I'm studying to become a counsellor and I'd never heard of Carl Rogers before. As soon as I started my Masters course, my wife was excitedly asking me if I'd learned about Dr Rogers yet. I told her I'd never heard of him before. Fast forward to now and I'm adopting Person-Centred Therapy as my preferred therapeutic method and see Jesus Christ and Carl Rogers as being the biggest influences in my life right now. What surprises me is that Carl Rogers is considered the most influential psychotherapist in modern history and, yet, how many people even know of him? His way of listening empathically could save so many lives and so many relationships. What an incredible human being.
Carl Rogers, the man, the myth, the legend. He did more for humanity than he will ever get credit for and, yet, I bet the lack of recognition would make him smile.
@@justinv.1573 I disagree. In the United States school system one has to take a psychology course for their general education requirements and Carl Rodgers will pop up in all those courses. So the majority of the US population with a college degree or has been through some college level class will be familiar with the Name.
@@yulnikita I worked at a mental health center and not a single person had learned about Carl Rogers in their classes. If they had, it was such a short introduction that they didn't remember him. It's great you know who he is, but even the relatively low number of views on many of his videos is a clear indication he's not that well-known.
@@zacdodemaide9192 8:10 I was just watching that and it was really cool. Just shows how chill and understanding a psychotherapist can really be. Man, Rogers was the real deal.
Its so easy to criticise but what you are watching is difficult to do well (I speak as a trainee therapist after three years of training) and Carl Rogers is masterful at allowing the client to sink deeper into his feelings in a safe trusting way. There is a lot to learn from here.
I agree. first year here and I just can't hold the client like Carl does. So I'm just watching his video to try and see what kind of stuff I need to do. But he's a natural honestly
yeah, it's really amazing. I think it speaks to Rogers' experience, but also the courage and insight of this particular client. I find it really impressive how Rogers says very simple _sounding_ reflections, therapeutic permissions, and re-framing, but they cut right throw the top layer.
Definitely a master. I also noticed this session and the session with Gloria reflects how we have devolved intellectually(and emotionally)as a society. They both spoke so freely and eloquently about their challenges.
@@lovelymanna469 It's the same experience when watching old video from Germany or France. People were more articulate, seemed to have greater mental complexity. Much of it has to do with pace -- reviewing TV commercials from the 70s, when I was a teenager, I note that they're slower, calmer. Their content was silly, of course, much as today, but I think that we can learn a great deal by observing form.
I love that Carl Rogers and his Black client are talking about concepts like race, rage, and implicit bias, 50 years ago, and that conversation is so unbelievably relevant today. That this Black man can become vulnerable to this white man and that he can feel nurtured and accepted and somewhat understood is so moving to me. Carl Rogers not only is a professional model to me, but also a type of godfather. I am so grateful to him.
"Black"? Client could have been any colour/race/creed, a competent counsellor would still allow a client to be nothing but a client by being non-judgemental and empathetic. I think Carl is an awesome therapist, not a "white man", but just a therapist. It's like a medical doctor saving a patient regardless of skin colour. It's ethical, it's awesome. Isn't it?, Wow!👏👏👌
@@tshidimwyllienewbeginnings1091 I imagine it's pretty important and powerful for a black man who has experienced so much pain due to racism delivered by white men to be able to sit down with a white man and be made comfortable enough to be this vulnerable. Also, the client's stepdad whom he loves and misses so much was also a racist white man... So I imagine the race and sex elements at play are just as important as they aren't.
@@tshidimwyllienewbeginnings1091 Cultural competence in therapy acknowledges the differences between both parties - that does include race. Not "seeing color" is dismissive of both of their individual experiences in this world. A black man does not have the same experience as a white man. History has taught us all that. I agree with you that Rogers is an AWESOME therapist. However, there are indeed studies that show black people are treated differently regarding mental health and with medical treatment, especially when there are counselors, therapists, and other professionals who are unaware or do not acknowledge their own biases and beliefs.
Carl's ability to give this patient a perfect balance between silence and guidance is amazing. It gives the patient mental space to journey through his mind/soul and self diagnose. He's almost acting like a hand rail, only chiming in to clarify when he senses things are getting foggy. I think Carl knows if he were to talk at the wrong time, the patient would have to stop his inward journey to listen. So he stays quiet when necessary so that the patient can figure out whats wrong on his own; which in turn is more sustainable than someone else telling you whats wrong. Amazing.
Exactly! That is the basic premise you could say of the person-centered approach. The therapist does not take the title as the professional who controls and knows all. Rather, the therapist allows the client to control the session and formulate their own problem solving techniques. And like you said, when you learn from your own experience and find the solution to your own problems, it stays with you.
Mike Miller Sound that’s spot on! We are always so quick to let others see or hear what we can do or say that the ability to listen and guide a person to solve their challenges they may face or fear
With all the racial tension coming to the surface at the moment, this film brilliantly portrays the effects racism, amongst other issues, on a persons psychological health and emotional wellbeing. The articulation of the client is inspiring. I am not sure I know people with that level of self awareness.
I hope this lovely sensitive man was able to find happiness in his life. So brave to allow this into the public domain and so inspiring for counselling/psychotherapy students to be able to watch Carl Rogers in session.
@@te-ter Gloria is for real. Read her daughter's memoir, Living with 'The Gloria Films': A Daughter's Memory by Pamela J Burry (PCSS Books 2008). It is absorbing and moving.
I love that Rogers just listens to him, and really acknowledges what the patient is feeling, whereas back in that time period most psychiatrists just diagnosed them and then flooded them with medication or worse and didn't ever ask them how they feel. Carl Rogers is an inspiration x
I just wonder if you think of Carl Rogers as a psychiatrist? I have read of his intense scepticism about psychiatry and how he split from the psychiatrist,s.. A more accurate way of describing Rogers, for me, would be psychotherapist. I do agree with you about the mass medication. Best wishes to you.
everyone is... no parents, in my experience, every provide the entirety of the love required for health and a lack of hurt. Today, Parents are hurt tolders, hurting toddlers... and on and on it goes until a conscious journey, like the one the man is undertaken ...god bless him.
Just WOW! At 8 minutes when Carl tells him " its ok if your angry with me here", that became a moment of deep acceptance, and really touched me. That was so beautiful
Right from the beginning, the opening from Carl Rogers, my heart started opening, i could feel the positive regard, but more than that, love. And how nourishing that is to the process and to the relationship. The authenticity of Carl encouraged the other to 'come forth'; very beautiful to behold. A touch of magic. Wow.
I agree. This client demonstrated a great ability to self- reflect. Then Rogers gave him the space to do so, validating and reflecting back. Beautiful session.
I could relate to the brother's anger, and I appreciate Dr. Roger's compassion and understanding. So long ago, but so relevant to those who live today.
I wish I lived in a world where the values of humanistic psychotherapy were the basic values by which society ran. Imagine if Donald Trump could enter trustingly into a long-term therapy relationship with Carl Rogers!
trump is much too far gone for Rogers' kind of therapy to have any effect. He needs to be put in restraints and given a) shock therapy and b) anti-psychotic meds.
+ Robert Shock therapy is rather barbaric and so are the anti-psychotic meds in many cases (I think they would be in Trump's case). Person-centered theory would say that Trump-as-client, once he started to feel the unconditional positive regard from the therapist and if he could begin to trust that, and once he experienced Rogers non-judgmentally reflecting his feelings, and being honest and authentic with him, would begin to open up and become more self-compassionate and self-aware. Notice I said "theory would say". In practice, I think other factors would have to be in place as well, including Trump feeling a need to change; and that his usual modes of coping were really not working for him; and that other, even less-functional avenues of pseudo-coping (e.g. addictions of any kind, or money as substitute for happiness) were up for re-evaluation;; and that Trump had an initial positive response to Carl's personality (which is not at all certain, and perhaps unlikely).
When Carl tells him its ok for him to be angry there if he wants to 8.15min. There is something about that long pause, if you look at the micro expressions, the body language, there was alot going on in his mind and yet fear, control. He wanted to be heard
Yes. He may of never hear that before. People that are dealing with anger problems that are out of control. They always hear the words come down or people don't want to be near them. And less in benefits them. When the therapist say that he express that he care about his emotions and willing to listen.
Carl's response though, You really feel that? you're dam right! Fuck yes Carl, Fuck yes mate! It actually got me right there, I became pretty emotional. Such power in that one moment of total acceptance
Yes! That was a very special moment. You can tell that having someone tell him that he could express that anger was surprising to him. And I don’t think that he would’ve responded in that way with any other person. From what I can gather so far in the video ( 14:47) the client struggled with his diagnosis with Leukemia as well as some type of trauma that involved racial tension. For Carl, a white older gentleman, to say to a young black man that it’s okay to express your anger, that was very powerful and a much needed moment.
I completely agree, because I've been there myself... Feeling so much pain and anger but being too kind and caring that I don't know how to express it. When he's just staring into nothingness to try and connect with it, but it's just an empty void and you can't make that connection to it. That's why I can never let the anger out because the pain I felt, and sometimes still feel, is so dark and cold and it scares me. I don't know what would happen if I let it out...
Sometimes people say "back in my day the world was better", this video seems to make me believe that no matter what decade or century, the human condition is the same. Maybe different inputs, but same emotions.
@@kevinc721 The actual quote was "If I could cry and have it be alright.." may not seem like a big difference but that is the way he said it. To each his own interpretation but Rogers kind of had a follow up reflection that I took to clarify the clients meaning: That if society deamed it okay for a black man to cry, then and only then would it be okay to actually do so. During the time of this video and still today men of every race face the pressure of being "strong" and never crying. There are compounding factors that make him feel that it is wrong to cry and only if there were a social acceptance for it then it would be alright to finally cry. The take away I'd say would be that there will ALWAYS be reasons to not do what your heart desires and even more so, what you think is right inorder to better yourself, the key is to not let that stop you and realizing that finding your own path is true strength.
Two beautiful souls right here. I just loved how sincere this man was when would say, “for sure, for sure” agreeing with Carl. If we all learned how to attune like Carl, we’d change the world.
I feel liberated when I cry. I deliberately don't hold my tears because I don't need to. This society, the external world which wants me to be strong, does not know that being strong is not holding tears but rather it's the courage to show those emotions. A person who can do that without any conditions is who I want to be, I want to be what I think of myself(or rather who I want to be ) not what others think of me
I am listening to this client and how the conversation has switched from his condition with leukemia to racism and social injustice. I see his pain and his helplessness in this. I feel like what he needs is a real warm and comforting hug that will take his frustration away. I feel like giving him a hug!
I never really understood or believed in empathy, perhaps because I saw it as a scam. However, I now think, in part, that Rogers is the embodiment of what empathy should appear to be or rather, actually be. Not false microexpressions or squints or sad sounds but a genuine attempt (and in his case) success at understanding objectively and emotionally.
I am in my first year of studying of Psychology and just watching this video is so inspiring and insightful. Carl Rogers seems to have mastered the perfect balance between listening and speaking - something that so little people understand the value of. I really hope that someday, when I'll go into practice myself, I will be able to create a similar atmosphere of understanding and sympathy for my clients as he did to his.
Raw and powerful stuff. This should be required viewing for all those convicted of racist hate crime and in educating people about racism. Impressive guy - I hope things got better for him.
I am only a student but Dr Carl Rogers has a way to allow people to discover self. I also enjoy how congruent he is in giving the client permission to be angry. Its like he gave him permission to open the lid. His summary of content is on the money. The expression from the client shows how relieved he is to be heard. I also very much enjoy how expressive and open the client is.
Anger ameliorates feelings of fear. So if one understands that as a therapist, we can see that the client is fearful of giving up the anger and having the fear of the state of affairs re-emerge and need to be faced directly.
Rogers really believes in the wisdom of the client and works intelligently to help him/her manifest that. I am for more directive models on psychotherapy, in my case schema therapy, but these approaches of Rogers and the humanistic school will always be relevant and necessary in every therapeutic interaction, in my estimation. Beautiful, formative, and informative video. Thanks for posting it.
I really liked this, Carl Rogers is a pure genius. He is patient, wise and effectively the silence and r]the reflection of the client ensure the client can feel safe in exploring his anger when he chosen to. I like that he is being reflective .
Do you think he imagined if he was actually angry to Rogers and ended up hurting him that it would reflect, or do you think he was just speaking generally? i’ve watched this vid about 6 times now and this was the only time thats entered my mind cause it seemed like Rogers was bravely gently prompting him to consider that very thing.
I have watched this so many times and every time I am so moved with emotion. The way Carl allows the client to fully be what he needed to be, the way he gave welcome and permission for the clients emotions... it was just so powerful. It really worked in his favor to start building trust. He wasn't ready to be angry or cry yet but the trust and raport building was just so seemless.
It seems to me that a therapist its a mere reflection of the patient, that allows him to see himself deeply into his inner being. Many can't do that on their own for multiple reasons, that is why therapy allows a person to journey into his own being and rediscover pains that can be debilitating, yet not noticeable on the surface.
“Thus Birdman concludes that self-exploration and insight, the positive aspects of the therapeutic process, appear to be furthered primarily by responses which are reflections of feeling, while evaluative, interpretive, and structuring responses tend to foster client reactions which are negative for the process of therapy” - Carl Rogers, On Becoming A Person
It's a key part of client based counselling (the school carl roger's founded) its not to give advice but to help the client find the right path themselves, and just be supportive and make them feel heard and understood. Carl truly believed every person knows what's best for themselves, just sometimes they need help to see what that is.
That is the level self awareness people used to have in the past. Nowadays this profession is much harder because people don’t know themselves and can’t communicate either. Unfortunately the more we evolve the more we need therapy to help us to get to know ourselves.
Which is kind of paradoxical, isn't it, because you'd tend to think that continued evolution would equate to greater self awareness. But perhaps evolution is happening in _some_ ways - improved scientific knowledge and technology for example - but not in other, perhaps equally important ones.
For the people here wanting to know more, there is a good book of essays analysing this session, called "Carl Rogers Counsels a Black Client: Race and Culture in Person-Centred Counselling"
Being in his situation it's alot ,it's not a condition that nobody can control...He being this strong to Express how he feel is so amazing..He want someone real that knows he is hurting and can be by his side and also need some family or friendly support 👌 In this society people faces this same situation....
"Squash!" Superb. There are layers of oppression being (briefly) lifted here. Freud believed very little should be said in therapy so Rogers' approach of (relatively) active reflection and empathy catalyzes and unlocks the inner suppression that other environments denied. It is a sign of how troubling is the world in which we live is when our authentic emotions are denied to us. It is not only a measure of how toxic systems are that produce such suppression but which verily create the antecedents of stress and trauma in the first place.
I love his honesty and it was, in a way, fascinating to see just how bad racism was back then and how it effected individuals. It's such a shame that it still exists today.
This is beautiful. It's important to realize IMO that this is a very selected client, IOW the average person is not so verbal, articulate, sensitive, and educated in humanistic psychology as this wonderful guy is. Using Rogers' methods on a more "ordinary" person would feel very different, and the therapist might well feel the need to be more directive and educative than Rogers is being here. Even Rogers might feel that way! ;)
Hey Robb, I'm sure there may well be desires to be directive but Rogerian theory and person-centred therapy as a whole would never seek to direct the client. As Rogers says after the client stops, the client knows best about what their limits are. If something is too much, it's too much. Even if that means that therapy can't address that issue because of it.
Person centred counselling works beautifully with inarticulate ordinary individuals! The whole point of this kind of therapy is it's need to be non directive .
Is there any way I can see a video of Rogers with someone who isn't both intelligent and emotionally intelligent? both this man and Gloria are just so smart and self aware
Anybody know the client's name? I would like to know what happened. He sure is a tough guy! I hope and pray for all who are going though same thing!! May God help us love each other as humans and one creature. Love to all❤️❤️ -the best interview I've EVER watched, thanks Dr. Rogers for your wisdom!
“Maybe I could go into one of those movies, a drama or something like that, and I could cry and have an excuse to cry. But crying for myself.... I’m not sure.... I’m just not sure that’s gonna be constructive”
To not judge but to discern, appreciate the other person's soul because everyone of us is same, we are human being with a very dynamic psyche... For example if you have to face a criminal with a twisted mind. Just give space for them to express, without judgements. This is like how God loves us all, He see inner layer of our souls, not just our sins. Its very important to apply this BUT without going away from positive/good principles 🙏🏻🌊. Everyone needs love
i guess ometimes all a man has left is his pride and as men we link pride with our masculinity, we are told as a boy not to cry,to cry means you are weak you can not be weak certainly not in his world. In his world he feels voiceless, oppressed , marginalised ,notice how he speaks in the past tense, and how fatalistic his veiw is. Now he may feel his life was, wasted and unfullfilled by the racism, he is struggling with controlling an inner rage and how and where he wants to direct it, ............... .i hope he found peace
