Humanistic Approach Flashcards
What are the key assumptions of the Humanistic Approach?
Free will
Self-actualisation
The self, congruence & conditions of worth
What is free will?
Assumption people have free will to select & decide own behaviour
What is self - actualisation?
Top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
Includes morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice & acceptance of facts
All levels below self-actualisation must be met before person can be self-actualised
What is congruence?
Person’s concept of self broadly inline with ideal self
Big gap between two ‘selves’ = incongruence & self-actualisation can’t occur
Unhappiness & dissatisfaction outcomes of psychological gap between self-concept & ideal self
When these two concepts incongruent, defence mechanisms protecting against feeling negative
DPUB
What are conditions of worth?
When individual receives UPR, they develop conditions of worth as result
Parents often provide UPR during upbringing
Some parents only give CPR - child must behave certain way to receive UPR
Individual feels approval dependent on meeting expectation so others see them favourably
It’s possible person only feels self-acceptance if they meet conditions of worth set by others, which can produce feeling of incongruence
What is the humanistic approach’s influence on counselling psychology?
Aim of Rogerian therapy = close gap of incongruence between self-concept & ideal self
Allows individual to recognise both psychological strengths, limits & achieve realistic balance between them
What is the focus on self in the Humanistic Approach?
Rogers interested in 2 basic human needs:
Self-worth
UPR from others
Both emerge from good relationships with parents in childhood & later with friends & partners
Individual’s self worth has direct impact on psychological well being
What are some limitations of the Humanistic Approach?
CULTURAL BIAS - Self-Actualisation: individual has innate drive to fulfil potential, like flowers forcing way through pavements to spread - human’s want to be all they can be
Focuses exclusively on self, having adverse effect & inappropriate for collectiveness societies. If HA only focuses on ‘norm’ in West & unsuited to ROW, then theories not universally true
DIFFICULT TO TEST EFFECTIVENESS OF COUNSELLING - impossible to investigate effects of counselling in scientific sense
Compared to CBT & others, which have empirical evidence to support effectiveness, HA has none
People think they’ve benefited from HC, but cause-&-effect can’t be made between treatment & outcome, thus scientific certainty over validity of theory impossible, clients could’ve recovered without counselling, e.g. quit stressful job
UNREALISTIC VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE - point to sinister aspects of HB & argue HA focuses on ‘growth-oriented’ behaviour whilst ignoring individual’s capacity for self-destruction
Opponents of HA argue focus on self-development overlooks possible situational forces that may provide more realistic expectation of everyday human behaviour
What are some strength of the Humanistic Approach?
REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS - Person-centred therapy (operates on belief of growth & self-actualisation), education system (open-classroom policy, self-directed & student-centred learning
Gives insight into how & why people behave in certain situations & has positive impact on society, thus, world. It has high levels of ecological validity.
INFLUENCE ON PSYCH COUNSELLING - Contemporary therapists using experienced practitioners with range of devices for body, mind & soul use UPR & help clients towards self-awareness
Proves HA is useful as it has real life application & crucial in modern therapies, like client-centred therapies as it provides insights & techniques used by therapies
