HUMANISTIC THERAPIES AND COUNSELING

Presented to

Dr. Amina Muazzam

Presented by

Aamna Haneef

4403

Lahore College for Women University, Lhr

COUNSELING IN HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

What is Humanistic Psychology?

• The humanistic approach in psychology developed as a rebellion against what some psychologists saw as 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).

• Laid importance on the study of whole person

• Rather than studying personality parts, such as ego, super ego etc.

• Freedom to choose

Why need for Humanism?

Offered a new set of values for an understanding of human nature condition

Humanistic school is an intensely optimistic one

Offers the individual the chance to take control of his or her life

Origins

• The phenomenological tradition• The existential tradition• Self-actualization• Social influence• Personal Construct Theory(PCT)• Eastern philosophy

Egalitarianism?

Choice of the term client bythe therapist

Common assumptions of Humanistic Theories and

Therapies• View of the person• Freedom to choose• Focus on subjective reality• Therapist qualities• Emotions• Freedom-choice-

Responsibility• Meaning

Core Conditions

Variety of other concepts

Experience

Reality

The Organism’s Actualizing Tendency

The Non-Directive Attitude

The internal frame of reference

The Self, Concept of Self, and Self-Structure

• Symbolization

• Psychological Adjustment or Maladjustment

The Fully Functioning

Person

Theory of Dysfunction

Inner conflict and Anxiety-Need for

Counseling

Discrepancy between one’s own and others’ expectation

individuals accept the values of others

to gain positive regardthose values are internalized

and become part of the personality

behaves or thinks in ways inconsistent with

those introjected values

person loses self-esteem and suffers

anxiety

Psychotherapy and Counseling

Humanism vs. Existentialism…

Humanism and Existentialism BOTH:Respect for client’s experience and trust in

clients ability to changeBelieve in freedom, choice,

values, personal responsibility

autonomy, meaning

Humanism vs. Existentialism…

Humanism Clients do not suffer from

anxiety in creating an identity

Clients need to believe that they have the natural potential to actualize

Existentialism Clients come into

counseling because they are facing anxiety in trying to construct an identity in a world without intrinsic meaning

Client-centered Therapy

Other contributors

• Illuminated, refined, interpreted or expanded upon by Schlien (1984), Bozarth (1990), Brodley (1990) and Mearns (1996).

• Cross cultural relevance has been queried (Holdstock 1990, 1993) and demonstrated (Morotomi 1998).

• Application to the arena of creative therapies has been explored and explained by Rogers (1985), Silverstone (1994) and Wilkins (1994).

Theoretical PropositionsBasic human tendency is toward maintaining and

enhancing the experiencing self—or self actualization

Assumed the cause of disorder/Problem : blocked self actualization

Goal: gap between perceived self and ideal self; increase self-acceptance, inner direction, and support personal growth

Goal: “releasing of an already existing capacity in a potentially competent individual, not the expert manipulation of a more or less passive personality”

The client . . .not immediately capable for therapeutic process

Threatened by labeled

counseling setting, abnormal

self conscious, hurt

ashamed of looked upon

disclosing and dist- treated with urbed self concept little respect

The Counselor . . . • Facilitate the client• Enter the subjective,

personal world of the client• open communication• important qualities: genuineness, empathy

and unconditional positive regard

The stages of CounselingIn successful counseling, the client moves from fixity to changeableness, from rigid structure to flow, from stasis to process (Rogers, 1958).

Stage I: blocked internal communication

Stage II: Self-acceptance by client

Stage III: Beginning to recognize contradictions in experience.

Stage IV: Disclosure of personal experiences with caution/restrictively

Stage V: Feelings are expressed freely

The stages of Counseling (Cont.)

Stage VI: “physiological loosening” such as moistness in the eyes, tears, sighs or muscular relaxation, accompanies the open expression of feelings

Stage VII: Personal growth and trust on counselor with readiness to change and actualize.

Rogers (1959) described specifically some of the changes he expected successful counseling to produce:• The person comes to see himself differently.• He accepts and his feelings more fully.• He becomes more self-confident and self-directing.• He becomes more the person he would like to be.• He becomes more flexible and less rigid in his perceptions.• He adopts more realistic goals for himself. • He behaves in a more mature fashion.• He changes his maladaptive behavior, even such a long established

one as chronic alcoholism.• He became more acceptant of others.• He becomes more open to the evidence, both to what is going on

outside of himself, and to what is going on inside himself.• He changes his basic personality characteristics in constructive

ways.

Other Therapies

• Gestalt therapy• Transactional Analysis (TA)• Motivational Interviewing Theory• Body centered therapies• Expressive art therapies

Blends, integrations and in-betweeners

Does humanistic

Psychotherapy work?

Some details of related concepts

Self-image

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy

Congruence

Existential contributors

Soren Kierkegaard – Introduced existentialism

Martin Heidegger – authenticity

Mutual contributors

Martin Buber

James Bugental

Alvin Mahrer

Rollo May

Eastern philosophy

• Bhuddism• Taoism• Yin-yang • Sufism• Tantra