Humanistic Approach

Abraham Maslow

Carl Rogers
Foundations
A strongreaction 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
Foundations
Discardsthe limits of behaviorism – no
experiments

Denies the negativity of psychodynamics – we

are, at our core, good and striving to get better
Focuses on our natural progress towards fully
developing our potential—i.e. Towards Self-
Actualization.
Believes in the inherent Goodness of people
Abraham Maslow
Needs-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
weak
and subject to control by environmental forces.

If our inner natures, for example, told us

that 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
that
are rooted in their biology: deficiency (or basic)
needs, and growth (or meta) needs.
Characteristics
The 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 in
infancy. Belongingness and esteem needs arise in
adolescence. The need for
self-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 produces
a 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, and
b) 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 peace
Your 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, virtues
and 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
Maslow proposed a distinct type of motivation for
selfactualizers called metamotivation

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.
Characteristics of self-
actualizers

Clear perception of reality

Acceptance of self, others, and nature
Spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness
Dedication to a cause
Independence and need for privacy
Freshness of appreciation
Peak experiences
Social interest
Deep interpersonal relationships
Tolerance and acceptance of others
Creativeness and originality
Resistance 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 Rogers
Carl 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
Childhood
As 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.
 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.
if positive regard for the infant persists despite
the infant’s undesirable behaviors, the condition is
called
unconditional positive regard
In time, positive regard will come more from within
us than from other people, a condition Rogers called
positive self-regard

Conditions of worth evolve from this

developmental sequence of positive regard
leading to positive self-regard ,it derives from
conditional positive 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 Process
Carl 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 individual
A 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
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 actualized

1. open to experiences
2. Trust themselves
3. Self-evaluation
4. 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