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Carl Rogers on Personal Power: Inner Strength and Its Revolutionary Impact (Psychology/self-help)

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Books aren't always going to give people insight or truly cover the scope of their feelings, but no matter what your first inclination towards this book is, it will present some things that may even give you a hint of new insight or a new way of looking at things. What Rogers describes becomes almost a "mystical" sensation, one of the few life affirming attitudes that help us rule out logical paradigms and be comfortable with our feelings.

Carl Rogers dares to develop a non-hierarchical paradigm of human relationships. He explores key social structures and institutions, including marriage, education, parenting and administration, with the view that all persons in the relationships are inherantly of equal value. "On Personal Power" is refreshingly optimistic, with a tinge of "the dawning of the Age of Aquarius" flavor, which may motivate some baby boomers to ask themselves, "What ever happened to our hopes and endeavors?"

This is an interesting book. In it Rogers shows really ambitious his person-centered theory is, and how difficult it is to apply. What it boils down to is that if the world was filled with caring relationships, it would be a much better place to live in. Through his encounter groups, Rogers meant to explore how wide varieties of people could learn to get along and work through complex problems in their lives. He goes alittle to far with the free love theories, but as I read the book, especially his final chapter "In a Nutshell," I began to realize he was serious about changing the world into a more person-centered place. He was the nuturer in this vast world of conflict and violence. The power he is referring to here is the power and capacity for human beings to love and appreciate each other during this very short time we have together on this earth.

Another interesting chapter is when he addresses the need for a world government and the abolishing of war. These are quite radical ideas, but he has a point. If we don't have our own houses in order,in a person-centered way, we will not be able to avoid conflict, war, etc, which is based on ignorance.

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was an influential American psychologist and (along with Abraham Maslow) among the founders of humanistic psychology.

He states in the Introduction to this 1977 book, "Most notably (cultural change) has altered the thinking about power and control in relationships between persons. That is what this book is about. So you will find in these pages many men and women who are walking softly through life---and creating a revolution as they do so. The book tells of homes and schools and industries and interfaces between races and cultures, all of which have been drastically changed by persons who trust their own power, do not feel a need to have 'power over,' and who are willing to foster and facilitate the latent strength in the other person... These changes indicate that a quiet revolution is already under way. They point to a future of a very different nature, built around a new type of self-empowered person who is emerging."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"It is not just that I am a slow learner, that I have only recently realized my political impact." (Ch. 1)
"The politics of the client-centered approach is a conscious renunciation and avoidance by the therapist of all control over, or decision-making for, the client." (Ch. 1)
"My influence has always been increased when I have shared my power or authority." (Ch. 5)
"It is very rare for the impact of a person-centered approach to move upward in the organization." (Ch. 5)
"(T)he potential to learn and the power to act lie within the person---rather than in an expert dealing with him or her, or in a system controlling him or her." (Ch. 8)
"What I say is based on wide personal observation, on interactions with diverse individuals and groups, on my reading. It is an informaal speculation, with all the possibility of error and bias that that implies." (Ch. 12)