 Came after WWII, in the 1950’s.  Often called the “Third Force” in psychology  Broadest and most coherent theoretical movement in psychology  Arose as a protest against both its immediate predecessors, psychoanalysis and behaviorism  those perspectives were viewed by some psychologists as too deterministic

" An assumption unusual in psychology today is that the subjective human being has an important value which is basic; that no matter how he may be labeled and evaluated he is a human person first of all, and most deeply. " --Carl Rogers, 1962

 Three characteristics of human uniqueness:  Subjectivity  Individuality  Capacity for growth

 Inborn predisposition to seek the fullest expression of one’s abilities  "What a man can be, he must be. This need we may call self-actualization…It refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.“  Abraham Maslow

 “Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential.”  Bruce Lee

 Those in therapy are seen as 'clients‘ rather than 'patients‘  therapist and client as equal partners  The client is responsible for improving his or her life, not the therapist  Therapist provides a growth-inducing environment

 Empathy  Genuineness  Unconditional positive regard

 Concepts are difficult to operationalize  Relies on subjective experience  Diminished precision and reliability ▪ almost impossible to verify subjective experiences  Utilizes case studies  helpful data and suggest productive hypotheses, but claims cannot be falsified