Humanistic Psychology Essay

Introduction

Humanistic Psychology came about in the 1950’s. At this time the major practices of psychology were that of behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Humanistic Psychology was essentially developed as a response to these practices. Humanistic psychology can be loosely defined as a school of psychology which focuses on self-actualization, stresses growth, and focuses on potential of the individual client. One of the major beliefs of the humanistic thinkers is that change and growth cannot occur unless a choice is made by the individual to make a change and grow as a person. Another belief is that people are for the most part good; however, mental and social problems result from deviations of this natural tendency (Cherry n.d.). It is important to remember that self is a major and perhaps most important focus of humanistic psychology. The goal of humanistic thinkers was that in order for an individual to achieve the desired end result, it is important to the therapist to first understand the person as a whole, and for that person to understand themselves as a whole.

The pioneers of humanistic psychology, Rogers, Maslow, May, Fromm, as well as many others, brought about a new school of psychology which subsequently lead to advances in the field of psychology as a whole. With behaviorism and psychoanalysis, an individual is diagnosed, treated, and then said to be back to a normal state of being and be adjusted to society (Rogers, 1963). This is where humanistic psychology comes in. According to Rogers’ ideas, one should emerge from therapy freely functioning on his or her own organismic potentialities (Rogers et al). For the purpose of this paper, we will discuss the history and other aspects of humanistic psychology, ...

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...ogy will one day combine, society would greatly improve, and many people would continue to strive for self-actualization, as well as have a more optimistic view and understanding of life.

Had humanistic psychology not been created, or developed further, there would likely have not been much growth in the field of psychology as a whole within the last few decades. Behaviorism and psychoanalysis would still be the top schools of psychology. Positive psychology would likely not have developed. The research and beliefs of the pioneers of humanistic psychology have greatly improved psychology in a positive way, and the way people receive therapy forever. Psychologists now have a way of better understanding their clients as a whole and are able to better treat them, rather than simply running diagnostics and “treating their client as if he or she were an object.”