Every year I select eight students who want to change the way they interact with others. They understand that the remote setting will tend to magnify whatever feelings they have for each other. The enforced togetherness can turn ordinary liking to love or irritation to disgust. It is the type of intensive group experience that Rogers enjoyed leading throughout his professional life. He saw his role as a facilitator of growth.
Students come to the seminar with many misgivings.
They are looking for ways to improve their self-concept, draw closer to others, and express themselves more freely. Although the island course gives them the opportunity to be more than passive learners, they have qualms about what it might mean to take responsibility for their own learning. Rogers believed that people seeking help in their relationships should come with some initial anxiety and a commitment for continued contact. Although they emerged from a therapeutic setting, he was certain that they are equally important in the business world, family life, education, and all interpersonal relationships. I ll draw on my experience with an island course student named Mitch to illustrate the three necessary and sufficient conditions of a helping relationship.