Humanistic Existentialism

1. Humanistic Existentialism

2. Existentialism • Big Questions… • Are we free to make choices? • What is the purpose of relationships with others? • What is the meaning of life?

3. Introduction • experience is subjective • make meaning out of it • born in reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism (no freewill) • we determine our destiny and that the locus of control for our lives lies within

4. Existentialism • not a coherent theory of personality but a philosophy • derives from people such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger, Sartre and Buber

5. Existentialism • European: Binswanger, Boss, and Frankl • Frankl- student of Freud and developed logotherapy • logotherapy = therapy through meaning • existential vacuum = experienced when we do not busy ourselves with routine and work

6. Existentialism • American: May and Yalom • Carl Rogers (Humanism) • Fritz Perls (Gestalt Psychology) • common thread among these approaches is the focus on the conscious experiences

7. Existentialism • emphasizes health rather than sickness • clients are not viewed as sick, but rather they are viewed as sick of life or awkward at living

8. Existentialism • respect of individuals • exploring new aspects of human behavior • existence is not fixed • we continually recreate ourselves through our projects • humanism = any philosophy which recognizes the value and dignity of persons and makes people the measure of all things

9. Six Existential Propositions • a) We have the capacity for self-awareness • b) Freedom and Responsibility • c) Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others • d) The Search for meaning • e) Anxiety as a condition for living • f) Awareness of death and nonbeing

10. Capacity of Self-Awareness • we are finite • we can act, or not act • we can choose, and thus we can shape our destiny • we are basically alone, but we have the opportunity to relate to others

11. Freedom and Responsibility • we are free to choose • we must accept responsibility for our actions • if we don't accept responsibility for our actions, we act in what Sartre calls "bad faith" • existential guilt = occurs when we choose not to choose, or when we let others define or make choices for us

12. Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others • part of the human condition is aloneness • we cannot depend on anyone else for our own confirmation • define from within

13. Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others • we alone must give a sense of meaning to life • we alone must decide how we live • when we are able to stand alone and dip within ourselves for our own strength, our relationships with others are based on fulfillment, not our deprivation

14. Search for Meaning • concerns the struggle for significance and purpose in life • therapists would encourage clients to help create a value system that is based on their way of being • sometimes people experience meaninglessness • we create meaning working, loving, and building • life is not meaningful in and of itself, rather an individual creates and discovers meaning

15. Anxiety as Condition of Living • when we make a decision or change, there will be anxiety • there is normal and neurotic anxiety • neurotic anxiety = anxiety that is out of proportion to the situation • existentialist therapists do not strive to eliminate normal anxiety, rather life can not be lived, nor can death be faced without anxiety • "whenever you leave the sure basis of the now and become preoccupied with the future, you experience anxiety“ (Perls)

16. Anxiety as a Conditioning of Living • Rogers… • when we receive information which is inconsistent with our self-concept we experience anxiety • the more inaccurate yourself concept, the more likely you will have clashes with other people • to ward off anxiety, a person has to reinterpret the experience to make it congruent with their self-concept

17. Awareness of Death and Nonbeing • awareness of death as a basic condition gives significance to life • death means that we are finite and that we have a limited amount of time to do things

18. Existential Trends • Reversal Theory (Apter, 1989) • suggests that our conscious experience shifts between telic and paratelic modes • telic mode = consciousness is goal directed • to the future • paratelic mode = consciousness is direct to the pleasure of the activity at hand • present oriented

19. Flow • Csikszentmihalyi has argued for a psychology of optimal experience • autotelic experiences occur when you are completely absorbed by what you are doing • you are able to experience "flow“

20. Abraham Maslow 1908-1970 Click here

21. Maslow • Humanism (Allport, 1930) • 1960s and 1970s • Third Force Psychology • Behaviorism • Narrow sterile view of human nature • Psychoanalytic • Focus on emotional disturbance

22. Maslow • Brooklyn, New York • Intense drive to succeed • Unhappy childhood • Father –”loved whiskey and woman” • Mother – hatred for her, punishing • Scrawny, large nose • Inferiority complex • Academically inclined (IQ = 195)

23. Maslow • Married at 20, his cousin Bertha • fan of behaviorism in the 1930s • Training in experimental psychology • PhD 1934 University of Wisconsin • Taught in New York in the 1930-1940s • 1951 – 1969 Brandeis University • President of APA 1967 • died 1970 massive heart attack

24. Maslow • Hierarchy of Needs • Self-actualization (weakest) • Esteem • Belongingness • Safety • Physiological (strongest) • Instinctoid needs = hereditary component • One need dominates personality

25. Characteristics of Needs • Vary in strength • Higher needs appear later in life • SA does not arise until midlife • Lower needs called Deficient Needs • SA called Being Needs • contentment, happiness, fulfillment • We work our way up the need chain • Total satisfaction does not need to occur

26. Hierarchy of Needs • Physiological Needs • food, shelter, water • Safety Needs • If unsatisfied – infants and neurotic adults • Manifest by over need for structure/order • Belongingness Needs • close relationship with friend, lover, mate or even being part of group

27. Hierarchy of Needs • Esteem Needs • Two needs for esteem • From self and others • Derived from status, recognition or social success – feelings of self-worth • Failure to achieve – inferiority, helpless

28. Self Actualization • Highest need (Being Need) • Maximal realization of potential • Takes many forms • Conditions to SA • Free from society constraints • Not distracted by lower needs • Secure in self-image • Realistic knowledge of self

29. Exceptions to SA • Fasting until death • Religious figures

30. Cognitive Needs • Innate need to know and understand • Exists outside the hierarchy of needs • Need to know stronger than need to understand • Appears in late infancy • SA depends on satisfaction of cognitive need

31. Maslow • B-motivation • Drive toward self-actualization • Less than 1% of the population • D-motivation (deficiency) • Drive toward every other need

32. Chacteristics of Self-actualizers • Efficient perception of reality • Acceptance of self and others • Spontaneous and natural • Focus on problems outside themselves • Need for privacy/sense of detachment • Fresh appreciation and Peak experiences • Social Interest and Profound relations • Democratic • Creative • Resistant to enculturation

33. Failure to SA • Inadequate education • Improper child-rearing practices • Jonah complex • The fear that maximizing our potential will lead to a situation with which we will be unable to cope

34. Maslow’s view on human nature • Freewill • Balance of nature versus nurture • Balance of past and present • Uniqueness of people • Emphasis on growth • Optimistic view

35. Assessment of Maslow’s Theory • Started with the study of • Ruth Benedict and Max Wertheimer • For historical figures, he worked with • biographical material • For living persons, he used interviews, free association and projective tests • Data collection not rigorous or controlled

36. Assessment • He referred to his program as consisting of a serious of pilot studies. • He is describing an ideal, but how did he arrive at this conclusion? • Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) • Shostrom (1964) • Self-report, 150 pairs of statements

37. POI • Positively correlated with • Emotional health, creativity, academic achievement, autonomy, racial tolerance • Negatively correlated with • Alcoholism, neuroticism, depression and hypochondriasis • POI scores increase gradually with age

38. Self-determination Theory • Ryan and Deci, 2000 • People have an innate tendency to express their interests, exercise their interests, develop their capabilities and overcome challenges • Three basic needs: • Competence- mastery of tasks • Autonomy – freedom to act on one’s choices • Relatedness – feeling connected with others

39. Positive Psychology • "studies the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive." • "to find and nurture genius and talent” • "to make life more fullfilling” • not to cure mental illness • Martin Seligman the father of positive psychology

40. Carl Rogers 1902-1987

41. Carl Rogers • Originated client-centered or person-centered therapy • Believes we are rational beings ruled by a conscious perception or our selves and our experiential world • Focus on the present • Inborn tendency to self-actualize

42. Rogers • Oak Park, Illinois • Strict religious background • Suppression of displays of emotions • Virtue of hard work • Had little social life outside his family • Competitive with his brother • Felt lonely – inspired his theory of personality • Started with agriculture then to theology • Swung from fundamentalist to liberal

43. Rogers • PhD – 1931 • 1940 – moved from clinical to academia • Ohio State University • 1945 – 1957: University of Chicago • 1957-1963: University of Wisconsin • APA President 1946 • Received APA’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award and Distinguished Professional Contribution Award

44. Rogers • Self at the core of personality • We are motivated to self-actualize • Actualization tendency • Emcompasses all physiological and psychological needs • Actualization begins in womb • Responsible for maturation • Is genetically determined

45. Rogers • Full development is not automatic • Involves struggle and pain • Organismic valuing process • The process by which we judge experiences in terms of their value for fostering or hindering our actualization and growth

46. Rogers • reality of our environment depends on our perception of it • perception is subjective • Phenomenology (experiential inner world) • The only reality we can be sure of is our inner perception of reality • Our inner reality is private and only we can know it

47. Development of the Self • Need for positive regard • Acceptance, love and approval from others • Lack of it thwarts SA and development of self • Unconditional Positive Regard • Love that is independent of behavior • Reciprocal influence – when we give love to others, it come back to us

48. Rogers • Conditions of worth • A belief that we are worthy of approval only when we express desirable behaviors and attitudes and refrain from expressing those that bring disapproval from others • Conditional positive regard • Approval love or acceptance granted only when a person expresses desirable behaviors attitudes

49. Rogers • Incongruence • A discrepancy between a person’s self-concept and aspects of his or her experiences • “We should love everyone” • Then feel hatred towards another • Results in anxiety • To decrease the anxiety, we deny the hatred

50. Rogers • Psychological adjustment is the result of compatibility between our self-concept and our experiences • Aspects of self are not denied or distorted • Goal – all facets of the self are developed and become a fully functioning person • leading the “good life”