the self, worth and congruence

• • Humanism argues that for a person to achieve personal growth there needs to be a focus on the self
  • actual self - refers to how we view ourselves in terms of what I am and what I can do,  self-concept comes from our own experiences of the world and through how other significant people view us and how they treat us.
  • ideal self - refers to the person we feel that we should be or the person that we want to be
• Congruence

  • occurs when there is match/consistency between your perceived self and your ideal self.  If this occurs it enables a person to show personal growth and achieve their goals.
  • When there is a MISMATCH between the perceived and ideal self we are in a STATE OF INCONGRUENCE they are likely to have low self-worth and poorer psychological health. 
  • Rogers would suggest a person should go through counselling to close the gap/discrepancy by developing a more healthy view of him/herself or a more realistic or achievable ideal self

   
• conditions of worth

  • has issues of low self-esteem and worthlessness in adulthood these may be a consequence of our early childhood due to conditions of worth.  In childhood, parents or significant others place limits on their love e.g. ' I will love you if you go uni'