Carl Rogers' Person-centered Approach

J K Wood PhD (1934 - 2004) completed successful careers in engineering and psychology. Together with friend and colleague Carl R Rogers, he made significant theoretical contributions to the school of Humanistic Psychology. In the last 20 years of his life he dedicated himself to an interdisciplinary studies project at the Estancia Jatoba, Brazil, involving conservation of the environment, sustainable agriculture, the sociology of place, group psychology, art and philosophy.

John K. Wood was one of the leading theoreticians and practitioners of the person-centred approach, its psychology and therapy. This welcome and well-presented book brings his work to a wider audience. His writings - on the person-centred approach as an approach, and on principles, groups and culture - reveal not only a widely-read and rigorous intellectual who is fearless in bringing his critical reflection to bear on his subjects, but also a passionate man deeply committed to radical practice and social change.Keith Tudor, Person-Centred Practitioner, Director of Temenos, Sheffield, UKIn this book, which is in many ways his legacy to his colleagues throughout the world, John is bold enough to express thoughts and feelings which are the outcome of a life lived in depth and of a fidelity to an approach which he believed could be transformative and whose potential had only been partly glimpsed. The emphasis throughout is indeed on an approach as John is quick to castigate those who, in his opinion, have become needlessly caught up in attempts to differentiate the person-centred approach from client-centred therapy or to categorise it as a psychology, a philosophy, a school or movement. The final chapter concludes with a breathtakingly simple summary of the quintessence of this approach which Carl Rogers spent a lifetime embodying and implementing. A"The most important thing Rogers had to sayA", John writes, A"was simply A"yesA" to personal improvement, to real learning, to constructive behaviour, to nourishing relationships, to honest thinking, to lifeA".Professor Brian Thorne, Norwich Centre, Norwich, UK

• 1. Approaching the Approach: An introduction2. The Person-Centered Approach to Psychotherapy3. The Person-Centered Approach to Small Groups: More than psychotherapy4. Applying the Person-Centered Approach vs. Applying the Principles of Client-Centered Therapy5. An Example of the Pitfalls in 'Giving People an Experience of the Person-Centered Approach' Instead of Applying the Approach6. The Person-Centered Approach to Large Group Workshops 7. A Rehearsal for Understanding the Phenomenon of Group8. Learning About Learning 9. Effect of Group10.On Becoming a Culture11. What's Wrong With the Psychology of Client-Centered Therapy?12. Toward a Psychology for Applications of the Person-Centered Approach