Carl Rogers’ seminal work Client-Centered Therapy (1951) articulated a profoundly hopeful view of human motivation, proposing that every person possesses an innate actualizing tendency, a natural drive toward growth, authenticity, creativity, and psychological wholeness, that flourishes when individuals experience genuineness, empathy, and unconditional positive regard within nurturing relationships; for Rogers (1902–1987), self-actualisation was not egoistic self-indulgence but the courageous alignment of experience, self-concept, and values, enabling persons to become more fully human and socially constructive, a vision that has deeply shaped modern counselling, education, and leadership by linking personal wellbeing to relational climates of trust and respect (Rogers, 1951; 1961). From a Christian perspective, this actualising tendency can be understood as participating in a deeper transcendent orientation: human growth ultimately finds its fulfilment not only in psychological integration but in relationship with God, grounded in the imago Dei (Genesis 1:27) and the classical Christian insight, articulated by Augustine (397/2001), that the human heart is restless until it rests in God; here, transcendence does not negate Rogers’ humanism but completes it, suggesting that authentic self-actualization is most fully realized when personal growth is ordered toward love of God and neighbour (Matthew 22:37–39), humility, and moral responsibility. Historically and socially, Rogers’ work has contributed powerfully to personal wellbeing by reducing psychopathology, increasing self-acceptance, and fostering resilience, while simultaneously promoting societal health through dialogical, non-coercive relationships that support democratic values, reconciliation, and peace (Rogers, 1980); integrated with a Christian vision of transcendence, this legacy affirms that psychologically healthy persons are not only well-adjusted individuals but also ethically grounded, other-oriented agents whose inner transformation becomes a source of healing and renewal for communities and cultures alike.