AO3

• It has given rise to a new way to look at people’s needs, for example Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is widely used in health and social work as a framework for assessing clients’ needs.
• Client-centred therapy is widely used in health, social work and industry. This therapy has helped many people overcome difficulties they face in life, which is a significant contribution to improving people’s quality of life.
• The approach uses non-scientific research methods. As its aim is to understand people’s subjectivity, it uses methods that yield qualitative data such as unstructured interviews or participant observations. These are difficult/ impossible to replicate and the interpretation of the data is influenced by researcher bias.
• It proposes a positive view of human nature, however, it could be argued that this might not be very realistic when considering the everyday reality such as domestic violence and genocides.
• May be culturally biased to individualistic Western cultures that prioritise success and achievement, so not apply well to collectivist cultures where group success is more important. Humanistic psychologists may therefore view individuals from collectivist cultures as less able to self-actualise and thus view them as inferior.
• Free will/Determinism - It is the only approach that explicitly states that people have free will, but its position on this topic is somewhat incoherent as on one hand it argues that people have free will but, on the other hand it argues that our behaviour is determined by the way other people treat us (whether we feel that we are valued and respected without reservation by those around us).
• Nature/Nurture - The approach recognises both the influence of nature and nurture (interactionist), nurture - the influence of experiences on a person’s ways of perceiving and understanding the world, nature - influence of biological drives and needs (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).
• Holism/Reductionism - The approach is holistic as it does not try to break down behaviours in simpler components.
• Are the research methods used scientific? - As the approach views the individual as unique it does not believe that scientific measurements of their behaviour are appropriate.
• Client centred therapy is used within counselling but the skills are practices in other settings such as education, social work and industry.

  It has been praised as a forward looking and effective approach which focuses on the present rather than the past. 

  However, it is best applied to the treatment of ‘mild’ psychological conditions such as anxiety and low self-worth, not for major psychological conditions such as schizophrenia.
• Idiographic/nomothetic - As this approach views the individual as unique it does not attempt to establish universal laws about the causes of behavior, it is an idiographic approach.