Humanistic Psychotherapy Flashcards
There are compelling parallels between this plant and human beings, according to the humanistic approach. Humanists assume that people, like plants, arrive with an inborn tendency to grow. Humanists call this tendency ____________________
self-actualization
____________, from the humanistic point of view, is essentially the warmth, love, and acceptance of those around us
Positive regard
Carl Rogers’s frequently used term _____________ may best capture this experience of receiving positive regard from others
prizing
The primary goal of humanistic psychotherapy is to foster _______________________
self-actualization
It communicates that we are prized “only if” we meet certain conditions.
Conditional positive regard
When they compare the selves they actually are—the real self—with the selves they could be if they fulfilled their own potential—the ideal self—they perceive a discrepancy. Humanists use the term _____________ to describe this discrepancy, and they view it as the root of psychopathology
incongruence
______________—a match between the real self and the ideal self—is achieved when self-actualization is allowed to guide a person’s life without interference by any conditions of worth, and, as a result, mental health is optimized
Congruence
A therapist experiences ________________ for a client when the therapist is able to sense the client’s emotions, just as the client would, to perceive and understand the events of his or her life in a compassionate way.
Empathy
The term ________________, often used synonymously with humanistic therapy, reflects this emphasis on empathic understanding
client-centered therapy
It is, essentially, full acceptance of another person “no matter what.”
Unconditional positive regard
They don’t act empathic toward clients or act as though they unconditionally prize them. Instead, they truly are empathic toward clients and truly do unconditionally prize them
Genuineness
This genuineness—which Rogers and his followers have also called ___________________, because there is a match between the therapist’s real and ideal selves—is the opposite of playing a role or putting up a front
therapist congruence
These three conditions—__________, ____________, and ___________—are the essential elements of the relationship between humanistic therapists and their clients
empathy, UPR, and genuineness
Whether empathy, UPR, and genuineness are necessary, sufficient, or both, it is important to remember that humanists view them as _______________, not behaviors
attitudes
__________ takes place when a therapist responds to a client by rephrasing or restating the client’s statements in a way that highlights the client’s feelings or emotions. It is not a mere parroting of the client’s words to show that they have been heard but a comment by the therapist that shows the therapist’s appreciation of the client’s emotional experience
Reflection
Historical Alternatives to Humanism
- Existential psychotherapy
- Gestalt therapy
It is an approach to therapy originally developed by Rollo May, Victor Frankl, and Irvin Yalom. It centers on the premise that each person is essentially alone in the world and that realization of this fact can overwhelm us with anxiety.
Existential psychotherapy
Existential theory holds that other inevitabilities of human life, especially _________, contribute to a powerful sense of meaninglessness in many people
death
This therapy works well for clients who are physically ill or concerned with the meaning of life
Existential therapy
It was founded by Fritz Perls, and it emphasizes a holistic approach to enhancing the client’s experience
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapists encourage clients to reach their full potential, often through the use of ______________________.
role-play techniques
It was originally developed to treat addictive behaviors such as substance abuse, but it has been used with a wide range of client problems. It centers on addressing clients’ ambivalence or uncertainty about making major changes to their way of life. Whereas many therapists might label such ambivalence as resistance, denial, or a lack of motivation, therapists acknowledge that it is a normal challenge for anyone facing the difficult decision of continuing with an unhealthy familiar lifestyle or committing to live in a more healthy but unfamiliar way.
Motivational Interviewing
Taking the clients’ points of view and honoring their feelings about their experiences are vital to MI.
Expressing empathy
MI therapists highlight how a client’s behavior is inconsistent with his or her goals or values. This enhances the client’s self-motivation to change and puts him or her (rather than the therapist) in the position to argue for a new way of living.
Developing the discrepancy
MI therapists do not directly confront clients, even if clients are engaging in self-destructive behaviors. They recognize that clients must choose to change rather than being strong-armed by a therapist.
Avoiding argumentation
When clients express hesitancy to change, MI therapists accept and reflect it rather than battle against it. They respect that clients have mixed feelings about changing.
Rolling with resistance
It takes the form of client statements in favor of continuing the problem behavior: “I’ve always eaten unhealthy food, and so does my whole family. I wouldn’t even know what else to buy at the grocery store or order in a restaurant.”
Sustain talk
It is the statements clients make in favor of changing the problem behavior: “My weight and my cholesterol are getting out of control. I’m so out of shape and unhealthy—I really need to eat healthier.”
Change talk
MI therapists make efforts to communicate to clients that they have the power to improve themselves. The role of the therapist is facilitative; it is the client who has the most power for change.
Supporting self-efficacy
It is a broad-based approach that emphasizes human strengths rather than pathology, and cultivation of happiness in addition to reduction of symptoms in psychotherapy
Positive psychology
The seven basic categories of positive psychology techniques, according to Parks and Layous
- Savoring
- Gratitude
- Kindness
- Empathy
- Optimism
- Strength-based activities
- Meaning
in which clients intentionally focus on and extend, without distraction, moments of joy and happiness
Savoring
in which clients purposefully focus on reasons to be thankful by writing letters, journaling, visiting important people in their lives, or simply thinking about things that make them feel appreciative
Gratitude
in which clients deliberately do nice things for others, including the donation of money or time for charity, volunteering, tutoring, or similar activities
Kindness
in which clients intentionally build a sense of understanding, forgiveness, and perspective-taking with others in their lives
Empathy
in which clients purposefully cultivate positive expectations about the future and anticipate good things that may happen in their lives
Optimism
in which clients deliberately use (or write about) their personal strengths in meaningful or novel ways
Strength-based activities
in which clients intentionally remind themselves of their own values and set goals to live a life that falls in line with them
Meaning
_______________________________ is a short-term humanistic therapy that has garnered significant empirical evidence and popularity in recent years. It emphasizes the expression, acknowledgment, and healing power of emotions in the present moment, as well as emotions that may have been “bottled up” for a long time.
Emotionally focused therapy (EFT)
It is a technique in EFT in which clients speak directly to an imaginary person such as a family member or partner toward whom they have typically withheld their feelings
empty chair technique
A noteworthy feature of EFT is that it is frequently practiced with _________.
couples
In terms of “what works” empirically, _________________ undoubtedly leads the pack of the current generation of therapies derived from humanism
motivational interviewing
Along with Abraham Maslow, ____________________ pioneered the humanistic movement in psychology and its clinical application, humanistic therapy.
Carl Rogers
the selves they actually are
Real selves
the selves they could be if they fulfilled their own potential
Ideal self
