Editing Carl Rogers (section)

== Biography ==
Rogers was born on January 8, 1902, in [[Oak Park, Illinois]], a suburb of [[Chicago]]. His father, Walter A. Rogers, was a [[civil engineer]] and a [[Congregational church|Congregationalist]] by religious denomination. His mother, Julia M. Cushing,<ref name="Cushing">{{cite book|last=Cushing|first=James Stevenson|title=The genealogy of the Cushing family, an account of the ancestors and descendants of Matthew Cushing, who came to America in 1638|url=https://archive.org/details/genealogyofcushi1905cush|publisher=The Perrault printing co.|location=Montreal|year=1905|page=[https://archive.org/details/genealogyofcushi1905cush/page/380 380]|lccn=06032460}}</ref><ref name="CalDeath">{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=CAdeath1940|title=California Death Index, 1940–1997|publisher=Ancestry.com|access-date=19 April 2010 }} Rogers' mother's maiden name is Cushing.</ref> was a homemaker and devout [[Baptists|Baptist]]. Carl was the fourth of their six children.<ref name="1910Census">{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910USCenIndex&indiv=try&h=107466638|title=1910 United States Federal Census|publisher=Ancestry.com|access-date=19 April 2010}} Oak Park, Cook, Illinois; Roll T624_239; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 70; Image: 703. Carl is fourth of six children of Walter A. and Julia M. Rogers.</ref>

Rogers was intelligent and could read well before kindergarten. After being raised in a strict religious environment as an [[altar boy]] at the [[Clergy house|vicarage]] of Jimpley, he became isolated, independent, and disciplined, gaining knowledge and an appreciation for the [[scientific method]] in a practical world. At the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]], he joined the fraternity [[Alpha Kappa Lambda]] and initially planned to study [[agriculture]] before switching to history and finally settling on [[Religious studies|religion]].

At age 20, following his 1922 trip to [[Beijing]], [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|China]], for an international [[Christianity|Christian]] conference, Rogers started to doubt his religious convictions. To help him clarify his career choice, he attended a seminar entitled "Why Am I Entering the Ministry?" after which he decided to change careers. In 1924, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin, married fellow Wisconsin student and Oak Park resident Helen Elliott, and enrolled at [[Union Theological Seminary (New York City)|Union Theological Seminary]] in New York City. Sometime later, he reportedly became an [[Atheism|atheist]].<ref>Michael Martin (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. p. 310. {{ISBN|9780521842709}}. "Among celebrity atheists with much biographical data, we find leading psychologists and psychoanalysts. We could provide a long list, including...Carl R. Rogers..."</ref> Although referred to as an atheist early in his career, Rogers was eventually described as an [[Agnosticism|agnostic]]. He reportedly spoke about [[spirituality]] quite often in his later years. Brian Thorne, who knew and collaborated with Rogers throughout the latter's final decade of life, writes:  "In his later years his openness to experience compelled him to acknowledge the existence of a dimension to which he attached such adjectives as mystical, spiritual, and transcendental".<ref>Thorne, Brian (2003). ''Carl Rogers''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pg IX.</ref> Rogers concluded that there is a realm "beyond" scientific psychology—a realm he came to prize as "the indescribable, the spiritual."<ref name=Kramer1995>{{cite journal |last1=Kramer |first1=Robert |title=The Birth of Client-Centered Therapy: Carl Rogers, Otto Rank, and 'The Beyond' |journal=Journal of Humanistic Psychology |date=October 1995 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=54–110 |doi=10.1177/00221678950354005 |s2cid=145059656 }}</ref>

After two years at Union, Rogers left to attend [[Teachers College, Columbia University]], obtaining an M.A. in 1927 and a Ph.D. in 1931.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fierro |first1=Catriel |title='A backdrop for psychotherapy': Carl R. Rogers, psychological testing, and the psycho-educational clinic at Columbia University's Teachers College (1924–1935). |journal=History of Psychology |date=November 2021 |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=323–349 |doi=10.1037/hop0000201 |pmid=34516193 |s2cid=237507108 }}</ref> While completing his doctoral work, he engaged in scientific studies of children. As an intern in 1927–1928 at the now-defunct Institute for Child Guidance in New York, Rogers studied with psychologist [[Alfred Adler]].<ref name=Ansbacher>{{cite journal |last=Ansbacher |first=Heinz L. |title=Alfred Adler's influence on the three leading cofounders of humanistic psychology |journal=[[Journal of Humanistic Psychology]] |date=Fall 1990 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=45–53 |doi=10.1177/002216789003000404}}</ref> Later in life, Rogers recalled: {{blockquote|Accustomed as I was to the rather rigid Freudian approach of the Institute—seventy-five-page case histories, and exhaustive batteries of tests before even thinking of "treating" a child—I was shocked by Dr. Adler's very direct and deceptively simple manner of immediately relating to the child and the parent. It took me some time to realize how much I had learned from him.<ref name=Ansbacher/>}} In 1930, Rogers served as director of the [[New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children|Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children]] in Rochester, New York. From 1935 to 1940, he lectured at the [[University of Rochester]] and wrote ''The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child'' (1939), based on his experience in working with troubled children. He was strongly influenced in constructing his client-centered approach by the post-Freudian psychotherapeutic practice of [[Otto Rank]],<ref name=Kramer1995/> especially as embodied in the work of Rank's disciple: noted clinician and [[social work]] educator [[Jessie Taft]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kirschenbaum|first1=Howard|title=On Becoming Carl Rogers|publisher=Delacorte Press|isbn=978-0-440-06707-8|pages=92–93|year=1979}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=deCarvalho|first1=Roy J.|title=Otto Rank, the Rankian Circle in Philadelphia, and the Origins of Carl Rogers' Person-Centered Psychotherapy|journal=History of Psychology|date=1999|volume=2|issue=2|pages=132–148|doi=10.1037/1093-4510.2.2.132|pmid=11623737}}</ref>  In 1940, Rogers became professor of clinical psychology at [[Ohio State University]], where he wrote his second book, ''Counseling and Psychotherapy'' (1942). In it, Rogers suggests that by establishing a relationship with an understanding, accepting therapist, a client can resolve difficulties and gain the insight necessary to restructure their life.

In 1945, Rogers was invited to set up a counseling center at the [[University of Chicago]]. While a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago (1945–1957), Rogers helped establish a counseling center connected with the university and conducted studies to determine his methods' effectiveness. His findings and theories appeared in ''Client-Centered Therapy'' (1951) and ''Psychotherapy and Personality Change'' (1954). One of his graduate students at the University of Chicago, [[Thomas Gordon (psychologist)|Thomas Gordon]], established the [[Parent Effectiveness Training]] movement. Another student, [[Eugene T. Gendlin]], who was getting his Ph.D. in philosophy, developed the psychotherapeutic method of [[Focusing (psychotherapy)|focusing]] based on Rogerian listening.{{Technical inline|date=December 2024|reason=The average Wiki reader will not know the difference between focusing as a psychotherapeutic device and neuropsychological process. Further, as there is no Wiki on "Rogerian listening," the term needs to be defined clearly or replaced with something more generic.}}

In 1947, he was elected president of the [[American Psychological Association]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/past-presidents.aspx| title = Former APA Presidents}}</ref> In 1956, Rogers became the first president of the American Academy of Psychotherapists.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aapweb.com/history.html |title=American Academy of Psychotherapists History of the Academy<!--Bot-generated title--> |access-date=2008-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710234948/http://www.aapweb.com/history.html |archive-date=2012-07-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He taught psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1957–1963). During this time, he wrote one of his best-known books, ''On Becoming a Person'' (1961). A student of his there, [[Marshall Rosenberg]], went on to develop [[Nonviolent Communication]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.nonviolentcommunication.com/meet_marshall_rosenberg/vision.htm| title = About Dr. Marshall Rosenberg}}</ref> Rogers and [[Abraham Maslow]] pioneered a movement called [[humanistic psychology]], which reached its peak in the 1960s. In 1961, he was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter R|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterR.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618090045/http://amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterR.pdf |archive-date=2006-06-18 |url-status=live|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=7 April 2011}}</ref> Rogers was also one of the people who questioned the rise of [[McCarthyism]] in the 1950s. In articles, he criticized society for its backward-looking affinities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Demanchick |first1=S. |last2=Kirschenbaum |first2=H. |year=2008 |title=Carl Rogers and the CIA |journal=Journal of Humanistic Psychology |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=6–31 |doi=10.1177/0022167807303005|s2cid=145499631 }}</ref>

Rogers continued teaching at the University of Wisconsin until 1963 when he became a resident at the new [[Western Behavioral Sciences Institute]] (WBSI) in [[La Jolla]], California. Rogers left the WBSI to help found the Center for Studies of the Person in 1968. His later books include ''Carl Rogers on Personal Power'' (1977) and ''Freedom to Learn for the '80s'' (1983). He remained a La Jolla resident for the rest of his life, doing therapy, giving speeches, and writing.

In his later years, Rogers focused on applying his theories to address political oppression and social conflict globally. He facilitated dialogue between [[The Troubles|Protestants and Catholics]] in [[Belfast]], [[Ethnic groups in South Africa|Blacks]] and [[White South Africans|Whites]] in South Africa, and people transitioning to [[Redemocratization in Brazil|democracy in Brazil]]. In the U.S., he worked with health consumers and providers. At 85, his final trip was to the [[Soviet Union]], where he conducted workshops that promoted communication and creativity, impressed by the awareness of his work among [[Russians]].

Between 1974 and 1984, Rogers, his daughter [[Natalie Rogers]], and psychologists Maria Bowen, Maureen O'Hara, and John K. Wood convened a series of residential programs in the U.S., Europe, Brazil, and Japan: the Person-Centered Approach Workshops. The workshops focused on cross-cultural communications, personal growth, self-empowerment, and learning for social change.

In 1987, Rogers suffered a fall that resulted in a fractured [[pelvis]]; he had [[Life Alert Emergency Response|life alert]] and was able to contact paramedics. He had a successful operation, but his [[pancreas]] failed the next night, and he died a few days later after a heart attack.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/06/obituaries/carl-r-rogers-85-leader-in-psychotherapy-dies.html?pagewanted=all | title=Carl R. Rogers, 85, Leader in Psychotherapy, Dies| newspaper=The New York Times| date=1987-02-06| last1=Goleman| first1=Daniel}}</ref>