Humanistic Perspective

Question 1

Personal responsibility

Answer 1

One main element of the humanistic perspective
You have the power to shape your own life and you are ultimately responsible for what happens
People are active shapers of their own lives

Question 2

The here and now

Answer 2

Main element of humanistic perspective
We can’t become fully functioning individuals until we learn to live our lives as they happen
We need not be victims of our past, it has influenced who you are but does not determine what you will become

Question 3

The experience (phenomenology) of the individual

Answer 3

Main element of humanistic perspective
No one knows you better than yourself
We each view the world from our own unique perspective
In therapy, YOU learn how to help yourself (therapist is a facilitator)

Question 4

Personal change and growth

Answer 4

Main element of humanistic perspective
We are all on a journey progressing towards a satisfying state
Obstacles can black growth
Therapy can help us to continue to grow (by showing US how to achieve that)

Question 5

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: deficiency motives

Answer 5

Basic needs which we are driven to satisfy
Once satisfied, these motives will cease to direct behaviour (for a time)
Examples include the need for food and water

Question 6

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: growth needs

Answer 6

These are sometimes referred to as being motives or B-Motives
Satisfaction of these needs can actually motivate us to further achieve them
Examples include loving unselfishly and a thirst for knowledge

Question 7

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 7

Physiological needs: breathing, food, water, sleep
Safety needs: security of body, employment, health, shelter
Belongingness and love needs: friendship, family, intimate partners
Esteem needs: self-esteem, confidence, achievement
Self-actualisation: morality, creativity, problem solving, lack of prejudice

Question 8

Self-actualisation: Maslow

Answer 8

People who are self-actualised are psychologically healthy

Maslow examined historical figures who he determine were self-actualised eg Albert Einstein

Question 9

Characteristics of self-actualisers

Answer 9

Maslow suggested that self-actualisers think differently from other people
They are more likely to engage in being cognition, which includes being accepting of oneself and feeling connected to the world (non-judgemental)
This type of cognition, however, is not a constant state (which could be dangerous)
This form of cognition occurs when having a peak experience

Question 10

Personality assessment: Maslow’s Theory

Answer 10

Maslow used interviews, observations, biographical studies, self-report questionnaires and projective tests to ‘measure’ self-actualisation
Personal Orientation Inventory (POI): 10 subscales assess self-actualising values, feelings reactivity, existentiality, self-regard, spontaneity, self-acceptance, nature of humankind, synergy, intimate contact and acceptance of aggression

Question 11

Maslow’s Theory: therapy

Answer 11

If needs are not being met, an individual cannot be psychologically healthy
The lower the need in the hierarchy which is yet to be satisfied, the poorer the mental wellbeing
Maslow did not support the use of diagnostic labels
His approach to treatment was an eclectic one (ie he used psychoanalysis, group therapy, behaviour therapy)

Question 12

Optimal experiences: Csikszentmihalyi

Answer 12

An experience that is challenging yet enjoyable
Each step flows automatically to the next, but the task constantly demands total concentration
Reaching the goal provided participants with a sense of mastery
The real pleasure came from the process rather than the achievement
Sometimes referred to as flow

Question 13

8 components of optimal experience

Answer 13

1. Attention is completely absorbed by the activity
2. Activity has clear goals
3. Activity is challenging, but not so much that it denies a sense of accomplishment
4. One can concentrate only on the task at hand
5. Individual feels in control
6. Loss of self-consciousness
7. Feedback is available
8. Loses a sense of time

Question 14

Carl Rogers: fully functioning beings

Answer 14

Everyone has a tendency towards growth: ‘actualisation’
When one reaches an optimal sense of satisfaction, they are seen to be fully functioning:
High self-esteem and self-acceptance;
Accept mistakes and learn from them;
Make choices consistent with their values and interests;
Experience feelings more deeply and intensely than others

Question 15

Rogers: the self

Answer 15

Self-concept: who we are, but based (to a large extent) on how others have evaluated us
Real organismic self: the individual we are capable of being if we have ideal developmental experiences
If there is a discrepancy between self-concept and ideal self = anxiety

Question 16

Rogers: conditions of worth

Answer 16

As we grow, we develop conditions of worth:

The positive regard we need to thrive is dependent on how we behave

Question 17

Rogers: unconditional positive regard

Answer 17

For optimal development (ie self-actualisation), we need to experience unconditional positive regard:
When we are accepted and loved no matter that we do;
Can be provided by parents, but also in other adult relationships and during therapy

Question 18

Rogers’ theory: therapy

Answer 18

The more conditions of worth we have within our self-concept, the poorer the psychological health
The goal of therapy, according to Rogers model, is to enable the client to help themselves to become more self-accepting
This will help to reintegrate the self-concept with the real self and help someone rediscover the path to self-actualisation

Question 19

Rogers’ person centred therapy

Answer 19

According to Rogers, a therapist cannot possibly understand clients as well as clients understand themselves, and clients are responsible for changing themselves
Rogers said a therapists job is not to change the client but to provide an atmosphere within which clients are able to help themselves - person-centered therapy

Question 20

Six core conditions of counselling: Rogers

Answer 20

1. The client and therapist must be in psychological contact
2. The client is in a state of incongruence
3. Therapist is congruent in the relationship
4. Therapist has unconditional positive regard for client
5. Empathetic understanding
6. Client perceives the unconditional positive regard and empathy

Question 21

Personality assessment: person-centered therapy

Answer 21

Q-sort was developed to assess efficacy of therapy
Many person-centered therapists have adopted the California Q-sort technique
1. Client sorts a deck of 100 self-descriptive cards into nine categories for real self
2. Repeated for ideal self
Allows examination of discrepancies between clients’ image of self (real self) and the ideal self
Improvement is when the gap between the selves is closed

Question 22

Self-disclosure

Answer 22

When people reveal intimate information about themselves to another person
Improves our physiological health

Men and women are restricted in what they disclose by what society deems appropriate
Holding traumatic secrets inside may take its toll on a person’s health

Question 23

Disclosure reciprocity

Answer 23

Social rule
People involved in a get-acquainted conversations reveal information about themselves at roughly the same level of intimacy
Don’t just start talking about yourself to someone who isn’t talking about themselves back
Friends who have already shared don’t have to follow this rule though

Question 24

Loneliness

Answer 24

Defined as a discrepancy between the amount and quality of social contact we desire and by what we receive
Influenced by social situations, but people tend to suffer at a fairly stable level
Chronically lonely people approach conversations with negative expectations and lack social skills. Thus they stifle social interactions and discourage potential friends

Question 25

Human doctor perspective: self-esteem

Answer 25

High and low self-esteem people react differently to failure
Low people become discouraged and unmotivated when recovering negative feedback
High people employ tactics to blunt the effects of failure
People usually use areas they excel in for their contingencies of self-worth, but some select contingencies that make it difficult to feel good about themselves
Seen in individualist cultures, but may not apply to collectivist cultures

Question 26

Solitude

Answer 26

Maslow observes most psychologically healthy people report high preference for solitude
People differ in the extent to which they enjoy time alone
People with high preference for solitude enjoy their time alone but also enjoy time spent with others