Humanistic Psychology
unconditional positive regard
- accepting or "prizing" the client "no matter what" and without judgment
empty chair technique
-carryout conversations with person not present
empathy
-the therapist is able to sense the clients emotions just as the clients would - a deep, judgement, compassionate understanding of the clients experience
general principles for MI
-expressing empathy - developing the discrepancy - avoiding argumentation - rolling with resistence - identifying sustain talk and change talk - supporting self efficacy
other contemporary alternatives
-how clients make therapy work- the process of active self healing (author bohart and Karen tollman) -therapists self healing -therapist role is collaborator -goes against symptom-focuses, manualized approaches to therapy
incongruence
-mismatch between real and ideal selves -the root of psychopathology (not severe disorders)
top-dog under dog technique
-underlines bipolarity in personality -top dog is ightous authoritarian and bullying "you should .." - underdog manipulated (defensive, apologetic) to gain power "i'll try my best"
alternative to humanism- historical alternatives
excistential psychotherapy and gestalt therapy
person-centered
more structures and more paraphrasing
gestalt therapy
- conceptualizes person as an organized whole - people engage in self- defeating behaviors which deflect them from expressing their truw selves - the now- anxiety, depression, etc results from being deserted from the now - focus upon increasing awareness of thr now (being mindful of current reality) - Focus upon non-verbal behavior - focus upon accepting responsibility -focus upon confrontation -insight- awareness of ones experience such that things appear in a meaningful pattern
genuiness
- honesty toward client, rather than playing
humanistic concepts: clinical implication
- people have an in born tendency toward self actualization -people also have a need for positive regard warms, acceptance and prizing - sometimes people are forced to sacrifice self actualization in order to obtain positive regard from important others (eg parents)
MI: people with substance abuse problems
- pull out reasons against the change -clarify why she should change - not confrontational -encouraging humanistic view -got her to think of things to help change
necessary and sufficient
- rogers bodly argue that empathy, unconditioned positive regard and genuiness were necessary and sufficient ( not other technique needed for anyone) - a controversial claim - research in inconsistent: generally support necessary but not sufficient
existential psychotherapy (historical alternatives)
- rollo may, victor frankl, Irvin Yalom -Addresses anxiety of inescapable solitude of lif e
congruence
- the root of psychological wellness -clients real selves can match their ideal level selves
humanism
-Carl Rogers was leading figure - Abraham maslow was an other - Humanism was a reaction against freuds approach - assumed that human nature wasn't so bad (id driven) -overlapping terms for humanism include non directive, client centered and person centered
does humanism work
-carol rogers was a pioneer of psychotherapy outcome research, despite inherent problems in defining and measuring humanistic concepts but it has been declining - meta analysis suggest it is beneficial, at about the same rat eas most other major therapies -extent to which empathy, positive regard and gunnies are present correlates significantly with success of therapeutic relationship and ultimately the therapy
motivational learning
-contrmporary variation of humanism (William Miller_ -Address clients ambivalence or uncertainty about making major changes - helps clients see the discrepancy between their behavior and their own values - elicit motivation to change from clients "don't impose it on client" - much empirical data supporting its efficacy with many problems - consistent with positive psychology movement -good for people with substance abuse problems
positive psychology
-emerged in the 90s - Martin Seligman - emphases human strength - bolster strengths to prevent aand treat psychological problems - therapies positive interventions, strength based conceling
gestalt therapy (historical alternative)
-fritz perls -holistic approach to enhancing current experience (the now) of ten uses role play
goal of humanistic psychology
-primary goal of humanistic psychotherapy is to foster self actualization -problems stem from stifled self actualization of growth -therapist task is to create a climate in which the client on resume their natural growth toward psychological illness
reflection: an important therapist response
-reflection of feeling is one therapist response that humanists do emphasize - reflection takes place when a therapist responds to a client by rephrasing or restating the clients statement in away that highlights the clients feelings or emotions - communication all three key ingredients -should not be done with humility and not mechanically
therapists attitudes, not behaviors
-roger emphasized that empathy, unconditional positive regard, not genuiness are attitudes, not specific behaviors - therapy should not be mechanical or formulaic -therapist should not specific techniques or skills, should be emphasized