Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that arose in the early- to mid-20th century in response to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. The work of Otto Rank and Carl Rogers centered the individual more in therapy. Abraham Maslow built on their work establishing a "third force" in psychology in the 1950s. Some elements of humanistic psychology are:
to understand people, ourselves and others holistically (as wholes greater than the sums of their parts) to acknowledge the relevance and significance of the full life history of an individual to acknowledge the importance of intentionality in human existence to recognize the importance of an end goal of life for a healthy person Humanistic psychology also acknowledges spiritual aspiration as an integral part of the psyche. It is linked to the emerging field of transpersonal psychology. Primarily, humanistic therapy encourages a self-awareness and reflexivity that helps the client change their state of mind and behavior from one set of reactions to a healthier one with more productive and thoughtful actions. Essentially, this approach allows the merging of mindfulness and behavioral therapy, with positive social support. In an article from the Association for Humanistic Psychology, the benefits of humanistic therapy are described as having a "crucial opportunity to lead our troubled culture back to its own healthy path. More than any other therapy, Humanistic-Existential therapy models democracy. It imposes ideologies of others upon the client less than other therapeutic practices. Freedom to choose is maximized. We validate our clients' human potential." Its principal professional organizations in the US are the Association for Humanistic Psychology and the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32 of the American Psychological Association). In Britain, there is the UK Association for Humanistic Psychology Practitioners.
Differences with psychoanalytic theory and behaviorism Through disagreement with the predominant theories at the time, developed by Freud and Skinner, Maslow was able to formulate the main points of humanistic theory. Maslow had the following criticisms of the two main theories at the time:
Freud's theory was deterministic, meaning that it attributed the behavior of people to unconscious desires. Freud and Skinner's theories focused on individuals with mental conflicts (pathological) rather than all individuals. The other two theories did not focus enough on human potential for self-actualization. As a result, when Maslow developed his theory, he decided to focus on the conscious (rather than the unconscious) and to develop a new theory to explain how all individuals could reach their highest potential, as expressed in his 1968 book Toward A Psychology of Being.
Origins One of humanistic psychology's early sources was the work of Carl Rogers. Rogers strongly influenced by Otto Rank, who had broken with Freud in the mid-1920s. Rogers' focus was to ensure that the developmental processes led to healthier, if not more creative, personality functioning. The term 'actualizing tendency' was also coined by Rogers, and was a concept that eventually led Maslow to study self-actualization as one of the needs of humans. Rogers and Maslow introduced this positive, humanistic psychology in response to what they viewed as the overly pessimistic view of psychoanalysis. The other sources of inspiration include the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology.
Conceptual origins
While origins of humanistic psychology date back to the early 1940s, the origins of humanism date back to the classical civilizations of China, Greece, and Rome, whose values were renewed in the European Renaissance. The modern humanistic approach has its roots in the works of philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Sartre. Eastern philosophy and psychology also play a central role in humanistic psychology, as well as Judeo-Christian philosophies of personalism, as each shares similar concerns about the nature of human existence and consciousness. For further information on influential figures in personalism, see: Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev, Emmanuel Mounier, Gabriel Marcel, Denis de Rougemont, Jacques Maritain, Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas, Max Scheler and Pope John Paul II. The 'first force', as Maslow called it, was behaviorism which grew out of Ivan Pavlov's work with the conditioned reflex. Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B. F. Skinner laid the foundations for academic psychology in the United States. Maslow believed the first force systematically excluded the subjective data of consciousness and much information bearing on the complexity of the human personality and its development. Behavioral theory continued to develop concerning both simple and complex human behavior through theorists such as Arthur Staats, Steven Hayes, and other post-Skinnerian researchers. Clinical behavioral analysis continues to be widely employed in anxiety disorder treatments, mood disorders, and personality disorders. The 'second force' arose out of Freudian psychoanalysis, which was composed of psychologists like Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Carl Jung, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, Melanie Klein, Harry Stack Sullivan, and Freud himself. Maslow argued the need for a 'third force' (even though he did not use the term), saying that "it is as if Freud supplied us the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the healthy half." In the late 1930s, psychologists like Maslow, Rogers, and Clark Moustakas became interested in the uniquely human issues, such as the self, self-actualization, health, hope, love, creativity, nature, being, becoming, individuality, and meaning. They sought to found a professional association dedicated to a psychology focused on these features of human capital demanded by post-industrial society. The humanistic psychology perspective is summarized by five core principles or postulates of humanistic psychology first articulated in an article written by James Bugental in 1964 and adapted by Tom Greening, psychologist and long-time editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The five basic principles of humanistic psychology are:
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