humanistic approach

• Assumes that we all have free will and are masters of our own development, so we can ignore the influence of internal and external factors on our behaviour. Sees self-actualisation as a crucial part of being human. Due to having free will, we also have the ability to progress through this hierarchy of needs and better ourselves.
• The ‘ideal self’ describes our perception of the best version of ourselves. When there is too large a gap between the self and the ideal self, we experience incongruence. The consequent negative feelings of low self-worth and low self-esteem prevent us from progressing through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and so we cannot achieve self-actualisation.
• When there is little or no gap between the self and the ideal self, then we have achieved congruence, allowing us to progress up the hierarchy, with the aim of achieving self actualisation. Self-actualisation refers to the innate desire we all have to become the best version of ourselves, through personal and psychological growth
• Rogerian therapy aims to reduce the gap between the self and the ideal self, increasing the likelihood of achieving congruence and self-actualisation.
• Rogers and Maslow, found that conditions such as low self-esteem originate in childhood, where adults restrict the love they show towards their children, by imposing conditions of worth e.g. “I will be proud of you only if you achieve top grades at school”. This represents a lack of unconditional positive regard.
• Rogerian therapy views a good therapist as being open, genuine, and providing the unconditional positive regard which the patient most likely lacked during childhood. These therapies view patients as ‘experts’ of their conditions, and so they are encouraged to arrive at their own solutions to these problems, with the help of a therapist
• strength = this has had a major impact on counselling, and how such therapies are used. This therapy is beneficial due to acknowledging that individuals do have free will and do have the ability to improve themselves, through focussing on developing solutions to the patient’s current problems. This is in stark contrast with Freud’s psychotherapies, which tend to dwell upon childhood experiences and so may be frustrating for the patient who has identified the cause of their problems.
• Nonetheless, Roger’s client-centred approach is not suitable for treating serious mental disorders, such as schizophrenia or depression.
• weakness = Maslow’s ideas of self-actualisation, the need to improve oneself, and congruence can be mostly viewed as attitudes typical of Western, individualist cultures where the needs of the individual are greater than the needs of the group. Therefore, due to this cultural bias, humanism may be more readily accepted by Western cultures who will identify more with these values, as opposed to Eastern collectivist cultures, where such a desire for personal growth may be seen as selfish considering that the needs of the group are greater than that of the individual.
• weakness = Self-actualisation cannot be objectively measured, due to individual differences and a lack of a universal measuring scale. Similarly, congruence may also be up to personal judgement, especially as opinions of whether one has is their ‘ideal self’ will differ. This does little to improve the scientific credibility of both humanism and Psychology.