humanistic approach

• The humanistic approach was founded by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
• Humanistic psychology is different from other approaches as it is intensively focused on discovering what it means to be fully human.
• Humanistic psychologists insist that the other approaches in psychology are reductionist, deterministic and as a result cannot explain the holistic complexity of human behaviour
• Humanistic psychology assumes that every individual can assert free will and have a choice in how they behave. This means that everyone consciously controls their own personal destiny, even within constraints that exist in life from outside forces. This makes the humanistic approach different from others.
• Maslow ( 1942 ) Hierarchy of needs

  Physiological needs

  Safety and Security

  Love and Belonging

  Self esteem

  Self actualisation
• Maslow ( 1943 ) Physiological needs:

  Basic, biological human needs

  Air, food, water, clothing, shelter, sleep
• Maslow ( 1943 ) Safety and security:

  Resources

  Employment

  Family

  Health
• Maslow ( 1943 ) Love and Belonging:

  Friends

  Family

  Sexual partner
• Maslow ( 1943 ) Self esteem:

  Need for esteem

  Respect from others
• Maslow ( 1943 ) Self actualisation

  The top of the hierarchy

  Spirituality

  Creativity

  Acceptance of the world as it is
• Maslow ( 1943 ) suggested that individuals often work their way up the hierarchy, step by step, but this is not always the case for everybody. For example, some people may need to address their need for self esteem before finding love
• Self actualisation is rare, but if achieved it provides the possibility of true self awareness and an honest relationship with the realities of an imperfect world. Maslow believed that self actualisation takes the form of peak experiences characterised by feelings of euphoria.
• Humanistic approach Focus on the self

  Rogers was mostly interested in two basic human needs:

  The need for self worth

  The need for unconditional positive regard

  These both emerge from good relationships with supportive parents in childhood, and later with friends and partners
• Rogers believed that an individual's self worth has a direct impact on psychological well being
• Rogers said that when an individual is the recipient of unconditional positive regard, they develop conditions of worth as a result.
• Parents usually provide a child with unconditional positive regard during their upbringing, however some parents impose conditions of worth, meaning they must act in certain ways to receive this positive regard.
• Conditions of worth are a type of expectation where an individual feels that their approval is dependant upon meeting conditions. It is possible that the person will only feel self acceptance if they meet these conditions, which can produce a feeling of incongruence
• Rogers said that unhappiness and dissatisfaction were because of a psychological gap between self concept ( the way you think you are ) and the ideal self ( the way you would like to be )

  When these two concepts are incongruent, it is necessary to use defence mechanisms to provide protection against feeling negative
• If there is an agreement between an individual's self concept and their ideal self, they are said to be in a state of congruence. However, it is uncommon for a person to be congruent all of the time
• Rogers believed that taking a client centered approach to counselling would help the individual make positive steps towards resolving their issues and learn a deeper understanding of themselves, and ultimately achieve self actualisation
• A therapist should provide unconditional positive regard to the client by expressing acceptance, empathy and understanding of their condition. When the client feels sufficiently supported, their conditions of worth affecting their self concept will lessen, enabling them to move towards their ideal self
• Humanistic approach AO3. A strength of humanistic psychology is that it has had a major influence on psychological counselling. Contemporary therapists use Roger 's ideas of unconditional positive regard and help clients work towards self awareness. It is impossible to imagine modern client centred therapy without its insights and techniques
• Humanistic approach AO3. There is not much empirical support for the existence of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. However, the approach disputes the validity of empirical research. There is some validation provided by clinical data, but the theoretical emphasis on individual achievement raises significant concerns about possible cultural bias since this is not desirable in every culture and may only be relevant to Individualistic cultures.
• Humanistic approach AO3. It is hard to scientifically test the effectiveness of humanistic counselling as it can't be done in an experimental context. People believe they benefit from counselling, and there is empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of counselling methods derived from Roger's model like CBT. Since a cause effect relationship cannot be established between the treatment and outcome, the client may have recovered without the counselling, meaning scientific certainty about the validity of the theory is almost impossible.
• Humanistic approach AO3. Some critics argue that the humanistic approach offers an unrealistic view of human nature. They point to the more sinister aspects of human behaviour and argue that the humanistic approach focuses on growth orientated behaviour whilst ignoring an individual's capacity for self destruction. They argue that the focus on self development overlooks situational forces that may provide a more realistic explanation of every day human behaviour