All of us possess ‘strongly positive directional tendencies’

From Aeon:

Unlike Freud, Rogers believed that all of us possess ‘strongly positive directional tendencies’. Unhappy people, he believed, were not broken; they were blocked.

And as opposed to the then-dominant modes of psychotherapy – psychoanalysis and behaviourism – Rogers believed that a therapist should be less a problem-solver, and more a sort of skilled midwife, drawing out solutions that already existed in the client.

All people possess a deep urge to ‘self-actualise’, he believed, and it is the therapist’s job to nurture this urge. They were there to ‘release and strengthen the individual, rather than to intervene in his life’.

I recognise these positive directional tendencies all around me. People get up every day to see how they can make life better for themselves and their loved ones. It’s such an amazing, powerful force, and the one thing which makes me hopeful for the future.

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