Humanistic approach

• Humanistic psychology is an approach to understanding human behaviour that emphasises the uniqueness, freedom and responsibility of individuals.
• Rogers believed that people have an innate tendency towards self-actualisation - becoming all they can be
• The humanistic approach focuses on the individual's subjective experience rather than external factors such as genetics or environment.
• The core conditions are empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence (genuineness)
• Maslow developed his hierarchy of needs theory which suggests that humans have five basic needs (physiological, safety, love/belongingness, esteem and self-actualisation) and must satisfy these needs in order to be happy.
• Unconditional positive regard means accepting someone as they are without judgement or criticism
• Roger’s theory of personality development is based around three main concepts; free will, unconditional positive regard and congruence.
• Carl Rogers developed the person centred approach which suggests that we are born with an inherent drive to become our true selves (self actualisation)
• Free Will – The idea that we are not predetermined by our genes or past experiences but instead have control over how we develop and behave.
• Self Actualisation is the process by which one becomes fully realised as a human being
• Unconditional positive regard means accepting someone regardless of what they do or say.
• Congruence refers to being genuine and authentic in one's interactions with others.
• Rogers suggested that we need three things from others if we are going to develop into healthy adults: empathy, unconditional positive regard and genuineness
• Congruence – This refers to being genuine with oneself and others. It involves being aware of one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours and expressing them honestly.