ABSTRACT
In Rogers (1951: 483±522) nineteen propositions amounting to a person-centred theory of personality and behaviour are set forth. Sanders (2006b: 17), in `deliberately colloquial' language, describes these theoretical statements as being `about human psychological development, the nature of human mental life, the structure of personality, how this structure can be prone to weaknesses, the nature of psychological distress, and how distress can be put right'. About his theory of personality, Rogers (1951: 532) wrote the following:
This theory is basically phenomenological in character, and relies heavily on the concept of the self as an explanatory construct. It pictures the end-point of personality development as being a basic congruence between the phenomenal ®eld of experience and the conceptual structure of the self ± a situation which, if achieved, would represent freedom from internal strain and anxiety, and freedom from potential strain; which would represent the maximum in realistically oriented adaptation; which would mean the establishment of an individualised value system having considerable identity with the value system of any other equally well-adjusted member of the human race.
