Humanistic Psychology. Bryan Card. Psychology 335, Theories of Personality. University of Maryland, University College

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1 Running head: HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 1 Humanistic Psychology Bryan Card Psychology 335, Theories of Personality University of Maryland, University College

2 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 2 Table of Contents Theoretical perspective of the approach 3 Theorists who have contributed to this approach 5 Compare and contrast two theorists perspectives within this approach 7 Identify and describe measurement and assessment instruments 9 Clinical application of the approach 10 Conclusion 12 References 14

3 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 3 Theoretical perspective of the approach Humanistic psychology is an approach that was developed in the wake of World War II as an alternative to the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud and the subsequent rise of behaviorism (Benjafield, 2010). Described by David Funder as the approach to personality that emphasizes aspects of psychology that are distinctly human, humanistic psychology views the field through a uniquely positive lens(funder, 2010). Humanistic psychology has been summarized in five postulates, which were first ensconced in an article in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (Bugental, 1964). 1. Human beings, as human, supersede the sum of their parts. They cannot be reduced to components. 2. Human beings have their existence in a uniquely human context, as well as in a cosmic ecology. 3. Human beings are aware and are aware of being aware i.e., they are conscious. Human consciousness always includes an awareness of oneself in the context of other people. 4. Human beings have the ability to make choices and therefore have responsibility.

4 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 4 5. Human beings are intentional, aim at goals, are aware that they cause future events, and seek meaning, value, and creativity. The fundamental understanding of humanistic psychology is the importance of each individual s conscious experience of life, known as their phenomenology. Far from a novel idea, phenomenology draws on precepts dating back as far as Greek philosophers, Roman emperors and even the Talmud. According to this view the past, future, other places, even other people are no more than ideals or illusions (Funder, 2010). According to humanistic psychology, the sum of your individual experiences is referred to as your construal (Funder, 2010). These construals influence every part of your life, from your goals to the obstacles you perceive. Every choice holds both possibilities and risks; the beginning of a new relationship can lead to happiness or misery; a new job can lead to success and fulfilment or to failure and rejection; a new hobby can lead to accomplishment or frustration. Further, humanistic psychology holds that by leaving this choice to others, or even to society, you lose your autonomy (Boss, 1963). It is only by choosing your construal, or how you view your experiences, that you influence your life through free will.

5 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 5 In the early 1950s, American psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow established similar approaches to humanistic psychology. These visionaries started with the core philosophies of phenomenology and free will, then added the assumption that all people are basically good, that is they seek to relate closely with one another, and they have an innate need to improve themselves and the world (Funder, 2010). While it is important to note that this optimistic outlook is an assumption that humanists believe, but cannot prove, so also is it imperative to acknowledge that all theories begin with similarly unproven assumptions. Theorists who have contributed to this approach Regarded as the founder of the humanistic approach to psychology, Carl Rogers is regarded by the American Psychological Association as the 6 th most eminent psychologist of the 20 th century ( Eminent psychologists, 2002). Born January 8, 1902 near Chicago Illinois, Rogers received his Ph. D. in Psychology from the Teachers College, Columbia University. Afterwards, he worked as a professor of Clinical Psychology at Ohio University starting in 1940 until he was invited to set up the counseling center at the University of Chicago in Also in 1945, Rogers became president of the

6 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 6 American Psychological Association, and in 1956 he was named president of the American Academy of Psychotherapists ( Former presidents, 2015). In 1961, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science. A prolific author, Rogers published sixteen books between 1939 and 1987 along with more than 200 professional articles. His best known works include: On Becoming a Person, Client Centered Therapy, Freedom to Learn, A way of Being, Carl Rogers on Personal Power, and Becoming Partners: Marriage and Its Alternatives. His final book On Becoming an Effective Teacher Person-centered Teaching, Psychology, Philosophy, and Dialogues was written with Harold Lyon and Reinhardt Tausch and published in 2013, twenty-six years after his death. Sharing credit for founding humanistic psychology is Abraham Maslow. Born on April fool s day, April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn New York, Maslow was the oldest of seven children. Despite a difficult childhood, he went on to graduate first from City College of New York, then from the University of Wisconsin where he studied psychology. In 1937, Maslow worked on the faculty of Brooklyn College, where he began to study selfactualizing people, or those who strive to realize fully [their] potential (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Starting with Ruth Benedict, an anthropologist, and Max Wertheimer, a Gestalt psychologist, Maslow began to observe and write about successful

7 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 7 individuals. These observations shaped his views about mental health and human potential (Hoffman, 2008). Maslow continued his tenure at Brooklyn College until 1951 when he moved to Massachusetts to work as a professor at Brandeis University where he remained until 1969 when he became a resident fellow of the Laughlin Institute in California. In addition to founding the Journal of Humanistic Psychology in 1961, Maslow is credited with developing the influential concepts of a hierarchy of needs, metaneeds, metamotivation, self-actualizing persons, and peak experiences (Greening, 2008). Due to his tremendous contributions to the field of psychology, he is considered to be the 14 th most eminent psychologist of the 20 th century by the American Psychological Association ( Eminent psychologists, 2002). Compare and contrast two theorists perspectives within this approach As the two most prominent members of the humanistic approach to psychology, both Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were critical to the development of this profoundly influential discipline. During the early 1950s, in the wake of the last World War, both psychologists developed their groundbreaking theories and while there are many common threads in their work,

8 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 8 both made significant but unique contributions to the nascent field. Both Maslow and Rogers understood that mindful living was the key becoming a self-actualized individual and ultimately to happiness. In The Personality Puzzle, David Funder writes: If you can perceive the world accurately and without neurotic distortion, and if you take responsibility for your choices, then you become what Rogers called a fully functioning person, who lives what the existentialists would call an authentic existence except that the fully functioning person is happy. (Funder, 2010) Rogers theories focused on the experiences of the individual, which he referred to as their phenomenal field. This field was the cumulative sum of unconscious conflicts, environmental influences, memories, hopes, and so on (Funder, 2010). To this, he added the idea that every person has the innate desire to actualize, or as he put it, to maintain and enhance life. Much like Freud s libido, in Rogers mind, the goal of human existence is to satisfy this desire. This addition marked Rogers approach as radically different from traditional existentialism which holds that existence has no goal.

9 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 9 Maslow approached humanistic psychology from the same view; that A person s ultimate need or motive is to self-actualize (Funder, 2010). However his approach differed from Rogers in that he claimed that this motive only becomes a priority after an individual s basic needs are first met. Accordingly, he developed a hierarchy of needs to describe human motivation. Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs is likely his biggest contribution to the field of psychology and is still widely used in such disparate fields as education and business! On the most basic level of his hierarch of needs, Maslow assigned an individual s basic physiological needs such as food and water. Once those needs have been met, Maslow opined the individual will seek to satisfy the next strata of the hierarchy of Needs, the need for safety, security, comfort, and sex. Next, humans seek to satisfy their need for belonging and social activity. After meeting those needs, they will act on their motivation to achieve status and esteem. Finally, after meeting all the previously discussed needs, an individual is capable of pursuing self-actualization. Identify and describe measurement and assessment instruments Funder discusses the difficulties of measuring the results of psychotherapy, but notes some of the techniques that Rogers

10 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 10 and other humanistic psychologists documented. In a series of studies, a group of individuals about to undergo psychotherapy was asked to describe first themselves, then their ideal self. This process was repeated with a control group of individuals uninterested in psychotherapy. When their answers were compared, these studies indicated that the group that felt they needed to participate in psychotherapy experienced greater disparity between these two selves than those who did not seek therapy (Funder, 2010). When participants were asked to repeat this exercise after undergoing a program of humanistic psychotherapy treatment, the results showed that their real self and their ideal self were more closely aligned then before. It is important to note that critics, such as Dr. Rudikoff, have observed that patients not only change their self-image, they also make adjustments to their ideal self. Additionally, it has been observed that individuals suffering from mental illnesses, such as paranoid schizophrenia consider themselves to be close to ideal, limiting the value of looking solely at the disparity between the real and ideal self as an assessment of mental health. Clinical application of the approach

11 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 11 The aim of humanistic, or Rogerian psychotherapy, in general is to help the client to become a fully functioning person (Funder, 2010). In pursuit of this goal, the therapist must develop a sincere and compassionate relationship with the patient and must provide unconditional positive regard (Levine, 2006). While this approach is sometimes viewed controversially, it is important to remember that the humanistic approach to psychotherapy is just that, an approach to psychotherapy. The therapist is not required to agree on condone the patient s actions or thoughts, but to provide a safe and positive environment for their discussion in order to facilitate treatment. Through this two way trust, the therapist helps the client identify and perceive his or her feelings and thoughts without trying to change them or demonize them. In comparison to other approaches, this person-centered psychotherapy requires a colossal investment of time on the part of both therapist and patient. This is due to the fact that client-centered therapy is non-directive, or in other words the therapist allows the patient to talk without judgement and facilitates them to come to key insights by themselves (Meyers, 2010). Several other approaches to psychotherapy exist under the umbrella of humanistic psychotherapy, including existential psychotherapy, gestalt psychotherapy, encounter groups, depth

12 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 12 therapy, sensitivity training, holistic health, body work, family and marital therapy, and positive psychology. Of these, positive psychology is particularly interesting in its approach to psychotherapy. Humanistic psychotherapists view traditional psychotherapy as inherently flawed because it treats people almost as inanimate objects of study, tends to ignore uniquely human capacities for creativity, love wisdom, and free will (Funder, 2010). Of particular interest is that unlike their traditional colleagues who ignore the question of life s purpose, the positive psychotherapist establishes this question as the basis for their program. Maintaining that a satisfying and meaningful life involves happiness, and that true happiness comes from overcoming important challenges, a positive psychotherapist explores his client s ideal self and helps them to work towards self-actualization (Ryff & Singer, 2003). Conclusion While each of the officially recognized approaches to psychology has merit, humanistic therapy is exceptional in its focus on achieving a happy and meaningful life though working to bring your self-image in line with your ideal self ( Different Approaches, 2015). Elegantly simple, this focus on optimism

13 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 13 and mindfulness has the capacity to enact powerful changes in the lives of those who practice it. Due to this unique viewpoint, humanistic psychology offers not only benefits for psychotherapy, but has the capacity to shape the very fabric of society.

14 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 14 References Benjafield, John G. (2010). A History of Psychology: Third Edition. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. pp ISBN Boss, M. (1963). Psychoanalysis and daseinsanalysis. New York: Basic Books Bugental, J. (1964). The third force in psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 4(1), doi: / Churchill, S. D., & Mruk, C. J. (2014). Practicing what we preach in humanistic and positive psychology. American Psychologist, 69(1), doi: /a Different approaches to psychotherapy. (2015). Retrieved May 7, 2015, from Eminent psychologists of the 20th century. (2002, July 1). Retrieved May 3, 2015, from Former APA Presidents. (2015). Retrieved May 11, 2015, from Greening, Tom (2008). "Abraham Maslow: A Brief Reminiscence. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 48(4)"(PDF). Haggbloom, S.J. et al. (2002). The 100 Most Eminent Psychologists of the 20th Century. Review of General Psychology. Vol. 6, No. 2, Hayes, S. C. (2012). Humanistic psychology and contextual behavioral perspectives. Psychotherapy, 49(4), doi: /a Hayes, S. C. (2012). The choice humanistic psychology faces. Psychotherapy, 49(4), doi: /a Hoffman, Edward (2008). "Abraham Maslow: a biographer's reflections". Journal of Humanistic Psychology 48 (4): doi: /

15 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 15 Levine, M. (2006). Humanism in psychology. Unpublished manuscript, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH. McDonald, M. S. (2013). A Reconceptualization of the Self in Humanistic Psychology: Heidegger, Foucault and the Sociocultural Turn. Journal Of Phenomenological Psychology, 44(1), Myers, D. G. (2014). Psychology: Tenth edition in modules. New York, NY: Worth Publishers self-actualize In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from Rudikoff, E. C. (1954). A comparative study of the changes in the concepts of the self, the ordinary person, and the ideal in eight cases. In C. R. Rogers & R. F. Dymond (Eds), Psychotherapy and personality change: Co-ordinated studies in the client-centered approach (pp.85-98). University of Chicago Press. Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (2003). Flourishing under fire: Resilience as a prototype of challenged thriving. In C. L. M. Keyes & J. Haidt (Eds.), Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived (pp ). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Waterman, A. S. (2013). The humanistic psychology positive psychology divide: Contrasts in philosophical foundations. American Psychologist, 68(3), doi: /a Williams, P. (2012). Looking back to see the future: The influence of humanistic and transpersonal psychology on coaching psychology today. International Coaching Psychology Review, 7(2),