Chapter 11: The Humanistic Approach Flashcards
Existential Philosophy
- The Meaning of our Existence
- The role of free will
- Uniqueness of each human being
- Existential psychotherapy focuses on existential anxiety
Humanistic Psych evolved from…
- Existential philosophy
2. American psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
Humanistic Approach
- An emphasis on personal responsibility
- An emphasis on the “here and now”
- A focus on the experience of the individual
- An emphasis on personal growth
Humanistic psychologists see people as
Active shapers of their own lives, with freedom to change limited only by personal constraints
According to the humanistic perspective
We cannot become fully functioning individuals until we learn to live our lives as they happen
“Here and Now”
- Living your life as it is happening
- Not thinking of what has happened or what is yet to come
- Time spent thinking about these activities is time lost
- We are not victims of our past
What do humanistic therapists do?
They seek to understand what their clients are experiencing and try to provide a therapeutic atmosphere that allows clients to help themselves
Fully functioning individual
Motivation to progress toward some ultimately satisfying state of being
Self Actualization
A person becomes everything that one is capable of becoming
Who popularize the person centered approach?
Carl Rogers
What are fully functioning people like
Their ideology is to experience life, not just pass through
•Trust their feelings
•Lead richer lives
Subception
Perception of information at a less than conscious level
•Use defenses to keep info from entering consciousness
Common defenses used
•Distortion
•Denial
Both reduce anxiety
Conditional Positive Regard
Idea that your parents only love you when you do or act in a manner that suits them best. They only reinforce the behavior they like
Unconditional Positive Regard
Knowing that you will be accepted no matter what you say or do
Deficiency Motives (Maslow)
Result from a lack of some needed object
•Basic needs such as hunger and thirst
Growth Needs (Maslow)
Are not satisfied simply by finding the object of our need
•Satisfied by expressing the motive
•Unselfish giving of love to others and development of ones unique potential
Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow)
The order in which human needs demand attention
Hierarchy of Needs: Physiological Needs
- Hunger, Thirst, Air, and Sleep
- Typically most demanding
- Need to be satisfied before moving to higher level needs
- Most primitive need
Hierarchy of Needs: Safety Needs
- Only after physiological needs are met
- Need for security
- Stability
- Protection
- Structure
- Order
- Freedom from fear or chaos
- Prominent when future is unpredictable of locations where political or social order is unstable
- People motivated in this category may become obsessed with saving money
Hierarchy of Needs: Belongingness and Love Needs
- Friendships
- Love
- “D-Love”: based on deficiency like hunger and need it to satisfy emptiness we experience without it
- “B-Love”: D-Love is necessary in reaching this type of love because it is non possessive, unselfish love based o growth need rather than a deficiency
Hierarchy of Needs: Esteem Needs
- After satisfaction of belongingness and love needs
- The need to perceive oneself as competent and achieving
- The need for admiration and respect
Hierarchy of Needs: Need for Self Actualization
- Satisfied when we identify our true self and reach our full potential
- Hardest to achieve because your other needs always have to be satisfied
Self-Actualizing Creativity(Maslow)
Can be seen in the way people approach routine tasks
Peak Experiences (Maslow)
Time and place transcend. Anxieties and fears disappear, replaced by a sense of unity with the universe and a momentary feeling of power and wonder
Nonpeaking self actualizers
The social world improvers, the politicians, the workers of society, the reformers, the crusaders. They have their feet planted firmly on the ground and have a clear direction in life
Self Actualizing Peakers
Tend to be less conventional and more concerned with abstract notions. Are more likely to write poetry, music, be philosophers, and write the religions.
Optimal Experience
Being caught up in a natural, almost effortless movement from one step to the next, sometimes referred to as flow. These experiences are intensely enjoyable, but usually are not restful, relaxing moments
Person-Centered Therapy
- Result should be that clients are more open to personal experience, more able to accept all aspects of themselves, and therefore less likely to use defenses when encountering info that threatens their self-concept
- Therapists have to create proper relationship with client
- Unconditional positive regard
- Clients reflect on themselves
Eypschian Management (Maslow)
Rearranging an organization to help employees satisfy higher level needs
Q-Sort
Test administered by therapists in which client is given a deck of 100 cards each including an adjective to describe you and the client has to put them into categories depending on how much it describes you. Creates your self-concept profile. Done twice, once for your “real self” and second for your “ideal self”
Strengths of Humanistic Approach
- Emphasis on the healthy side of personality
- Has impacted the way psychologists and Counselors approach therapy
- Also branched to education, communication, and business
Criticisms of the Humanistic Approach
- Humanistic psychology’s reliance on the concept of free to explain human behavior
- Key concepts are poorly defined
- Data is less than scientifically rigorous
- Limits on applying humanistic psychotherapy techniques
- Naive assumptions about human nature
Which psychologists are related to Humanistic?
Rogers & Maslow
