Humanistic Approach

• Humanistic approach 


  Humans have free will, individuality, personal responsibility, and strive for growth. We choose how to behave. Our self-worth is affected by how others treat us, but also our own view of ourselves.
• Assumptions of the Humanistic Approach: Causes of Behaviour

  Assumes we want to fulfill our potential and so we are self driven.

  self actualisation- emphasises individuals choice and therefore assumes we have free will
• Assumptions of Humanistic Approach: The role of self perception

  Behaviour is shaped by our self perception which is affected by others

  Rogers argued that self esteem affects behaviour and that others contribute to this, getting positive regard from others helps to develop self worth

  Negative feelings of self worth arise from a lack of congruence- ideal self is not equal to self concept

  Rogerian therapy- (person centered counselling) aims to remove conditions of worth (by giving unconditional positive regard) and active congruence
• Assumptions of Humanistic Approach: Scientific Method


  Rejects the scientific method- based on therapy
• Maslows hierarchy of needs

  1. Physiological needs
  2. Safety needs
  3. Love and belonging
  4. Esteem
  5. Self actualisation
• What are examples of physiological needs?

  Food, water, shelter, sleep, air
• What are examples of safety needs?

  personal security, employment, resources, health, property
• Examples of love and belonging

  friendship, intimacy, family, sense of concentration
• examples of esteem


  respect, self esteem, status, recognition, strength and freedom
• what is self-actualisation?


  desire to become the most that one can be
• Rogers client centred therapy

  Letting the client lead

  Showing empathy

  Active listening

  Focusing on the present and future

  Unconditional positive regard- accepting what the client says without judgement, not necessarily always agreeing with them.
• Evaluation of the Humanistic Approach: Applications

  Application to counselling- Rogers client centred therapy where the individual was the expert on their own condition. He introduced counselling techniques in the US and the UK, similar counselling skills are now practiced throughout education, health, social work and security
• Evaluation of the Humanistic Approach: Applications pt2

  However apart from this it has limited applications. As the approach has been described not as a comprehensive theory but instead a loose set of abstract concepts.

   
• Evaluation of the Humanistic Approach: Reductionism

  not reductionist- humanists reject any attempt to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components. Behaviourists explain human and animal learning in terms of simple stimulus-response connections- they advocate holism instead- more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real-life context
• Evaluation of the Humanistic Approach: Scientific

  A limitation of the humanistic approach is its lack of adherence to scientific methods. The approach includes a number of vague ideas that are abstract and difficult to test. Concepts such as self-actualisation and congruence may be useful tools, but prove problematic to assess under experimental conditions. The approach itself describes itself as anti-scientific, humanistic psychology is short on empirical evidence to support its claims.