In pondering the development of the Person Centered Approach, I have marveled at what sparked Carl to pursue a life long mission championing the concept that listening to the feelings behind what a person says creates the atmosphere for the organism to trust itself and  positively regard others.  How did this dynamic of empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard lead to the actualization of a person's

potential?
It began simply enough, when Carl combined two significant influences which set the foundation of his Person Centered Approach.  In 1936, Carl had an encounter with Otto Rank (who believed the self was the basis of humanity and that therapy needed to deal with this dimension.)  During this encounter a student of Rank's suggested to Carl that he might listen for the feelings behind a client's statements.  The other

noteworthy influence was the Danish writer, Søren Kierkegaard who wrote that the self was a relation that related to itself and to that which created it.  Carl's concept of "the personal is universal" worked underneath culture.  By that I mean that it grew quickly across many cultures and without the support of institutions. 

While Carl was working with

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