The Third way? Humanistic psychology
Evaluation of the Humanistic ApproachIntroduction to the Humanistic Approach
The humanistic approach in psychology developed in the 1960s and 70s in the United States as a response to the continual struggle between behavioral theorists and cognitive psychologists. The humanists brought in a new perspective, believing that the study of psychology should focus not just on the purely mechanistic aspects of cognition, nor purely on the impact of environment on behavior, but rather felt that the emphasis of psychological study should be on the particulars of human experience.
- Humanistic psychology is the psychological approach which states that the human is the most important thing, more important than the complex, the disorder, the behavior, or the environment. It seeks to help people live better lives through practical therapeutic measures.
- Humanistic psychology has its origins in existential philosophy. Believing that the universe is inherently meaningless, existentialists see themselves as ultimately free creatures able to define their own personally meaningful destinies.
- Abraham Maslow attempted to explain human motivation from the standpoint that all people are looking to achieve "self-actualization". There is an entire hierarchy of needs that have to be fulfilled in order to reach that stage however.
- Rollo May's existential psychology attempted to help people come to terms with the "meaninglessness" of life, reframing this "problem" as a profound state of individual freedom, free from the constraints of fate.
- Carl Rogers' approach to therapy was to allow clients to direct their own recovery through the principle of "unconditional positive regard".
https://www.psychologistworld.com/is...istic-approach
The History of Humanistic PsychologyHumanism
Humanism is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person. Humanistic psychologists look at human behavior not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the person doing the behaving.
Sometimes the humanistic approach is called phenomenological. This means that personality is studied from the point of view of the individual’s subjective experience. For Rogers the focus of psychology is not behavior (Skinner), the unconscious (Freud), thinking (Wundt) or the human brain but how individuals perceive and interpret events. Rogers is therefore important because he redirected psychology towards the study of the self.
The humanistic approach in psychology developed as a rebellion against what some psychologists saw as the limitations of the behaviorist and psychodynamic psychology. The humanistic approach is thus often called the “third force” in psychology after psychoanalysis and behaviorism (Maslow, 1968).
Humanism rejected the assumptions of the behaviorist perspective which is characterized as deterministic, focused on reinforcement of stimulus-response behavior and heavily dependent on animal research.
Humanistic psychology also rejected the psychodynamic approach because it is also deterministic, with unconscious irrational and instinctive forces determining human thought and behavior. Both behaviorism and psychoanalysis are regarded as dehumanizing by humanistic psychologists.
Humanistic psychology expanded its influence throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. Its impact can be understood in terms of three major areas:
1) It offered a new set of values for approaching an understanding of human nature and the human condition.
2) It offered an expanded horizon of methods of inquiry in the study of human behavior.
3) It offered a broader range of more effective methods in the professional practice of psychotherapy.
* Maslow (1943) developed a hierarchical theory of human motivation.
* Carl Rogers (1946) publishes Significant aspects of client-centered therapy (also called person centered therapy).
* In 1957 and 1958, at the invitation of Abraham Maslow and Clark Moustakas, two meetings were held in Detroit among psychologists who were interested in founding a professional association dedicated to a more meaningful, more humanistic vision.
* In 1962, with the sponsorship of Brandeis University, this movement was formally launched as the Association for Humanistic Psychology.
* The first issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology appeared in the Spring of 1961.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html
At least it's more qualitative and productive than Socionics...
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Chae
essentially: acknowledging independent inner life, aspirations, right to integrity and harmony (take any meds they prescribe today and you will see what I mean), wishes and dreams, freedom, choice instead of inevitable therapy, opportunity to do whatever you wanna do, seeing the soul and not the symptom, transparency in all regards.
I was reading today about Kohut's self psychology which emphasizes the importance of empathy within the therapeutic approach
