Today we present a brief biography of Rollo May, an innovator in the field of psychology, which has allowed us, among other things, to better understand the negative experiences of the human being.
He and other personalities, such as Viktor Frankl, have endowed psychotherapy with an indispensable existential and humanist approach to foster strengths, internal resources, and the ability to make better decisions for people.
- May’s best-known works.
- Such as The Meaning of Anxiety.
- Love and Will.
- And The Courage to Create.
- Are valuable and revealing examples of his revolutionary mindset.
- We must not forget that this psychotherapist has come to alter and question many of the inherited ideas.
- Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis.
Rollo May has helped thousands of people find enough courage to face their fears and limitations, as well as paving the way for the exercise of freedom and fulfillment of the destiny that everyone wanted to choose.
He learned to appreciate beauty, even in the most unfavorable situations, as well as the intrinsic power of each difficulty. The works of May’s biography offer a new way of seeing the world and ourselves.
Rollo May was born in Ada, Ohio, in 1909, his childhood was not easy, he was the eldest of six siblings in an unstructured family, his parents were separated and it was common to see the children spend most of the day alone and taking care of this task, in turn, was not easy, since one of his sisters suffered schizophrenia.
After graduating from high school, Rollo May decided to temporarily leave his environment, went to work in Greece, taking advantage of this time to study philosophy and mythology, but had to take care of his family again.
However, the knowledge gained and the experiences involved created more doubt than answers, to the point that, back in the United States, he decided to study theology in New York.
In his mind there was a need, a very specific goal: to understand the reason for human suffering, and he wanted to understand why mental illness, suicide, fear, anxiety, was then when he met a figure who marked his life. and work: Protestant theologian and existentialist philosopher Paul Tillich.
In 1939, while studying theology, he wrote his first book, The Art of Counseling, in this paper he first addressed aspects such as empathy, religion, personality problems and mental health, and after graduating began a new stage by enrolling at Columbia University to study clinical psychology.
During these years, his work was interrupted by tuberculosis, it was a difficult time when doubts and the constant need to understand the reason for daily suffering and adversity abounded.
He understood that his mission as a researcher and therapist should be to help people make sense of their lives and overcome difficulties by improving their human potential.
May’s theoretical approach is based on a wide variety of currents that have allowed him to build an innovative vision of psychology.
After receiving his Ph. D. de Columbia University, Rollo May began working as a counselor, psychotherapist and professor at the New School for Social Research in New York. Have you taught at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, too?
If there is one thing he is known for are his books, his work was of great importance both in the academic community and in the society of the time, works such as the search for man, love and will, the meaning of anxiety and the courage to create has been acclaimed throughout the world.
The American Association of Psychology (APA) congratulated him on his contribution to clinical psychology, he was a much-loved figure, able to help us understand the existential dilemma of modern man, spent his last years in Tiburon, San Francisco Bay, where he died in October 1994, at the age of 85.
Freedom is man’s ability to assume his own development, is it our ability to shape ourselves?-Roll May-
This brief biography of Rollo May allows us to meet a man who marked the opening of dialogical psychotherapy, for what purpose?More than to bring the patient to well-being and happiness?He is proposing strategies to approach life in a safer, braver and rational way.