HA AO1

• Humanistic psychology suggests...


  human beings are essentially self determining and have free will

  • people are still affected by external and internal influences but are also active agents who can determine their own development
  • Rogers and maslow reject more scientific models that attempt to establish general principles of human behaviour
  • active agents - we are all unique
• Maslows hierachy of needs

  • motivate our behaviour
  • to achieve self actualisation other deficiency needs must be met first
  • a person can progress once current needs are met
• maslows hierachy of needs

  bottom

  • physiological needs
  • safety and security
  • love and belongingness
  • self esteem
  • self actualisation
• self actualisation


  • represents uppermost level of maslows hierachy of needs
  • humanistic psychologists regard personal growth as an essential part of what its meant to be human
  • personal growth is concerned with developing and changing as a person to become fulfilled, satisfied and goal orientated
• rogers argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individuals concept of self must be equivalent to congruence with their ideal self

  • if theres a big gap between the selves , person will experience a state of incongruence and self actualisation wont be possible due to the negative feelings of self worth that arise from incongruence
• what did rogers develop to reduce the gap

  client centered therapy to help people cope with problems of everyday living
• rogers claimed that many of these issues we experience as adults such as worthlessness have their roots in childhood and can be explained by a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents
• conditions of worth


  a parent who sets boundaries or limits on their love for their child
• what does conditions of worth do


  stores up psychological problems for that child in the future
• what did rogers see his role as

  an effective therapist as being able to provide his clients with the unconditional positive regard that they had failed to receive as children
• an effective therapist should provide the client with with three things

  • genuineness
  • empathy
  • unconditional positive regard
• aim of Rogerian therapy

  • to increase the persons feelings of self worth
  • reduce the level of incongruence between the self concept and the ideal self
  • help the person become a more fully functioning person