Carl Rogers and Eugene Gendlin on the Bodily Felt Sense: What they share and where they differ / Carl Rogers und Eugene Gendlin über den körperlichen Felt Sense: Was ihnen gemeinsam ist und wo sie sich unterscheiden / Carl Rogers y Eugene Gendlin sobre la sensación sentida en el cuerpo: qué comparten y en dónde difieren /

Abstract

Client-Centered Therapy developed by Carl Rogers and Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy developed by Eugene Gendlin share much, and yet they differ in many ways. This paper discusses the bodily felt sense as a significant phenomenon in both Rogers' and Gendlin's theories. Through an examination of their theories, the author suggests that it may have been Rogers who first made rudimentary observations of bodily felt senses, or sensory and visceral experiences, and their significance in therapy. Rogers also made some observations before Eugene Gendlin regarding the experiential process, although Rogers made no explicit attempt to facilitate that process. Different theoretical paradigms used by Rogers and Gendlin to understand the bodily felt sense are discussed. Moreover, the paper suggests that later, Rogers seems to have assimilated parts of Gendlin's experiential theory, signifying a general understanding between them: that is, the experiential process happens in a certain manner of relationship characterized by empathy and acceptance.