positives

• holistic approach
• focuses on free will- not deterministic
• takes into account personal differences and the role of emotion
• practical applications- person centred therapy and counselling
• has an optimistic outlook- believes all people are good
• uses qualitative data which has lots of detail
• counselling techniques are shown to be effective

  • Gibbard and Hanley found 70% of pts who received counselling had a significant improvement
  • This study was longitudinal- over 5 years
  • used a questionnaire
• person centred therapy is based on humanist principles
• Treats people as individuals
• focuses on the present rather than past
• the client is seen as having the ability to change themselves
• evidence for hierarchy of needs- Aronoff Job study

  • compared fisherman and cane cutters
  • cutters had lower wages but better job security than fisherman
  • cane cutters were lower on hierarchy of needs
  • shows u cant satisfy higher needs before lower ones are
  • study has high ecological validity