Becoming Carl Rogers – Part One

Published: May 15, 2022, 12:21 p.m.

This is the first in our season of episodes swimming in the waters of Carl Rogers' On Becoming a Person, and the first in a three-part mini-series on his six fundamental life learnings. It was first published in 1967 and we'll be seeing if it still outshines the millions of words people have cobbled together since, to essentially describe what it is to grow as a person.

Carl Rogers "baffled and annoyed" psychiatrists in his day, as he refused to accept Freud's analytical approach to therapy; he didn't like being told what to think. In this episode, Dan and James will happily baffle and annoy you, taking you through the first three of the six life learnings Rogers considered to be his most significant; being honest with emotions, accepting himself, and understanding other people's interpretations. With examples of the desire to murder grandmas in the supermarket and express rage in a job interview, we're bringing you a discussion about dilemmas that often remain as unclear as ever, half a century after the book's publication. 

If you want to read along with us, we thoroughly recommend the book, but if you just want the nonsense then you've come to the right place.