Conditions of worth, the self and congruence

• Carl Rogers argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individuals concept of self must be broadly equivalent to, or have congruence, with the ideal self
• self- the ideas and values that characterise ‘i’ and ‘me’ and includes perception and valuing of ‘what I am’ and ‘what I can do’
• Congruence- when the self- concept and ideal self are broadly accord or match
• Ideal self- the person they want to be
• If too big a gap exists between the two ‘selves’ the person will experience a state of incongruence and self-actualisation will not be possible due to the negative feelings of self- worth that arise from incongruence
• Conditions of worth- when a parent places limits or boundaries on their love of their children.
• Conditions we believe we have to meet to gain acceptance, love or positive regard from others
• In order to reduce the gap between the self concept and the ideal self Rogers develop client centred therapy to help people cope with the problems of every day living
• Rogers claimed that many of the issues we experience as adults such as worthlessness and low self-esteem have their roots in childhood and can often be explained by lack of unconditional positive regard
• A parent who sets boundaries or limits on the love for their child is storing up psychological problems for that child in the future
• Roger saw one of his roles as an effective therapist as being able to provide his clients with the unconditional positive regard that they had failed to receive as children