Reclaiming Rogers’ Revolution From Therapy’s Neutrality Trap

My first weeks of graduate school, I learned two things about Carl Rogers: first, that I could mirror "unconditional positive regard" so perfectly in mock therapy sessions that a professor called it "textbook" (and she did not appreciate the irony of that praise). Second, that that same professor would ignore his theories when I needed them most - like when a classmate sexually harassed me and I was met with institutional "neutrality" rather than congruence.

This is the great irony of modern therapy: we worship Rogers's language while gutting his revolution.

The Radical Heart They Sanded Down

Rogers didn't invent therapy - he sabotaged it. His premise was radical: trust that clients contain their own answers. The mental health industrial complex (MHIC) took that subversion and turned it into a compliance training manual - though disabled and marginalized therapists often keep his true legacy alive in practice.

Today, "unconditional positive regard" and "empathy" have become tools to help people adjust to oppressive systems rather than dismantle them. It's no wonder colleagues sometimes seem shocked when I say I'm a Rogerian at heart - what the MHIC sells as "client-centered care" bears little resemblance to how radical Rogerians work.

The good news? That revolutionary core still exists - we just have to scrape off the neoliberal varnish.

Rogers With Teeth

Here's how we resurrect him:

1. Empathy Isn't a Mirror - It's a Hammer The system gave us a disco ball instead of a toolbelt. When my client's Medicaid gets denied, we don't just process feelings - we name the systems that designed that cruelty.

2. Unconditional Regard Isn't Neutrality
His revolution wasn't about kindness - it was about reclaiming power. They kept the first and discarded the second.

3. Congruence Means Naming the Machine
It's not "self-disclosure" - it's saying: "This intake form upholds the same systems hurting you. Let's hack it together."

The Saboteur They Couldn't Erase

Capitalism sanitizes dissent. My grad professor could quote Rogers while denying me support. Clinicians use his language to pathologize survival strategies. This is how rebellion gets turned into motivational office wall decor - by filing off its teeth until it's harmless enough to hang on a wall.

They gave us Rogers the Saint. We're taking back Rogers the Saboteur - join the disabled and marginalized clinicians who never surrendered him in the first place.