The Humanistic Approach Flashcards
what concept is central to the humanistic approach
free will
the humanistic approach rejects attempts to establish
scientific principles of human behavior
because everybody is unique, psychology should concern itself with
subjective experience rather then general laws
focus on the
self
the self refers to the
ideas and values that characterize ‘I’ and ‘me’ and includes perception of ‘what I am’
Carl Rogers argued that personal growth requires
an individuals concept of self to congruent with their ideal self
if the gap is too big between someones concept of self and their ideal self then they will experience a
state of incongruence and Maslows self-actualisation isn’t possible
issues such as worthlessness and low self esteem have their roots in
childhood and are due to a lack of unconditional positive regard from parents
a parent who sets boundaries for their love is
storing up psychological problems for that child’s future
In Rogers client-centred therapy an effective therapist should provide the client with three things
Genuineness
Empathy
Unconditional positive regard
The aim of Rogers three things is to increase feelings of
Self worth and reduce incongruence between the self concept and the ideal self
What did Rogers work do?
It transformed psychology
‘Non-directive’ counselling techniques are practiced not only in clinical settings but
Throughout education, health, social work and other industry’s
Humanistic psychologists reject any attempt to
Break up behaviour and experience into smaller components
The humanistic approach advocates for
Holism - the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person
The humanistic approach may have more
Validity than its alternates by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real life context
It is true that
Roger Ian therapy has revolutionised counselling techniques and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has been used to explain motivation, particularly in the work place
Compared to other approaches, humanistic psychology has had
Limited impact within psychology as a whole
Why has the humanistic approach had such a limited impact on psychology?
Perhaps because it lacks a sound evidence base
As a result, the approach has been described not as a
Comprehensive theory but as a rather loose set of abstract concepts
Humanistic psychologists have been praised for promoting a
Positive image of the human condition - seeing people as in control of their lives and having the freedom to change
Freud saw human beings as
Slaves to their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between ‘common unhappiness and absolute despair’
Humanistic psychology offers a
reversing and optimistic alternative
Humanistic psychology includes a number of
Vague ideas that are abstract and difficult to test such as ‘self actualisation’ and ‘congruence’
Rogers did attempt to introduce more
Rigour into his work by developing the Q-sort
What is the Q-sort?
An objective measure of progress in therapy
As would be expected of an approach that is ‘anti scientific’
Humanistic psychology is short on empirical evidence
Many of the ideas that are central to humanistic psychology, such as
Individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, would be more readily associates with individualist cultures in the western world such as the US
Collectivist cultures with emphasise the needs of the group and independence
May not identify so easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology
It is possible that the humanistic approach would not
Travel well and is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed
