We have now found personal origins for most of the important concepts Rogers was to offer in his theories of therapy and of persons. There is one aspect of his theory that emerged later in his thinking, however, and whose source therefore is probably found in experiences that occurred after his professional life was launched. In
his 1942 book Counseling and Psychotherapy, Rogers identified the three essential characteristics of a therapeutic relationship to be unconditional positive regard, empathy, and nondirection. By his 1959 paper offering his elaborated theory, he had dropped the third characteristic of nondirection and had offered in its stead the characteristic of congruence. We have seen that Rogers came to recognize the subtle directiveness he had shown in the case of Herbert Bryan, and his realization of this may have led him to deemphasize the quality of nondirection. But what led him now to emphasize the importance of the counselor being genuine about his or her true feelings toward the client? In introducing this element in his 1959 paper, Rogers wrote:
Taken from :PSYCHOLOGY’S GRAND THEORISTS How Personal Experiences Shaped Professional Ideas - Amy Demorest