Humanistic Approach

Abraham Maslow

Carl Rogers

FoundationsA strong reaction to both behaviorism and psychodynamics.Gained Popularity in the 1960’s and 1970s

We make conscious decisions about the direction of our lives-We have free will. It also rejects the doctrine of determinism.

We look forward, not controlled by a past history of reinforcement/punishment or repressed trauma

FoundationsDiscards the limits of behaviorism – no experiments

Denies the negativity of psychodynamics – we are, at our core, good and striving to get betterFocuses on our natural progress towards fully developing our potential—i.e. Towards Self-Actualization.Believes in the inherent Goodness of people

Abraham MaslowNeeds-Hierarchy Theory /Holistic Theory or Hierarchical Theory of Motivation /Theory of Self-Actualization

Started off as a Behaviorist

Maslow laid the groundwork for his theory of self-actualization by making the assumption that each of us has an intrinsic nature that is good or, at the very least, neutral

If the environment is restrictive and minimizes personal choice, the individual is likely to develop in neurotic ways, because this inner nature is weakand subject to control by environmental forces.

If our inner natures, for example, told usthat aggression against others is wrong, then no amount of preaching or exhortation by authorities that it is justified under certain circumstances would dissuade us from our inner conviction

The Hierarchy of Human Needs

human beings have two basic sets of needs thatare rooted in their biology: deficiency (or basic) needs, and growth (or meta) needs.

CharacteristicsThe lower the need is in the hierarchy, the greater are its strength, potency,and priority. The higher needs are weaker needs.■ Higher needs appear later in life. Physiological and safety needs arise ininfancy. Belongingness and esteem needs arise in adolescence. The need forself-actualization does not arise until midlife.■ Because higher needs are less necessary for actual survival, their gratification can be postponed. Failure to satisfy a higher need does not produce a crisis. Failure to satisfy a lower need does produce a crisis. For this reason, Maslowcalled lower needs deficit, or defi -ciency, needs; failure to satisfy them producesa deficit or lack in the individual.

Although higher needs are less necessary for survival, they contribute to survival and growth. Satisfaction of higher needs leads to improved health and longevity. For this reason, Maslow called higher needs growth, or being, needs.

■ Satisfaction of higher needs is also beneficial psychologically. Satisfaction of higher needs leads to contentment, happiness, and fulfillment.

■ Gratification of higher needs requires better external circumstances (social,economic, and political) than does gratifi cation of lower needs. For example, pursuing self-actualization requires greater freedom of expression and opportunity than pursuing safety needs

A need does not have to be satisfied fully before the next need in the hierarchy becomes important. Maslow proposed a declining percentage of satisfaction for each need. Offering a hypothetical example, he described aperson who satisfied, in turn, 85 percent of the physiological needs, 70 percent of the safety needs, 50 percent of the belongingness and love needs,40 percent of the esteem needs, and 10 percent of the self-actualization.

Esteem needs are the last of the basic urges to emerge. Maslow maintained that individuals become sick when these needs are thwarted.

He divided them into two sets: a)esteem based on respect for our own competence, independence, and accomplishments, andb) Esteem based on others’ evaluations

Once the basic needs in Maslow’s hierarchy have been sufficiently gratified, the needs for self-actualization and cognitive understanding become salient

movement in this positive direction is not automatic. Maslow believed that we often fear “our best side, . . . our talents, . . . our finest impulses, . . . our creativeness”(Maslow, 1962, p. 58)

Discovery of our abilities brings happiness ,but it also brings fear of new responsibilities and duties, fear of the unknown. Maslow called this fear the Jonah complex.

For women, Maslow argued, this fear takes the form of reluctanceto make full use of their intellectual abilities, because achievement is considered unfeminine and they fear social rejection

fear of success in men may reflect a wish to avoid the responsibilities that continued success brings, a feeling that material success somehow will not bring emotional well-being or spiritual fulfillment,or a belief that success will not bring them enough social recognition.

The Self-Actualization Need

Peak experiences – moments when you feel truly fulfilled, content and at peaceYour powers and abilities come together in an intensely enjoyable way“Flow experiences”

The following conditions are necessary in order for us to satisfy the self-actualization need:

■ We must be free of constraints imposed by society and by ourselves.■ We must not be distracted by the lower-order needs.■ We must be secure in our self-image and in our relationships with other people; we must be able to love and be loved in return.■ We must have a realistic knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses, virtuesand vices.

Maslow also proposed a second set of innate needs, the cognitive needs —to know and to understand, which exist outside the hierarchy we have described. The need to know is stronger than the need to understand. Thus, the need to know must be at least partially satisfied before the need to understand can emerge

Self-actualizing persons are not motivated to strive for a particular goal. Instead, they are said to be developing from within .Thus having B-Motivation.

Maslow described the motivation of people who are not self-actualizers as a condition of D-motivation or Deficiency. D-motivation involves striving for something specific to make up for something that is lacking within us.

Maslow proposed a distinct type of motivation for selfactualizers called metamotivation

Characteristics of self-actualizers

Clear perception of realityAcceptance of self, others, and natureSpontaneity, simplicity, and naturalnessDedication to a causeIndependence and need for privacyFreshness of appreciationPeak experiencesSocial interestDeep interpersonal relationshipsTolerance and acceptance of othersCreativeness and originalityResistance to social pressures

The Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), a self-report questionnaire consisting of 150 pairs of statements, was developed by psychologist Everett Shostrom to measure self-actualization

Carl RogersCarl Rogers: American psychologist; believed that personality formed as a result of our strivings to reach our full human potential.

Fully Functioning Person: Lives in harmony with his/her deepest feelings and impulses

Self-Image: Total subjective perception of your body and personality

Conditions of Worth: behaviors and attitudes for which other people, starting with our parents, will give us positive regard.

Unconditional Positive Regard: Unshakable love and approval

Positive Self-Regard: Thinking of oneself as a good, lovable, worthwhile person

The Development of the Self in ChildhoodAs infants gradually develop a more complex experiential field from widening social encounters, one part of their experience becomes differentiated from the rest.

This separate part, defined by the words I, me, and myself, is the self or self-concept.

The self-concept is our image of what we are, what we should be, and what we would like to be.

if positive regard for the infant persists despite the infant’s undesirable behaviors, the condition is calledunconditional positive regard

As the self emerges, infants develop a need for what Rogers called positive regard.- acceptance, love, and approval from other people, most notably from the mother during infancy.

Conditions of worth evolve from this developmental sequence of positive regardleading to positive self-regard ,it derives from conditional positive regard

In time, positive regard will come more from within us than from other people, a condition Rogers called positive self-regard

Not only do children learn, ideally, to inhibit unacceptable behaviors , but they also may come to deny or distort unacceptable ways of perceiving their experiential world.

Carl Rogers used the term Incongruence to describe feelings of depression and unhappiness caused by not living the life we really want to. Rogers felt that individuals could have a good job, marriage and children but still feel unhappy, a key element of Incongruence.

Organismic Valuing ProcessCarl Rogers described our actualizing tendency as being an 'organismic valuing process', where we select goals based on our inner nature and purpose.This process may include any of the following principles:

Authenticity: Getting away from defensive superficiality and being oneself.Autonomy: Moving away from what you 'should' to and making your own decisions.Internal locus of evaluation: Judgement based on one's own view, rather than seeking the approval of others.Unconditional positive self-regard: Judging and accepting yourself as valuable and worthwhile, including all thoughts and emotional reactions.Process living: Recognising that we are in a constant state of becoming and never reach a final end point.Relatedness: Seeking close and deep relationships where you can truly appreciate and understand other people.Openness to inner and outer experience: Being able to perceive and accept how others and oneself behaves and feels.

Fully functioning individualA growing openness to experience – they move away from defensiveness and have no need for subception (a perceptual defense that involves unconsciously applying strategies to prevent a troubling stimulus from entering consciousness).An increasingly existential lifestyle – living each moment fully – not distorting the moment to fit personality or self concept but allowing personality and self concept to emanate from the experience. This results in excitement, daring, adaptability, tolerance, spontaneity, and a lack of rigidity and suggests a foundation of trust. "To open one's spirit to what is going on now, and discover in that present process whatever structure it appears to have" (Rogers 1961)Increasing organismic trust – they trust their own judgment and their ability to choose behavior that is appropriate for each moment. They do not rely on existing codes and social norms but trust that as they are open to experiences they will be able to trust their own sense of right and wrong.

Freedom of choice – not being shackled by the restrictions that influence an incongruent individual, they are able to make a wider range of choices more fluently. They believe that they play a role in determining their own behavior and so feel responsible for their own behavior.Creativity – it follows that they will feel more free to be creative. They will also be more creative in the way they adapt to their own circumstances without feeling a need to conform.Reliability and constructiveness – they can be trusted to act constructively. An individual who is open to all their needs will be able to maintain a balance between them. Even aggressive needs will be matched and balanced by intrinsic goodness in congruent individuals.

A rich full life – he describes the life of the fully functioning individual as rich, full and exciting and suggests that they experience joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and courage more intensely. Rogers' description of the good life:his process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life. (Rogers 1961)

Person-Centred theory Therapy is a permissive, non-directive climate

Phenomenological approach: seeing and understanding others from their reference, perception

Therapist: creates a growth promoting environment, non directive, not the expert, non controlling, caring, accepting, genuine

GOALS OF THERAPY

Help client grow

Focus on person, not problem

People become more actualized1. open to experiences2. Trust themselves3. Self-evaluation4. Continue growing

THERAPIST ROLE AND FUNCTION

Create a climate conducive to self-exploration

Create a relationship that lets clients explore freely denied or distorted areas of life

Be real, genuine, honest….

Don’t see client in diagnostic categories

Enter clients world

Defenses are let down because therapist is real, genuine, caring

Show unconditional positive regard

Accept client

Empathetic understanding of client