Humanistic Approach

• what are the assumptions of the humanistic approach?


  ->humans have free will; i.e personal agency

  ->all individuals are unique and have an innate (inborn) drive to achieve their maximum potential

  ->a proper understanding of human behaviour can only be achieved by studying humans-not animals

  ->subjective reality is the primary guide for human behaviour

  ->psychology should study the individual case (idiographic) rather than the average performance at groups (nomothetic)
• who are the main psychologists of this approach?

  Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
• in what way is the humanistic approach different from the other approaches?


  it is intensively focused on discovering what it means to be fully human as the psychologists in this approach insists that the other approaches in psychology are reductionist, deterministic, and as a result, cannot explain the holistic complexity of the human behaviour
• define free will in psychology


  it means that everyone can consciously control and influence their own personal destiny, even within the constraints that exist in life from outside forces
• what is Maslow's hierarchy of needs?


  ->(1943), it is an enduring model of psychological development

  -> physiological needs (sex, food sleep)

  ->safety and security (security of body, employment, resources and morality)

  ->love and belonging (friendship, relationships, family)

  ->self esteem and respect from others
• what happens when all the hierarchy of needs/ 'deficiency needs' are met?


  self-actualisation
• what is self-actualisation?


  -> it is rare, it is at the top of the hierarchy (spirituality, creativity, and acceptance of the world as it is)

  ->it's achievements provides the possibility of true self-awareness and an honest relationship with the realities of the imperfect world.

  ->when it is truly achieved, it takes form of peak experiences which are characterized by feelings of euphoria and seeing the world with awe and wonder, without fear of inhibitions
• what two basic human needs was Rogers interested in and what do they stem from?


  ->self-worth and the need for unconditional positive regard

  ->both emerge from good relationships with supportive parents in childhood, and later with friends and partners.

  ->an individual's self-worth has a direct impact on psychological well-being
• what is the 'role of the conditions of worth'?


  -> it is developed when an individual is the recipient of unconditional positive regard and then develops conditions of worth as a result.

  and it is often provided by parents
• how does the conditions of worth work?


  ->some parents impose it on their children, meaning they must behave in certain ways to receive conditional positive regard.

  ->it is a type of expectation whereby n individual feels their approval is dependant upon meeting them in order for people, e.g parents to see them favourably

  ->it is possible that some people will only feel self-acceptance should they meet these conditions of worth set by others and can produce a feeling of incongruence
• what is congruence?


  a state where there is an agreement between an individual's self-concept and their ideal self.
• what is the purpose of Rogerian therapy?


  to close the gap of incongruence between self-concept and the ideal self, and thus allow an individual to recognise both their psychological limits and their strengths, and achieve a realistic balance between them
• what did Rogers believe the impact of taking a client-centred (person-centred) approach to counselling would be?


  an individual would be helped to make positive steps towards resolving their issues, learn a deeper understanding of themselves and, ultimately, achieve self-actualisation
• what is the role of the therapist in this process(client-centred) and how will this help the person?


  ->the therapist is there to provide unconditional positive regard to the client by expressing acceptance, empathy and understanding of their condition.

  ->the client feels sufficiently supported, their conditions of worth affecting their self-concept will dissipate enabling them to move towards their ideal self and how they want to behave, rather than how they feel that they should
• what is a strength of the humanistic approach and give an example


  ->a strength is that it has major influence on psychological counselling.
• how is the fact that the humanistic approach having major influence on a psychological counselling a strength and provide an example.


  -> strength because of a person is incongruent, which is why a person is now in disagreement with their actual and ideal-self. Then they'll not be psychologically healthy. Humanist therapist can help to close the gap and be healthy psychologically.

  ->e.g- contemporary therapists use Rogers' ideas of unconditional positive regard and help clients work toward self-awareness.
• what is a weakness of the humanistic approach?


  it is hard to scientifically test the effectiveness of humanistic counselling as it can't be done in an experimental context.
• why is the lack of scientific evidence a weakness of the humanistic approach and give an example?

  ->it is a weakness because you cannot isolate extraneous variables, therefore; disproving that the humanistic counselling works.

  ->e.g people believe that they benefit from counselling, and there isn't considerable empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of these methods derived from Rogers' model. e.g- CBT, ACT
• What does CBT and ACT stand for?


  ->CBT- cognitive behavioural therapy

  ->ACT- Acceptance and commitment therapy
• what is another limitation of the humanistic approach?


  ->it can be considered culturally biased
• why is the fact that this approach is culturally biased a limitation/weakness?


  ->it is a weakness because not all cultures have the same viewpoint. Therefore; the humanistic approach to counselling is not useful and can't be generalised to all cultures

  ->E.g many of the ideas are central to humanism such as individual freedom, autonomy, and personal growth are more readily associated with countries that are more individualistic (western cultures). Countries with collectivist tendencies tend to emphasis the group more than the individual