One strength of the humanistic approach is that it rejects attempts to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components (reductionism):
Humanistic psychologists advocate holism; the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person
Other approaches don't do this and instead reduce human behaviour to its basics
Therefore, this approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering human behaviour within a real-world context
Counterpoint to 'Not reductionist'
Reductionist approaches may be more scientific:
The ideal of science is the experiment, which reduces behaviour to dependent and independent variables.
One issue with humanistic psychology is that, unlike behaviourism, there are few concepts that can be broken down into variables and measured.
This means that humanistic psychology in general is short on empirical evidence to support its claims.
Positive approach
One strength of the humanistic approach is that it is optimistic:
Humanistic psychologists have been praised for bringing the person back into psychology and promoting a positive image of the human condition
Freud claimed all humans existed somewhere between 'common unhappiness and absolute despair'
Humanistic psychologists see all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives
Cultural bias
One limitation of the humanistic approach is that it may be culturally-biased:
Many of the central ideas, such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, are more closely associated with individualist countries (e.g. the US).
Countries with collectivist tendencies emphasise more the needs of the group and interdependence.
In these countries, the ideals of humanistic psychology may not be as important as others.
Therefore, this approach may not apply universally and is a product of the cultural context within which it was created