Major Movements in Psychology - Humanistic Theories

8 important questions on Major Movements in Psychology - Humanistic Theories

What philosophical and psychological schools influenced humanistic psychology?

In Europe, the ravages of World War II and the Holocaust braught the question of meaning to the fore. How can life have meaning and purpose in the face of such senseless slaughter?

The philosophical movement of Existentialism came out of these circumstances and provided a backdrop for the humanistic psychologists. Phenomenology also influenced the humanistic psychologists with its focus on the rich complexity of subjective experience.

With regard to psychological schools, the functionalism of William James also played a role, as did the holistic theories of the Gestalt psychologists.

What is meant by third force psychology?

Humanistic psychologists wanted to create an alternative to behaviorism and psychoanalysis: a third force in psychology.

Who was Abraham Maslow

The American psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was one of the founding fathers of humanistic psychology. He is perhaps best known for his concept of the hierarchy of needs.
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What did Maslow mean by self-actualization?

Self-actualization refers to a state of full self-expression, where one's creative, emotional, and intellectual potential is fully realized.

What did Maslow mean by peak experiences?

A peak experience occurs in a state of total awareness and concentration, in which the world is understood as a unified, integrated whole where all is connected and no one part is more important than another.

What impact did humanistic psychology have on the practice of psychotherapy?

Carl Rogers's person-centered psychotherapy, Fritz Perls's Gestalt therapy, Victor Frankl's logotherapy, and Rollo May's existential psychoanalysis are all children of humanistic psychology.

Who was Carl Rogers?

His school of person-centered psychotherapy, originally known as client-centered psychotherapy, placed the client's subjective experience at the forefront of the therapy. He believed the therapist's role was less to untangle psychopathology than to promote the client's personal growth through empathic listening and unconditional positive regard.

While Rogers has been criticized for a relative disregard of negative emotions and interpersonal conflict, therapeutic empathy is now universally recognized as an essential ingredient of psychotherapy.

What did Rogers mean by unconditional positive regard?

Children who feel loved unconditionally grow up to have faith in their own intrinsic worth. In contrast, children who experienced their parents' love as conditional, as contingent on some kind of performance, will often suffer long-lasting damage to their sense of self.

These notions are similar to Maslow's concepts of B-love and D-love.

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