Humanistic Approach

• The humanistic approach emphases that human beings are unique and have free will of their own choices that determine their outcomes rather than external factors out of your control.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs

  A hierarchy of needs that motivate our behaviors.

  1)Self-actualization (to fulfill your full potential.)

  2)Esteem

  3)Love & Belonging

  4)Safety

  5)physiological needs
• Carl Rogers

  For personal growth to be achieved, the the way you see yourself and your ideal self must be broadly the same. (This is called congruence.)

  ->In order to the bridge the gap between the self and the ideal self, client-centered therapy was invented. They help you with the problems in your life and how you could overcome them.
• For example, problems faced in humanistic therapy would be feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem caused by a lack of unconditional positive regard from parents. A parent who sets boundaries on their love for their children. For example, "I will only love you if you study medicine." (Conditions of worth.)
• Limitation) Cultural bias

  Self actualisation may not be the thing some collectivist cultures advocate because the needs of the group always come before your own.

  -> This means humanistic psychology doesn't have universal applicability.
• Limitation) Not very scientific

  Humanistic psychology focuses on subjective concepts like free will and personal experience, making them difficult to objectively measure.

  
  

  Limitation) Client-centred therapy is helpful for things like low self-esteem but its not helpful for severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia which may be better treated using the biological approach
• Issues & Debates) Holistic

  Humanistic psychology believes that in order to understand human behaviour then we need to focus on the whole human without reducing it to its simpler components.