Clinical Psychology from a Humanistic Perspective

1
Clinical Psychology from a Humanistic Perspective

• Diana Betsis
• Narae Yun
• Megan Jones
• Michelle Montoya
• Adelina Matevasyan
• Shana Daves

2
OUTLINE

• In this presentation we will cover
• The definition of Humanism and the Humanistic
  approach
• Those who are responsible for Humanism
• Human Growth Theory
• The various approaches found under the humanistic
  approach to clinical psychology

3
History of Humanism

• By Crystal Huscher
• Christina Morgan
• Taraneh Rostami
• Natasha Depesa
• Luciana Lima

4
History

• Humanism originated by the Greek European
  philosophers Socrates, Plato, Sartre, among
  others.
• Therapists turned to humanism because of limits
  in psychoanalytics and behavior methods, as well
  as large death tolls in WW2.
• The meaning of life became important leading to
  existentialism being practiced in psychology.

5
Four Major Schools of Thought

• Viktor Frankl Fredrick Perls
• Gestalt Therapy
• Carl Rogers
• Person- Centered Therapy
• Abraham Maslow
• Maslows Humanistic Perspective
• Self-Determination Theory

6
Viktor Frankl

• Frankl was born in Austria and attended
  University of Vienna.
• He studied medicine and later specialized in
  neurology and psychiatry.
• Influenced by Freud and Adler.
• Wrote books on his experiences in a concentration
  camp in Germany.
• Further lead into writings of existentialism and
  lifes meaning.

7
Fredrick Perls

• Perls was born in Germany where he was first
  interested in psychoanalysis.
• He fled Germany at the beginning of the Hitler
  regime and ended up in South Africa where he
  started a psychoanalytic training institute.
• In 1946 he and his family came to New York
• He published Gestalt Therapy in 1951
• He started the first Gestalt Institute in his
  apartment and traveled around the US to conduct
  training and workshops

8
Carl Rogers

• His approach was created as an alternative to the
  traditional psychodynamic approach.
• Rogers believed that humans naturally strive
  towards their potential
• He also believed that psychotherapy was a
  catalyst that could assist them in their quest
• The APA awarded him the Distinguished
  Professional Contribution Award in 1972 and the
  Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. He
  was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
• He spent his last years applying his theories to
  areas of national social conflicts

9
Abraham Maslow

• Maslow was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.
• Went to the University of Wisconsin and studied
  Psychology. Later studied at Columbia.
• He brought about the concept of Self
  Actualization, a hierarchy of needs that all
  individuals possess.
• The basis of his theory is on mental health and
  human potential.

10
Self- Determination

• Most contemporary view and has been modified by
  multiple individuals
• Self- Determination theory claims that humans are
  presented with choices and have the capacity to
  chose.

11
Humanistic Pathology

• Markie Keelan
• Brenda Miranda
• Jessica Daas
• Andrea Larco
• Lindsay Tomlinson 
• Yadira Martinez

12
Humanistic Pathology

• The major difference between the Humanistic
  perspective and other theories is the commitment
  to personal growth. Emphasis is placed on the
  present rather than the past or the future.
• Emphasizes on the individual's perception and
  experience of his/her own world. (Plante, p. 128)

13
Maslow's Hierarchy
14
Phenomenological approach

• Phenomenological approach is used to understand
  individuals. This perspective honors the
  subjective experience of the individual including
  emotional experiences.
• Focuses on more developed and healthier aspects
  of the human psyche, such as spirituality,
  creativity, and tolerance. 

Edmund Husserl, founder of Phenomenology
15
Subception

• Carl Rogers used the term subception to describe
  the ability to discriminate stimuli at a level
  below what is required for conscious recognition.
  
• As we live in a state of estrangement,
  experiences incongruent with the self are
  subceived as threatening.
• By recognizing situations as threatening one uses
  perceptional distortions to keep from becoming
  aware of the situation.
• The core of psychological maladjustment is the
  incongruity between the persons total experience
  and what is accurately symbolized as part of the
  self-concept.

16
Dealing with Concerns

• Freedom- We have freedom to create our own
  values and personal life meaning
• Anxiety comes from choices that we make. We
  must take responsibility for the choices we make
  rather than blaming it on outside sources.
• Death- inevitability that is both a certainty and
  a tension
• Anxiety comes from fear of death and anxiety
  about how it will come about
• Isolation- We are essentially alone in the world
  though we long to be connected to others
• Anxiety comes from letting others give us
  validation rather than finding it from within.
• Meaninglessness- Anxiety comes from feelings of
  meaninglessness brought about by other 3
  concerns. Dealt with by accepting that life is a
  series of moments and we can make the most out of
  these moments.

17
Defense Mechanisms

• Defensive reactions occur to prevent these
  threatening situations from being accurately
  represented
• Symptoms are created in place of the unfavorable
  trait because other will pay attention to the
  other symptom rather than the unwanted trait. i.e
  deny anger get headache instead

18
Gestalt Approach

• The Gestalt Approach focuses on the idea that
  people have problems because they are too
  concerned with the past and the future as
• Different levels of incongruence can cause
  personality disorganization, opposed to living in
  the present moment. 
• Therapy consists of getting the client to live in
  the immediate moment and become aware of their
  present thoughts and emotions.

19
Humanism Approach to Treatment Intervention

• Megan Jones
• Adelina Matevasyan
• Narae Yun
• Shane Daves
• Michelle Miqlamoto-Galvan
• Diana Betsis

20
Focus is on the person as a whole.

• Emphasis on
• Self-Esteem
• Personal Growth
• The Achievement of Human Potential
• Not the Scientific View Points of Psychology

21

• Carl Rogers
• Client-Centered Approach
• Emphasized therapist empathy, unconditional
  positive regard, congruence, intensive active
  listening, and support to help individuals and
  groups reach their full human potential. Rogers
  believed that psychotherapy could be used as a
  catalyst to help humans strive toward their
  potential.
• Abraham Maslow
• Self Actualization Approach
• Involves ones impulse and desire to develop
  ones fully potential. Maslow developed a
  hierarchy of needs (beginning with food and water
  and ending with self actualization).
• Fritz Perls
• Gestalt Approach
• Notion that problems occur due to our inability
  to be truly aware of our current feelings,
  thoughts, and behavior. This theory focuses on
  being keenly aware of ones personal experiences.
  

22
Human Growth
The Humanistic approach to psychology focuses on
human growth. This means that the client must
take some control of their lives and direct it in
a more helpful manner. The Humanistic perspective
tends to view people as active, thinking,
learning, growing components in their own
therapy. There is great importance weighed on
each of the methods and each therapy plan depends
on the client and their situation.
Methods used Active Listening Congruence Self-Act
ualization Empathy Unconditional Positive
Regard Peak Experiences
23
Philosophy

• Humanism is a progressive philosophy that has its
  roots in European philosophy. Humanism views
  evolution as the first step in working on a
  clients problems. Its philosophical meanings are
  based upon equality, human rights, and social
  justice. This view was influenced by 18th century
  enlightenment philosophers. Humanism shares the
  idea that mankind is important. The humanistic
  approach believes that the results of life are
  chosen by the person, not supernaturalism.
  Because human existence is the most important
  matter, they believe in hierarchy of needs that
  allows them to sort out their lives.

24
Phenomenology

• Focus is on the perception and experience of the
  individual
• Being-in-the-World - Heidegger
• Qualia
• Intersubjectivity and Empathy
• Qualitative Psychology vs. Experimental Approach
• Heterophenomenology

25
Existential Influence on Humanistic Approach

• Has roots in European philosophy in the works of
  Kierkeraard, Nietzche, Sartre, Buber and
  Heidegger among others (Plante, 2005)
• Therapy put into practice by Rollo May, James
  Bugental, and Irvin Yalom.
• Gained popularity following World Wars I and II.
• Focused on issues such as the need for humans to
  seek out and define what life means.
• Aimed at helping patients find constructive ways
  of dealing with the hardships of everyday life.
• Believes inner struggle comes from four
  existential ultimate concerns as described by
  Yalom.

26
Focus and Method

• Focused on the individual experience the client
  has in dealing the anxiety and stress.
• Facilitates an exploration of personal beliefs
  and values in order to understand the relation of
  their feelings to the specific event.
• Physical,psychological, and socio-cultural cause
  and effects examined within context of the given
  cause of stress or anxiety.
• Past not taken into as much account as present
  and future experiences and potential handling of
  both

27
Yaloms Ultimate Concerns

• Considered given dilemmas of human existence that
  each person needs to deal with, examines methods
  in which to deal with these dilemmas.
• Inevitability of death.
• Freedom and its attendant responsibility
• Essitential isolation
• Meaninglessness
• These concerns compose the categories to which
  the therapist assigns the clients problem in
  order to create a treatment plan.

28
Therapy

• Past confrontations with anxious and stressful
  situations briefly examined for clients actions
  in these to be able to make progress with future
  situations.

29
Humanistic Goal

• Victor Frankl believes that man's primary force
  of motivation is to find personal meaning in
  life.
• Increasing the congruence between self and
  experience through a process of integration.
• Humanists believe that each individual is
  responsible for how their own life plays out.
• Self-awareness and the innate motivation towards
  self-improvement will lead to healthy choices.