Clinician, Society and Suicide Mountain: Reading Rogerian Doctrine of Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR)

Carl Rogers has become a legendary personage in the mental health field. Rogers (1957) “has been cited in the literature over a thousandtimes, in professional writings originating in 36 countries” (Goldfried, 2007, p. 249). Clinicians in the behavioral health field (psychiatry, socialwork, counseling and psychology) are exposed to his teachings about human behavior. Of all the ideas propagated by Rogers, the conceptof unconditional positive regard (UPR) has been elevated to the level of a doctrine (Schmitt, 1980). What then is unconditional positive regard?How can clinicians be faithful to the demands of unconditional positive regard in the face of other competing realities such as threat of suicideor terrorism? This paper seeks to discuss the impossible nature of Rogers' UPR, highlighting its inherent linguistic contradiction. Sincepsychotherapy is culturally normative, the doctrine of unconditional positive regard negates this fundamental principle. In this article, the authortakes a critical look at the influence of American philosophy of education on Rogers – he was a product of his culture. Furthermore, this paperasserts that clinicians are guided by societal norms or “conditions” which regulate clinical practice, including unconditional positive regard(Gone, 2011).