Fully Functioning Person

One of my biggest influences in the realm of personal responding with “Thanks! I worked hard at it.
” (You can
growth has been the work of Carl Rogers, the creator of find more suggestions for responding to compliments
person-centered therapy. with grace and gratitude here.)
There are many things I appreciate about his approach Like the previous characteristic, this requires us to
to and perspectives on personal growth (especially develop a degree of mindfulness and live each moment
compared to some of the other prominent figures in the fully. What I love about this characteristic is it comes
psychology world), but the number one thing that with a degree of exciting uncertainty. If we open
draws me to his approach is his humanity and ourselves up to our moment-by-moment experience,
compassion. He is deeply respectful of our uniqueness, who knows what’s possible?!
focuses on potential rather than pathology and leaves a
lot of room within his ideas and frameworks for people 3. Increasing organismic trust
to be individuals and live the ideas in accordance with Basically, self-trust. This is about trusting our judgement
who they are. and our ability to behave appropriately in any given
situation. At its core, it’s about developing our sense of
One of these frameworks, and the one I want to share values and our own moral compass (rather than
this week, is the seven characteristics of the fully- unquestioningly adopting those of the people around
functioning person, which he writes about in his us).
excellent book On Becoming a Person. These
characteristics aren’t a state of being we arrive at, but Which leads to…
rather a constant process we are working towards
(Rogers calls this “the good life”—an apt description!). 4. Freedom of choice
As you’ll see, these characteristics are more rooted in When we trust our internal process and our external
philosophy than practical life advice and many of them behaviour, we develop a greater freedom of choice. We
are connected. Together, they are all about fulfilling our are aware of the difference between “have to” and
human potential and provide a useful overview of “choose to,” and, because we know we can choose how
things to pay attention to as we reflect on our daily we respond in situations, we take responsibility for our
experiences. decisions and behaviour. While “control” is a loaded
word, it’s fair to say we have agency over our decisions
The 7 Characteristics and behaviour that leaves us free to be who we are and
1. A growing openness to experience act in accordance with our values and own sense of
Having a growing openness to experience is about right and wrong.
moving away from defensiveness. John Gottman
describes defensiveness as: “self-protection in the form Which leads to…
of righteous indignation or innocent victimhood in an
attempt to ward off a perceived attack.” When we 5. Creativity
perceive ourselves to be under emotional attack or With the freedom to be ourselves and the self-trust that
criticism, defensiveness usually involves turning the underpins this freedom, we are able to be more
blame back on the other person or people. With this creative. As Rogers points out, we can also be more
characteristic, we are more open to what happens, as it creative in the way we adapt to our circumstances
happens, and are less likely to react in an unconscious, without feeling a need to conform to norms and values
knee-jerk way. that conflict with our own.
2. An increasingly existential lifestyle 6. Reliability and constructiveness

We tend to filter our experiences through the lens of To me, this suggestion is about balancing our inner and
what we already believe about ourselves and the world, outer worlds. Rogers describes this as being open to all
usually in a way that confirms these beliefs. When we our needs and able to maintain a balance between
adopt what Rogers calls “an increasingly existential them. His belief is that when people have a congruent
lifestyle,” however, we flip this, allowing our personality view of themselves (i.e. one in which their self-worth,
and self-concept to develop based on what we are self-image and ideal self overlap rather than exist as
experiencing (rather than the other way around). separate entities), even aggressive needs are matched
by an intrinsic goodness within the person.
So what does this look like in practice?
7. A rich full life
Let’s say someone compliments us on a job well done. If Rogers suggests the “fully-functioning” individual
we filter that compliment through our current belief experiences joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and
system (which happens to be that we’re not very good courage more intensely.
at what we’re doing), we might internally dismiss their
comment as them “just being nice” or even throw the This reminds me of what Brené Brown writes about
compliment back with a response like “Oh it was how we can’t selectively cut ourselves off from certain
nothing…” But if we allow our experience to inform our experiences: when we numb so-called negative
self-concept, we can accept this compliment for what it emotions, we numb everything. Opening ourselves up
is. One of my favourite responses in this kind of to a rich, full life means receiving the full gamut of
situation comes from Sarah Von Bargen, who suggests
human experience—the good, the “bad” and the
challenging.
And this isn’t easy. As Rogers writes in On Becoming a

Person: “This process of the good life is not, I am
convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the
stretching and growing of becoming more and more of
one’s potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It
means launching oneself fully into the stream of life.”
1. Open to experience: both positive and negative

emotions accepted. Negative feelings are not denied,
but worked through (rather than resort to ego defense
mechanisms).
2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences

as they occur in life, avoiding prejudging and
preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate
the present, not always looking back to the past or
forward to the future (i.e. living for the moment).
3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts and gut-reactions are

paid attention to and trusted. People’s own decisions
are the right ones and we should trust ourselves to
make the right choices.
4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk taking are

features of a person’s life. Person does not play safe all
the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change
and seek new experiences.
5. Fulfilled life: person is happy and satisfied with life,

and always looking for new challenges and
experiences.”(McLeod, Saul)
“Rogers' personality theory is the notion of self or self-

concept. This is defined as "the organized, consistent
set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself".(McLeod,
Saul) The self is considered our personalities. Rogers
believed that our personalities are based off of our
experiences, childhood experiences, and evaluation by
others. According to Rogers, we all want to feel self-
worth. So we will act and behave in a way that reflects
our personalities. He believed we would all interact and
behave as our ideal self or who we think we
are.ReferenceMcLeod, S. (2007, January 1). Carl Rogers.
Retrieved August 19, 2014, from

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One of my biggest influences in the realm of personal responding with “Thanks! I worked hard at it.

2. An increasingly existential lifestyle 6. Reliability and constructiveness

And this isn’t easy. As Rogers writes in On Becoming a

1. Open to experience: both positive and negative

2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences

3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts and gut-reactions are

4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk taking are

5. Fulfilled life: person is happy and satisfied with life,

“Rogers' personality theory is the notion of self or self-

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