Humanistic Approach

Question 1

What are humanistic assumptions?

Answer 1

• Every individual is unique and distinct from each other and it takes on an idiographic approach.
• It is holistic as all aspects of an individual are looked at so the main cause of behaviour is not overlooked.
• Every individual has free will and can choose what decisions to make or what behaviour to produce
• Subjective experiences of an individual should be considered and should not be tested scientifically as subjective experiences will ultimately affect how they develop and behave.

Question 2

What is self actualisation?

Answer 2

A peak state of existence that any individual can attain, and is a feeling of completeness and satisfaction.

Question 3

What are the 5 stages of mallows hierarchy and what needs does each stage contain

Answer 3

Physiological needs-food, water, sleep

Safety needs-safety of employment and safety of property

Love and belonging- friendship needs, family relationships, sexual intimacy

Esteem needs-self esteem, confidence, respect from others

Self actualisation- spontaneity, acceptance of facts, problem solving.

Question 4

What did Maslow suggested needed to happen before moving onto the next stage of the hierarchy and how many stages are there?

Answer 4

A person must meet the most basic needs of each stage before moving onto the next one and reaching self actualisation

5

Question 5

What selfs did Carl rogers suggests we have and explain them?

Answer 5

Perceived self- They way you see or view yourself
Ideal self-The self you wish to be
Actual self-This is who you actually are

Question 6

What is congruence?

Answer 6

A healthy sense of wellbeing is established due to the ideal self and the perceived self being identical or as similar as possible.

Question 7

What is conditions of worth and what conditions of worth are there?

Answer 7

The extent to the requirements we need in order to be cared for and loved.

Conditional positive regard
Unconditional positive regard

Question 8

How is congruence affected by conditions of worth?

Answer 8

A person wont have a high self esteem if they only receive conditional positive regard which means their perceived self wont be similar to their ideal self .

-A person must receive unconditional positive regard to have high self esteem

This is why carl rogers suggested children must receive unconditional positive regard to develop their self esteem.

Question 9

What is the aim of Client Centred Therapy and how do they achieve it?

Answer 9

The aim is to try and make the clients perceived self as similar or identical to their ideal self

This is achieved through the therapist establishing a high quality relationship with the client.

Question 10

What are client centred therapies three main features?

Answer 10

Unconditional positive regard
Empathy
Genuineness

Question 11

Describe empathy during CCT

Answer 11

-Involves stepping into the clients shoes to experience the world as they do and try to be aware of clients experiences as much as possible.

Question 12

Describe Unconditional positive regard?

Answer 12

Therapist will make sure to give unconditional positive regard no matter the circumstance and will not judge the client.

Question 13

Describe Genuineness in CCT

Answer 13

The therapist will be themselves and express their own feelings whilst giving them unconditional positive regard.

Question 14

AO3 for humanistic approach?

Answer 14

• CCT
• Methods of research
• Free will vs determinism

Question 15

Outline how the humanistic approach is not an advocate for free will

Answer 15

P:

Question 16

Outline how humanistic methods of research weaken the approach

Answer 16

P: humanists are criticised for their methods of research as it lacks scientific rigour

E: Humanists believe the individuals subjective experience should only be taken into account as it will be the only thing that affects their development and behaviours.

E : Therefore no scientific experimentation can be done to find a cause and effect for behaviour, which means most data gathered is qualitative data through observations and self report methods which are not objective.

L: This weakens the approach as a scientific field of study has to be objective therefore the humanistic approach does not support psychology as a science.

Question 17

Outline how CCT supports the humanistic approach?

Answer 17

P: The humanistic approach is supported for the development of client centred Therapy

E: Client centred therapy is a therapy that has decreased in popularity but has increased in recent years and Sexton and Winston have found that it is very effective when treating certain people.

E: However a lot of psychologists argue that their is an issue with the measure of using CCT as it is subjective (opinion based from the client) so there could be bias from the client. However Humanists suggest the perception of success is much more important than objective measures of success

L: this treatment has improved peoples lives by increasing their self esteem when they establish congruence .