, centered on the formation of the ego and the personality and the adequacy of these, oriented towards clinical practice.

The phenomenological theory of Rogers

Carl Rogers was a psychologist of great importance in the history of psychology. in the history of psychology, being recognized for being one of the greatest exponents of humanistic psychology and for his contribution to the practice of psychotherapy with innovations such as client-centered therapy. A great part of his contributions are due to his vision of how the human being integrates reality to form his own Self. And this aspect is especially worked in the so-called phenomenological theory of Rogers.

This theory establishes that each person perceives the world and reality in a particular way based on experience and the interpretation he makes of it, so that he constructs his own reality from these elements. This interpretation of reality is what Rogers calls the phenomenological field. For Rogers reality is the perception that each person has of it.It is not possible to observe it in any other way than through the filter of our own mind.

Thus, the professional who seeks to understand and treat another human being must start from the idea that in order to understand him he will have to take into account not only what he does objectively, but also the subjective vision of the world that he has and that has led him to it, working with both elements at the same time from the link between professional and patient.

Rogers' phenomenological theory is thus based on the idea that behavior is mediated by internal elementssuch as the tendency to actualization and the evaluation of experiences. The human being tries to find his place in the world, feeling self-realization with it and basing the conception of this on personal growth.

The human being as a self-actualizing organism

Throughout life, the human being is continuously exposed to a flow of situations that will force him to adapt in order to survive. The goal is to find one's place in the world. To this end, we as an organism have the tendency to constantly update ourselves: we are motivated to grow and expand continuously as this allows us on the one hand to survive and on the other hand to develop and to achieve achieve autonomy and fulfill objectives..

Likewise, we learn to evaluate situations positively or negatively depending on whether they allow us to update ourselves, approaching the elements that allow us to be satisfied and moving away from those that hinder us. We learn to visualize reality in a certain way and this vision will mark our interaction with the environment.

This tendency is present from birthThe self concept, trying to coordinate this development with our being to form a more or less stable "I" over time, which will mark our identity and personality.

Self-concept and the need for acceptance and self-esteem

Phenomenological theory focuses fundamentally on the processes of behavioral change and self-esteem. processes of behavioral and personality change throughout life. throughout life. An important concept is the self-concept, which is understood as the awareness of oneself and which serves as a model or frame of reference from which reality is perceived and to which the perceived experience is linked in order to grant it, as well as ourselves, a value.

This self-concept is based on the organism, the totality of the person, both physically and mentally, and serves as the basis for conscious and non-conscious experiences.

The self-concept is generated throughout the evolution and growth of the person, as they internalize and self-assign traits that they perceive from the actions of others and their effects. Based on these self-assigned traits a self-image is formedgradually acquiring awareness of their individuality.

The child's own actions provoke a reaction from others, reactions that will become relevant throughout development as the need to feel affection from others gradually appears. to feel affection from others and to be positively and to be positively valued. Depending on whether the behavior is approved or punished, the person will learn to value him/herself in a way that will eventually build self-esteem.

The mental disorder

This self-esteem or emotional appraisal of the person will lead to the sketching of an ideal selfthat which the subject would like to be, and that tries to reach it. But our ideal Self can be more or less close to our real Self, which can trigger frustrations and diminished self-esteem if we do not get closer to the former. Similarly, if the situations experienced contradict our development, they are seen as a threat.

When self-concept and reality contradict each other, the human being tries to react through different reactions to reduce the contradiction. It is at this moment that pathological reactions such as denial or dissociation as the denial or the dissociation, according to the defensive reaction is not sufficient or is disorganized, thing that can entail the appearance of mental disorders when disintegrating the personality of the individual.

In therapy

In therapy, Rogers considers that the professional must act from the empathy and making use of intuition and bonding with the patient to get to understand his phenomenological field, so that he can contribute to guide him in his acquisition of autonomy and development.

It is important to keep in mind that for Rogers each person is responsible for him/herself, being the subject him/herself who will elaborate his/her development and carry out the process of change. The therapist is a guide or helpThe therapist is a guide or help, but cannot make the change for him/her, but rather help the person to find ways to update him/herself in the best possible way.

The role of the professional is therefore to guide and help the subject to see what motivates him or her or in what direction he or she is developing from the link with the patient, whom he or she must allow and help to express himself or herself. It is based on the complete acceptance of the patientThe aim is to open his phenomenological field and to make conscious and accept those experiences that contradict his self-concept. With this, it is sought that the person is able to reintegrate his personality and achieve a positive development.