Individual Reflection

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In addition to motivation, the following week of week 7, the concepts by Carl Rogers embarked upon my mind and deeply enlightened me from a philosophical viewpoint. Rogers’ theory of personality was influenced from ‘phenomenology’, which is about regarding the individual’s perception of reality more than the situation itself (Engler, 2009). I like this concept because it is very similar to how my perception of life and world is. In my life, I have observed that everyone views circumstances in their own distinctive way. If a person does something wrong, it is important to see through the person’s viewpoint before judging their actions. I have had many ups and downs in life, especially since my breakup from a 2-year serious relationship. I was performing poorly in university; I even failed several times which led to people thinking that I am incapable of achieving academic success. While some people might have thought I was making excuses to hide my mistakes; whereas to me, it was devastating and frustrating to not being able to truly explain myself until the day of my hearing. This is why Rogers’ use of phenomenology seemed very important to me. We might interpret the same situation differently, and in my opinion, the problem with the real-world is that they do not want to see things in others’ perspectives but their own or the majority’s’. However, Rogers’ use of phenomenology was very useful for me in understanding personality processes.

Therefore, a lot has been able to be obtained from this unit. Group work has taught me to be a team player. With Freud’s psychoanalytic, Maslow’s humanistic and Rogers’ philosophical approach, I feel like I have obtained three different kinds of insight on personality. Freudian psychology keeps me aware and in control of my actions, while Maslow directs me to the way to take the right actions while making sure I have the essentials sorted out, and Rogers’ helps understand the individuals around me that helps me connect and socialize more. These three flavours from the three exceptionally brilliant theorists has helped me understand that personality is not just about one big factor but multiple things collating into one. As a psychology student aiming to be a counsellor, I feel like this unit has given me a broad range of knowledge about personality that would contribute in assisting me for career as a counsellor in the long run.

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References

Engler, B. (2009). Personality theories. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Lilienfeld, S. (2011). Psychology. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

University, M. (2015). Behavioural studies - Undergraduate Area of study - Faculty of Arts - 2014 Handbook - Monash University. Monash.edu.au. Retrieved 31 May 2015, from http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/aos/behavioural-studies/ug-arts-behavioural-studies.html

Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2012). Theories of personality. Australia: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.