Humanistic approach

• they argue humans are too complex to be studied scientifically or objectively -- argue that external causes do not set our behaviour -- concentrate on how the mind functions and treats mental illnesses - explore personal growth, self-actualisation, achieving highest potential
• Maslows hierarchy of needs:

  1. self-actualisation (top) (personal growth)
  2. self-esteem
  3. love and belongingness (intimate relationships, friends)
  4. safety and security (financial security and health)
  5. physiological needs (bottom) (food, water, warmth)

  the four lowest levels (food, water, safety) need to be met before individual (baby, child or adult) can work towards self-actualisation (A growth need)
• self-actualisation refers to the innate tendency that each of us has to want to achieve our full potential and become the best we can possibly be

  'self' = me and i (focus on self)
• Rodgers argued that personal growth/self-actualisation requires an individual's concept of self to be congruent with their ideal self (the person they want to be)
• Issues like worthlessness and low-self esteem have their roots in childhood and are due to a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents

  A parent who sets boundaries on their love for their child (conditions of worth) by claiming 'I will only love you if...' is storing up psychological problems for that child in the future
• In Rodgers client-centred therapy (Counselling) an effective therapist should provide clients with 3 things:

  • genuineness
  • empathy
  • unconditional positive regard

  the aim is to increase feelings of self-worth and reduce incongruence between the self-concept and ideal self

  Rodgers work transformed psychotherapy - non directive counselling techniques are practised, not only in clinical settings but though education, health, etc
• strength: its anti-reductionist -- humanistic psychologists reject any attempt to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components - they advocate holism (idea that subjective experiences can only be understood by considering the whole person (their relationships, past, present, future, etc)) -- this approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real-world context
• strength - approach is a positive one: humanistic psychologists have been praised for promoting a positive image of the human condition - seeing ppl as in control of their lives and having the freedom to change - freud saw human beings as prisoners of their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between 'common unhappiness and absolute despair' -- therefore, humanistic psych offers a refreshing n optimistic alternative
• limitation - approach may be guilty of cultural bias: many humanistic ideas (e.g. self-actualisation) would be associated more with individualist cultures like USA - collectivist cultures like India, which emphasise the needs of the group, may not identify so easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology - therefore, its possible that the approach doesn't apply universally and is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed
• limitations - approach has little scientific evidence supporting it: there is very little empirical research backing up the claims made by humanistic psychologists - e.g. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is based on his own observations rather than systematic studies - therefore, some critics argue that the approach is too speculative and lacking in rigour