Humanistic psychology is an approach in psychology that emerged in the 1950s as an alternative to Sigmund Freud's behaviorism and psychoanalysis. This article will talk about this interesting psychological direction, its history and features.
The task of humanistic psychology
This type of psychology seeks to understand people as unique among other living beings, with consciousness, with free will and responsibility for their own choices. The goal of humanistic psychology is to understand a person and help each person to fully develop their potential and, thus, be able to most effectively promote wider social strata. This type of psychology considers human nature to be qualitatively different from the nature of other living organisms. However, humanistic psychology lacks an understanding of the fundamental importance of social relations in the healthy psychological development of an individual.
Teaching postulates
The following five postulates form the basis of humanistic psychology briefly:
- Man as an integral being surpasses the sum of its components. People cannot be reduced to components (divided into separate mental parts).
- Human life takes place in the context of relationships.
- Human consciousness includes self-awareness in the context of other people.
- People have a choice and responsibility.
- People are focused, they are looking for meaning, values, creativity.
Humanistic psychology emphasizes the study of the entire mental structure of man. This teaching touches on human behavior that is directly related to his inner feelings and self-esteem. This type of psychology explores how people are affected by their self-perception and self-worth associated with their life experiences. She considers conscious choices, responses to domestic needs and current circumstances that are important for shaping human behavior.
Qualitative or descriptive research methods are usually preferable to quantitative methods, since the latter lose their unique human aspects, which are not easy to quantify. This is reflected in the emphasis of humanistic psychology - the emphasis is on the real life of people.
The influence of philosophers
This trend has roots in the existentialist thought of various philosophers, such as Seren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre. It reflects many of the values expressed by the Jews, Greeks and Europeans of the Renaissance. They tried to study those qualities that are unique to humans. These are human phenomena such as love, personal freedom, a thirst for power, morality, art, philosophy, religion, literature and science. Many people believe that the message of the theory of humanistic psychology is a response to the insult of the human spirit, which is so often implied in the image of a person painted by behavioral and social sciences.
Teaching development
In the 1950s, there were two opposing forces in psychology: behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Humanistic psychology has become a completely new trend.
Behaviorism grew out of the work of the great Russian physician Ivan Pavlov, especially from works on the theory of the conditioned reflex, and laid the foundations for this trend in psychology in the United States. Behaviorism is associated with the names of Clark Hall, James Watson, B.F. Skinner.
Abraham Maslow later gave behaviorism the name "first power." The “Second Force” came out of Sigmund Freud's work on psychoanalysis and psychology by Alfred Adler, Eric Erickson, Karl Jung, Erich Fromm, Otto Rank, Melanie Klein and others. These theorists focused on the “depth” or unconscious realm of the human psyche, which, as they emphasized, must be combined with the conscious mind in order to create a healthy human personality. The "third force" was the humanist theory. One of the earliest sources of this trend was the work of Karl Rogers, which was greatly influenced by Otto Rank. He broke with Freud in the mid-1920s. Rogers focused on the process of personality development leading to a healthier, more creative, functioning of the personality. The term “current trend” was also developed by Rogers, and was the concept that ultimately led Abraham Maslow to study the concept of self-actualization as one of the needs of people. Rogers and Maslow, as the main representatives of humanistic psychology, developed this theory in response to psychoanalysis, which they considered too pessimistic.
The influence of Karl Rogers
Rogers is an American psychologist and one of the founders of a humanistic (or client-oriented) approach to psychology. Rogers is considered one of the founding fathers of psychotherapeutic research, and was awarded the American Psychological Association (APA) Award for his pioneering research and outstanding scientific contributions in 1956.
The humanistic direction in psychology oriented to a person, his own unique outlook on human relations, has found wide application in various fields, such as psychotherapy and counseling (client-oriented therapy), education (student-oriented training). For his professional work, he was awarded the prize for outstanding professional achievements in psychology in 1972 by many non-profit organizations. Rogers was recognized as the sixth most outstanding psychologist of the XX century. Rogers' humanistic psychology gave impetus to the development of psychology as a whole.
Rogers opinion on personality
As a representative of humanistic psychology, Rogers proceeded from the fact that any person has a desire and desire for personal self-development. Being a being who has consciousness, he for himself determines the meaning of existence, its tasks and values, and is the main expert for himself. The central concept in Rogers' theory was the concept of "I", which includes ideas, ideas, goals and values through which a person defines himself and creates prospects for his development. His contribution to the development of humanistic psychology is impossible not to appreciate.
Movement among psychologists
In the late 1950s, several meetings were held among psychologists in Detroit who were interested in creating a professional association dedicated to a more humanistic vision in psychology: that related to self-awareness, self-actualization, health, creativity, nature, being, self-development, individuality and awareness. They also sought to create a complete description of what a person should be, and explored unique human phenomena such as love and hope. These psychologists, including Maslow, believed that it was these concepts that were likely to become the basis of the psychological movement known as the "third force."
These meetings ultimately led to other events, including the launch of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology in 1961. This publication was very popular in the psychoanalytic environment. Behind this, the Association of Psychology of the Humanist Direction was soon formed in 1963.
In 1971, an exclusive division dedicated to the humanistic movement in the American Psychological Association was created, which publishes its own academic journal called The Humanistic Psychologist. One of the main advantages of the humanistic theory is that it emphasizes the role of man. This school of psychology gives people more opportunities to monitor and determine the state of mental health. Personality in humanistic psychology is seen as a holistic phenomenon.
Counseling and therapy techniques
This course includes several approaches to counseling and therapy. The main techniques of humanistic psychology include the principles of gestalt therapy, which helps to understand that, the present affects the past. Role -playing plays an important role in gestalt therapy and provides an adequate manifestation of feelings that would not be expressed in other conditions. In gestalt therapy, verbal expressions are important signs of a client’s feelings, even if they contrast with what the client actually expressed. Humanistic psychotherapy also includes elements such as deep therapy, holistic health, body therapy, sensitivity, and existential psychotherapy. Existentialist-integrative psychotherapy, which was developed by Schneider, is one of the new methods of humanistic psychology, as well as existential psychology. Existentialism emphasizes the idea that people freely create their understanding of life, that they can define themselves and do what they prefer to do. This is an element of humanistic therapy that encourages you to understand your life and its purpose.
There is some conflict regarding freedom and restrictions. Limitations appear to include genetics, culture, and other related factors. Existentialism seeks to solve such problems and limitations. Empathy is also an essential element of humanistic therapy. With this approach, the psychologist’s ability to assess the situation and the world based on the feelings and perceptions of the client is emphasized. Without this quality, the therapist cannot fully assess the condition of the client.
Psychologist's work in this direction
The therapeutic factors in the work of the humanistic psychotherapist and psychoanalyst are, first of all, the unconditional acceptance of the client, support, empathy, attention to internal experiences, stimulation of choice and decision-making, authenticity. However, with seeming simplicity, the humanistic theory is based on a serious philosophical and scientific basis and uses a fairly wide range of therapeutic techniques and techniques.
One of the main conclusions of humanistically oriented psychoanalysts was expressed in the fact that any personality contains the potential for changing thinking and restoring a mental state. Under certain conditions, a person can freely and fully use this potential. Therefore, the activities of a psychologist of this orientation are aimed, first of all, at creating positive conditions for the integration of personality in the process of consultative meetings.
Psychotherapists using humanistic psychology should be more willing to listen and guarantee comfort to patients, allowing them to share real emotions and feelings. These psychotherapists need to make sure that they are focused on what the client feels, that they have a clear idea of the client's problems, and also provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the client. Therefore, the specialist is required to abandon a biased attitude towards the client. Instead, sharing warmth and acceptance is the basis of this psychological direction.
Another element of humanistic psychology is self-help. Psychologists Ernst and Goodison were practicing practitioners who applied humanistic approaches and organized self-help groups. Counseling psychologist has become a valuable tool in humanistic psychology. Psychologist consultation is also used in self-help groups. In addition to psychological counseling, the humanistic concept also influenced the activities of psychologists around the world as a whole. In fact, the influence of this direction was significant in other areas of psychological practice.
The goal of human therapy
The overall goal of humanistic therapy is to give a holistic description of a person. Using certain techniques, the psychologist tries to see the whole person, and not just the fragmented parts of the personality.
Such therapy also requires the integration of the whole person. This is called Maslow self-actualization. Humanist psychology states that each person has built-in potential and resources that could help create a stronger personality and increase self-esteem. The psychologist’s mission is to direct a person towards these resources. However, to realize the hidden possibilities, he may have to abandon the security of a certain stage of his personality in order to embrace a new and more integrated stage. This is not an easy process, as it may include considering new life decisions or revising outlooks on life. This type of psychology considers psychological instability and anxiety as normal aspects of human life and development that can be worked out in therapy.
The humanistic approach in psychology is unique because its terms and its concepts are based on the assumption that all people have their own view of the world and unique life experience.