Humanistic approach Alex, Chloe and Lauren (and Yvette!)

What is it? The study of the whole person. Humanistic psychologists look at human behaviour not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the person doing the behaving. Rejects psychodynamic approach and behaviourist perspective

History and context – 50’s and 60’s Huge disagreement with Freud and Skinners viewpoint: too much negativity on human nature. Freud = conflict within a person Skinner (Behaviourists) = puppets on a string Maslow AHP est. 60’s to explore human nature in a more meaningful way 1.Self 2.Health 3.Personal growth 4.Creativity

Maslow’s (1987) Hierarchy of needs THEORY Human Survival: Food Water Sleep (Deprivation) Physical safety (environmental disasters) Psychological safety (stalking) Love of friends, family and partners Feel good about yourself Sense of achievement and competence in work, school etc Personal High achieving Creativity Spontaneous

Evaluate Marlow personally identified self actualisation- subjective Used Mainly white and male famous or highly achieved sample However, extremely influential within work environment Widely accepted and used to help people’s different needs

The self, conditions of worth and free will Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who agreed with the main assumptions of Abraham Maslow, but added that for a person to "grow", they need an environment that provides them with genuineness, unconditional positive regard, and empathy.humanisticAbraham Maslow Each of us creates a sense of self during our childhood. The self is based on self-esteem and how good we feel about ourselves. Carl Rogers suggested that we construct the self during childhood from two main sources: our personal experiences of the world and the evolution of other significant people. Our conditions of worth are imposed by significant people in order for them to approve of us and love us. The humanistic psychologist, Rogers said that we need unconditional positive regards in order for our real self and ideal self to become congruent. We need this to develop a strong sense of self worth. Free will is the capacity to make changes to our lives and peruse our goals. Rogers found that through his work in counselling and therapy that people had the desire and the ability to make changes to themselves and their life.

The influence on counselling psychology  Roger said that each person is the expert of themselves.  Aim = the counsellor enters into the client’s world and tries to see it from their perspective. They do this by accepting their views and feelings and offers nothing but positive responses. The client is then able to clarify and accept themselves, so feelings of content and harmony can replace the inner conflict.  Congruent = a key quality of a person-centred therapy that refers to being genuine and authentic, rather than putting up a front.

3 core conditions that are essential for a good relationship between the therapist and client: 1. Empathic understanding: the therapist should aim to understand the client’s experience as if it happened to them 2. Unconditional positive regard: acceptance and praising the client no matter what they’ve done 3. A congruent therapist needs to be in touch with their own feelings.