Carl Rogers on Becoming a Person – Finding Our Inner Locus

Carl Rogers: On Becoming a Person - An Internal Locus of Evaluation
What happens when we stop looking outward for approval and begin trusting ourselves as the true source of direction?

In this reading from Carl Rogers’ On Becoming a Person, Karen Dubin (Sweet Institute) explores the concept of developing an internal locus of evaluation. Rogers shows how, in therapy, individuals shift from relying on others for validation and guidance to recognizing their own power to choose, judge, and grow. Through the dialogue of a graduate student in counseling, we see the vulnerable yet empowering moment of realizing that responsibility for one’s growth rests within oneself. The client’s fear, strength, and sense of being “cut loose” all highlight how both frightening and liberating it can be to claim this inner authority.

This message resonates for clients, social workers, and all of us navigating personal growth. Becoming responsible for our choices may feel risky, even destabilizing, but it also opens the door to genuine empowerment and transformation.

How do you experience your own locus of evaluation—within yourself, or through others’ approval? Share your thoughts in the comments, and join us next time as we complete Chapter 6 with “Willingness to Be a Process.”

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