Abraham Maslow (1970) was a pioneer in the development of humanistic psychol-ogy and was infl uential in furthering the understanding of self-actualizing indi-viduals. Many of Carl Rogers’s ideas, especially on the positive aspects of being human and the fully functioning person, are built on Maslow’s basic philosophy.
Maslow criticized Freudian psychology for what he saw as its preoccupation with the sick and negative side of human nature. Maslow believed too much research was being conducted on anxiety, hostility, and neuroses and too little into joy, crea-tivity, and self-fulfi llment. Self-actualization was the central theme of the work of Abraham Maslow (1968, 1970, 1971). The positive psychology movement that recently has come into prominence shares many concepts on the healthy side of human existence with the humanistic approach.
Maslow studied what he called “self-actualizing people” and found that they differed in important ways from so-called normal individuals. The core character-istics of self-actualizing people are self-awareness, freedom, basic honesty and car-ing, and trust and autonomy. Other characteristics of self-actualizing individuals include a capacity to welcome uncertainty in their lives, acceptance of themselves and others, spontaneity and creativity, a need for privacy and solitude, autonomy, a capacity for deep and intense interpersonal relationships, a genuine caring for others, an inner-directedness (as opposed to the tendency to live by others’ expec-tations), the absence of artifi cial dichotomies within themselves (such as work/
play, love/hate, and weak/strong), and a sense of humor (Maslow, 1970). All of these personal characteristics have been identifi ed by Rogers as being central to the person-centered philosophy.
Maslow postulated a hierarchy of needs as a source of motivation, with the most basic needs being physiological needs. If we are hungry and thirsty, our attention is riveted on meeting these basic needs. Next are the safety needs, which include a sense of security and stability. Once our physical and safety needs are fulfi lled, we become concerned with meeting our needs for belonging and love, followed by working on our need for esteem, both from self and others. We are able to strive toward self-actualization only after these four basic needs are met. The key factor determining which need is dominant at a given time is the degree to which those below it are satisfi ed. We cannot strive toward self-actualization, for example, if our self-esteem is low.
t h e v i s i o n o f h u m a n i s t i c p h i lo s o p h y
The underlying vision of humanistic philosophy is captured by the metaphor of how an acorn, if provided with the appropriate conditions, will “automatically” grow in positive ways, pushed naturally toward its actualization as an oak. In contrast, for many existentialists there is nothing that we “are,” no internal “nature” we can count on. We are faced178
CHAPTER SEVEN
at every moment with a choice about what to make of this condition. Maslow’s em-phasis on the healthy side of being human and the emem-phasis on joy, creativity, and self-fulfi llment are part of the person-centered philosophy. The humanistic phi-losophy on which the person-centered approach rests is expressed in attitudes and behaviors that create a growth-producing climate. According to Rogers (1986b), when this philosophy is lived, it helps people develop their capacities and stimu-lates constructive change in others. Individuals are empowered, and they are able to use this power for personal and social transformation.
k e y c o n c e p t s
View of Human Nature
A common theme originating in Rogers’s early writing and continuing to permeate all of his works is a basic sense of trust in the client’s ability to move forward in a constructive manner if conditions fostering growth are present. His professional experience taught him that if one is able to get to the core of an individual, one fi nds a trustworthy, positive center (Rogers, 1987a). In keeping with the philosophy of humanistic psychology, Rogers fi rmly maintained that people are trustworthy, re-sourceful, capable of self-understanding and self-direction, able to make construc-tive changes, and able to live effecconstruc-tive and producconstruc-tive lives. When therapists are able to experience and communicate their realness, support, caring, and nonjudgmental understanding, signifi cant changes in the client are most likely to occur.
Rogers maintained that three therapist attributes create a growth-promoting climate in which individuals can move forward and become what they are capable of becoming: (1) congruence (genuineness, or realness), (2) unconditional positive regard (acceptance and caring), and (3) accurate empathic understanding (an ability to deeply grasp the subjective world of another person). According to Rogers, if thera-pists communicate these attitudes, those being helped will become less defensive and more open to themselves and their world, and they will behave in prosocial and constructive ways.
Brodley (1999) writes about the actualizing tendency, a directional process of striving toward realization, fulfi llment, autonomy, and self-determination. This nat-ural inclination of humans is based on Maslow’s (1970) studies of self-actualizing people. This growth force within us provides an internal source of healing, but it does not imply a movement away from relationships, interdependence, connec-tion, or socialization. This humanistic view of human nature has signifi cant im-plications for the practice of therapy. Because of the belief that the individual has an inherent capacity to move away from maladjustment and toward psychological health and growth, the therapist places the primary responsibility on the client.
The person-centered approach rejects the role of the therapist as the authority who knows best and of the passive client who merely follows the beliefs of the therapist.
Therapy is rooted in the client’s capacity for awareness and self-directed change in attitudes and behavior.
In the person-centered approach the emphasis is on how clients act in their world with others, how they can move forward in constructive directions, and how
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PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY
they can successfully deal with obstacles (both from within themselves and outside of themselves) that are blocking their growth. By promoting self-awareness and self-refl ection, clients learn to exercise choice. Humanistic therapists emphasize a discovery-oriented approach in which clients are the experts on their own inner experience (Watson, Goldman, & Greenberg, 2011), and they encourage clients to make changes that will lead to living fully and authentically, with the realization that this kind of existence demands a continuing struggle. Maslow taught us that becoming self-actualizing individuals is an ongoing process rather than a fi nal destination.
t h e t h e r a p e u t i c p r o c e s s
Therapeutic Goals
The person-centered approach aims toward the client achieving a greater degree of independence and integration. Its focus is on the person, not on the person’s presenting problem. Rogers did not believe the goal of therapy was merely to solve problems. Rather, the goal is to assist clients in their growth process so clients can better cope with problems as they identify them.
Rogers (1961) wrote that people who enter psychotherapy often ask: “How can I discover my real self? How can I become what I deeply wish to become? How can I get behind my facades and become myself?” The underlying aim of therapy is to provide a climate conducive to helping the individual strive toward self-actualiza-tion. Before clients are able to work toward that goal, they must fi rst get behind the masks they wear, which they develop through the process of socialization. Clients come to recognize that they have lost contact with themselves by using facades. In a climate of safety in the therapeutic session, they also come to realize that there are more authentic ways of being.
When the facades are put aside during the therapeutic process, what kind of person emerges from behind the pretenses? Rogers (1961) described people who are becoming increasingly actualized as having (1) an openness to experience, (2) a trust in themselves, (3) an internal source of evaluation, and (4) a willingness to continue growing. Encouraging these characteristics is the basic goal of person-centered therapy.
These four characteristics provide a general framework for understanding the direction of therapeutic movement. The therapist does not choose specifi c goals for the client. The cornerstone of person-centered theory is the view that clients in a relationship with a facilitating therapist have the capacity to defi ne and clarify their own goals. Person-centered therapists are in agreement on the matter of not setting goals for what clients need to change, yet they differ on the matter of how to best help clients achieve their own goals and to fi nd their own answers (Bohart &
Watson, 2011).
Therapist’s Function and Role
The role of person-centered therapists is rooted in their ways of being and atti-tudes, not in techniques designed to get the client to “do something.” Research on person-centered therapy seems to indicate that the attitude of therapists, rather than