The Humanistic Approach Flashcards
Assumptions of the humanistic approach -
All people have the desire to be the best they can be
Humans have free will and are self determining.
We should not generalise to groups of people
does not describe itself as scientific as it isn’t objective.
What is a person’s perceived self?
what they think they are
What is a person’s ideal self?
what they want to be
What is incongruence?
When a large gap exists between perceived self and ideal self.
Why could an incongruent person have a gap?
- unhealthy and inaccurate perception of themselves.
What happens if children grow up with unconditional positive regard?
they will have a positive self perception.
What did Rodgers suggest about conditions of worth?
Many people don’t experience the positive regard of others as being unconditional. They think that they will only be loved if they meet certain conditions of worth. This creates incongruence.
What did Rodgers believe about self actualisation?
Every individual has an innate drive to achieve their full potential.
To achieve self actualisation an individual has to be congruent.
What were Maslow’s heirachy of needs?
TOP self actualisation self esteem needs belonging needs safety needs physiological needs BOTTOM
Strengths of Humanistic approach -
Allows for personal development and change throughout a lifespan. Acknowledges that that we can change as a consequence for our environment.
Key influence on counselling practice. It aims to close t he gap between the client’s perceived self and ideal self through unconditional positive regard.
Offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative as sees all people as being gap and in control of their own lives.
Limitation of Humanistic approach -
The ideas of the approach are hard to test scientifically, which makes it difficult to support with empirical evidence. However, this is not something that the humanistic approach attempts to do as it believes that all humans are unique.
