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...CONTINUE
FROM PG1
HUMANISTIC
PSYCHOLOGY-THE "THIRD FORCE" OF PSYCHOLOGY
During the 1950s,
Humanistic
Psychology began to rise, as a reaction to
Psychoanalysis and Behaviorism, which flourished at
the time. Humanistic Psychology is considered to be
the: "Third
Force" of Psychology. The first and second
forces are Behaviorism and Psychoanalysis
respectively.
While both Behaviorism and
Psychoanalysis are
Deterministic Approaches, the Humanistic
branch added another, more holistic and optimistic
dimension to human behavior: In Contrast to
Psychoanalysis which focused on unconscious
motivations to determine personality, and in
contrast to Behaviorism which focused on learning to
determine human's behavior and personality,
Humanistic thinkers focused on individual’s
potential for personal growth.
The fundamental premise of Humanistic Psychology is
that people are innately good. Mental disorders and
problems are some deviations from this natural
tendency of goodness. This approach made it more
acceptable for healthy individuals to explore their
abilities and reach for their maximum potential. And
by doing so, it removed some of the stigma attached
to therapy in general.
Leading
Intellectual Thinkers of the Humanistic Approach
Are:
Abraham
Maslow (1908- 1970), was one of the
founder figures in the 1950s, who shifted the focus
from mental symptomology and sickness toward
positive sides of mental health. He was intrigued by
human potential, seeking peak experiences that
improved mental health. Specifically, he was
interested in
Self-Actualization, which is the process
developing and achieving one's potential.
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Human's potential was
conceptualized by Maslow in his theory of:
Hierarchy
of Needs. It is often displayed as a pyramid,
where the lowest levels of the pyramid include basic
needs (photo#9). Examples are: Needs for food,
water, safety and sleep. As lower-level needs are
met, one goes up the pyramid and more complex
psychological and social needs become |
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the person's target.
Examples are: Needs for belongingness, love
and friendship. Finally, need for personal
esteem and feelings of accomplishment are
located at the top of the pyramid. |
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Carl Rogers
(1902-1987), was nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize for his work with national
intergroup conflict in South Africa and Northern
Ireland.
In accord with Maslow,
Roger also emphasized the need to achieve
self-actualization levels. He developed an
approach to therapy known as
Client-Centered therapy. This is a unique,
warm and nondirective way to understanding
personality and human relationships.
Roger posits
that in order for one to fulfill her potential, one
need to experience
Unconditional Positive Regard.
This is a
non-judgmental acceptance of others. It facilitates
development of security needed for exploration of
feelings without the fear of being disapproved.
Furthermore, Roger compared
and contrasted the
"Real Self"
and the
“Ideal Self”. The "Real Self” represents
aspects of one's true personality and needs.
Therefore, it is the basis of the actualizing
tendency. On the other hand, the “Ideal Self”
represents one's a non-realistic, high standard
values. Therefore, the 'Ideal Self " is bound to
fail and may even result in mental disturbances.
Roger referred to the gap
between the Ideal Self –and the Real Self as
Incongruity
and emphasized the need to minimize this unhealthy
gap. Moreover, incongruent people work hard to
protect their Ideal Self which is under constant
threat.
While the real self-person represents a
true: “I am" and is able to lead his life in a
genuine way, the ideal self-person is led by the: “I
should".
Also, Rogers argued that an
incongruent individual, one who has big gap between
his Real and Ideal Self, tends to be defensive and
thus cannot be open to all experiences. This
incongruent individual has high likelihood to deploy
healthy defense mechanisms and use distortions and
denial instead.
Distortion occurs when the
individual perceives a threat to their self-concept.
In other words, this individual needs to distort
perception in order to fit the unrealistic, Ideal
Self he is clinging to. And since incongruent
individual cannot, by virtue, function ideally, she
is likely to suffer emotionally.
Criticisms
of Humanistic Psychology:
Similar to Psychoanalysis, Humanistic School
is critiqued for not being scientific. It is often
seen as too subjective, where it is difficult to
measure, assess and quantify humanistic phenomena
such as Self-Actualization.
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