Specification:  Humanistic psychology: free will, self-actualisation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, focus on the self, congruence, the role of conditions of worth. The influence on counselling psychology.

Assumptions

• Humanistic psychology emphasises the importance of holism – the study of the whole person

• Every human is unique and has free-will to change

• Humans have an innate capacity for self-actualisation, which is a desire to achieve our highest potential

• Humanists reject scientific methods as a way of studying human behaviour

The humanistic approach

There are many strands of humanistic psychology, but all draw on the work of the field’s founding figures, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Humanistic psychology is different from the other approaches in psychology as it is intensively focused on discovering what it means to be fully human. Humanistic psychologists insist that the other approaches in psychology are reductionist, deterministic and, as a result, cannot explain the holistic complexity of human behaviour.

Free will

Humanistic psychology assumes that every individual can assert free will and have a choice in how they behave. This means that everyone can consciously control and influence their own personal destiny, even within the constraints that exist in life from outside forces. This idea makes the humanistic approach radically different from the other approaches that suggest that human behaviour is, to some extent,

determined.

Self-actualisation

Self-actualisation is rare, but its achievement provides the possibility of true self-awareness and an honest relationship with the realities of an imperfect world. Maslow believed that self-actualisation, when it is achieved, takes the form of peak experiences which are characterised by feelings of euphoria and seeing the world with awe and wonder, without any fear or inhibitions. He cited Albert Einstein as an individual who had famously achieved self-actualisation through his creativeness.

The role of conditions of worth

When an individual is the recipient of unconditional positive regard, they develop conditions of worth as a result. Parents are often the people who provide a child with unconditional positive regard during their upbringing. However, some parents impose conditions of worth on their children meaning that they must behave in certain ways to receive this (now conditional) positive regard. Conditions of worth are a type of

expectation whereby an individual feels that their approval is dependent upon meeting them in order for other people, such as parents, to see them favourably. It is possible that a person will only feel self-acceptance should they meet these conditions of worth set by others which can produce a feeling of incongruence.

Congruence

For Rogers, unhappiness and dissatisfaction were the outcomes of a psychological gap between self-concept (the way you think you are) and the ideal self (the way you would like to be). When these two concepts are incongruent, it is necessary to use defence mechanisms to provide protection against feeling negative.

On the other hand, when there is an agreement between an individual’s self-concept and their ideal self, they are said to be in a state of congruence. However, it is uncommon for a person to be congruent all of the time, so most individuals will have, or are experiencing, some degree of incongruence.

The influence on counselling psychology

It was the purpose of Rogerian therapy to close the gap of incongruence between self-concept and the ideal self, and thus allow an individual to recognise both their psychological limits and their strengths, and achieve a realistic balance between them.

Rogers believed that through taking a client-centred (person-centered) approach to counselling, an individual would be helped to make positive steps towards resolving their issues, learn a deeper understanding of themselves and, ultimately, achieve self-actualisation.

The role of the therapist in this process is to provide unconditional positive regard to the client by expressing acceptance, empathy and understanding of their condition. When the client feels sufficiently supported, their conditions of worth affecting their self-concept will dissipate enabling them to move towards their ideal self and how they want to behave, rather than how they feel that they should.

Evaluation of the humanistic approach

A strength of humanistic psychology is that it has had a major influence on psychological counselling. Contemporary therapists use Rogers’ ideas of unconditional positive regard and help clients work toward self-awareness. This means it is a useful theory with real-world applications. It is, in fact, impossible to imagine modern client-centred therapy without its insights and techniques.

The evidence for the existence of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is empirically thin. This, however, is to be expected from an approach that disputes the validity of empirical research. There is some validation provided by clinical data, with some surprising confirmation from the realm of management studies (Maslow, 1965; Rogers and Roethlisberger, 1982). But the theoretical emphasis on individual achievement raises significant concerns about possible cultural bias since this is not desirable in every culture and may only be a feature of Westernised or individualistic nations.

It is hard to scientifically test the effectiveness of humanistic counselling as it can’t be done in an experimental context. People believe they benefit from counselling, and there is considerable empirical evidence available to support the effectiveness of counselling methods derived from Rogers’ model, like CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy). Since a cause-effect relationship cannot be established between the treatment and outcome - that is, the client may have recovered without the counselling - scientific certainty about the validity of the theory is almost impossible.

Some critics argue that the humanistic approach offers an unrealistic view of human nature. They point to the more sinister aspects of human behaviour and argue that the humanistic approach focuses on ‘growth-orientated’ behaviour whilst ignoring an individual’s capacity for self-destruction. Consequently, opponents of the approach argue that the focus on self-development overlooks possible situational forces that may provide a more realistic explanation of everyday human behaviour.

Issues and debates

The concept of free will is central to humanistic thinking. Advocates of this approach believe that behaviour is a choice, rather than determined by outside forces, and an individual can directly control and influence their own destiny.

Likewise, the concept of holism is of crucial importance to the humanistic approach which attempts to answer the question of what it truly means to be fully human. Since this approach focuses in subjective human experience whilst making no attempts to generate universal laws, it favours the idiographic approach.

Possible exam questions

1. Define free will. (1 mark)

2. Define congruence in relation to the humanistic approach. (2 marks)

3. Explain what Maslow meant by ‘self-actualisation’. (2 marks)

4. Describe what is meant by ‘conditions of worth’ according to humanistic psychologists. Support your answer with an example. (3 marks)

5. Gwion is an unhappy man in his early twenties who lacks confidence in his own abilities and physical appearance. He has been referred for counselling therapy. During his first session, his therapist suggests that Gwion lacks congruence.

Explain what is meant by the term congruence and suggest one way in that Gwion might be able achieve congruence. (4 marks)

6. Evaluate the influence of the humanistic approach on counselling psychology. (4 marks)

7. Explain why humanistic psychologists have avoided the scientific method. Refer to two key assumptions of the humanistic approach in your answer. (4 marks)

8. Evaluate the humanistic approach in psychology. Refer to at least one strength and one limitation in your response. (6 marks)

9. Outline the psychodynamic approach. Discuss at least one difference between the psychodynamic approach and the humanistic approach in psychology. (8 marks)

10. Discuss the humanistic approach in psychology. (16 marks)

11. It has been argued that the humanistic approach offers little value to psychology. Discuss the humanistic approach in psychology, referring to at least one other approach in your response. (16 marks)