The humanistic approach

• The concept of free will is central
• The humanistic approach rejects attempts to establish scientific principles of behaviour
• States we are all unique, and psychology should concern itself with the study of subjective experience rather than general laws- a person-centred approach
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

  Self-actualisation refers to the innate tendency that each of us had to want to achieve our full potential and become the best we can possibly be

  In Maslow's hierarchy of needs the four lower levels (deficiency needs) must be met before the individual can work towards self-actualisation- a growth needs
• Focus on the self:

  The self refers to the ideas and values that characterise 'I' and 'me' and includes perception of 'what I am' and 'what I can do'
• The aim of therapy is to establish congruence between the self-concept and the ideal self
• Carol Roger's argued that personal growth requires an individual's concept of self to be congruent with their ideal self (the person they want to be)

  If the gap is too big, the person will experience a state of incongruence and self-actualisation isn't possible
• Parents who impose conditions of worth may prevent personal growth
• Issues such as 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 ip psychological problems for that child in future
• The humanistic approach has had a lasting influence on counselling psychology, e.g. Rogers' client-centred therapy
• In Rogers' client-centred therapy an effective therapist should provide the client with three things:

  • Genuineness
  • Empathy
  • Unconditional positive regard
• The aim of Rogers' client-centred therapy is to increase feelings of self-worth and reduce incongruence between the self-concept and the ideal self
• Rogers' work transformed psychotherapy. 'Non-directive' counselling techniques are practised not only in clinical settings but throughout education, health, social work and industry
• Strength: anti-reductionist

  Humanistic psychologists reject any attempt to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components. They advocate holism- the ideal that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person (their relationships, past, present and future, etc.). This approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real-life context
• Strength: positive approach

  Humanistic psychologists have been praised for promoting a positive image of the human condition- seeing people as in control of their lives and having the freedom to chance. Freud saw human beings as slaves to their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between 'common unhappiness and absolute dispair'. Humanistic psychology offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative.
• Limitation: includes untestable concepts (lacks scientific rigour)

  Humanistic psychology includes a number of vague ideas that are abstract and difficult to test, such as 'self-actualisation' and 'congruence'. Rogers did attempt to introduce more rigour into his work by developing the Q-sort- an objective measure of progress in therapy. As would be expected of an approach that is 'anti-scientific', humanistic psychology is short on empirical evidence
• Limitation: Western cultural bias

  Many of the ideas that are central to humanistic psychology, such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, would be more readily associated with individualist cultures in the Western world such as the US. Collectivist cultures such as India, which emphasise the needs of the group and interdependence, may not identify with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology. Therefore, it is possible that the approach would not travel well and is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed