Existential-humanistic psychology

Existential-humanistic psychology is a field of psychological study that seeks to understand how people experience life according to their individual awareness. It focuses on how the decisions people make affect how they feel about their lives and contribute to the meaning of their lives. This approach pulls from a variety of psychological approaches, heavily influenced by existential and humanistic philosophy, to help explain what it means to be a living person. This allows a person to not just better understand what is going on in their minds, but to also be open to learning and experiencing change.

Beyond just trying to provide the answer to questions about the purpose of life, existential-humanistic psychology also has a therapeutic approach to treating mental conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and even substance abuse. The methods approach mental health from a holistic and big-picture angle, not just to ease symptoms, but to help people understand the emotions that are at the root of their issues. A person can also learn to exist peacefully with uncomfortable feelings and emotions using techniques such as mindfulness and meditation.

Background

The existential-humanistic psychological theory has its beginnings in the psychological research of psychologists Rollo May, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow. These doctors challenged the current beliefs about mental awareness of the time and built on previous work done by experts such as Sigmund Freud.

May wrote extensively about existential psychology from the 1940s to the 1960s, and is considered the father of American existentialism. His primary influence was European existentialism, which he brought to the United States and incorporated it with humanism ideology, which was beginning to take shape and become popular in the United States at that time. He theorized that humans go through certain stages of psychological development that affect their personality, behavior, and ultimately how they feel about their existence. His stages of development include innocence, rebellion, ordinary, and creativity.

Although matching the thought behind existentialism with humanism, May did not coin the term existential-humanistic psychology. That label later came from James F. T. Bugental, who was a humanistic psychologist and identified the five core principles of humanistic psychology. He was influenced by May’s publication of Existence in 1958, leading him to further develop the concept of existential psychotherapy with humanistic influence, including incorporating the theories of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs.

Maslow was a psychologist who is known for his description of the hierarchy of human needs which motivate behavior. He proposed that if a person’s basic physiological needs are met, such as food, water, and shelter, then higher-level needs would subsequently take over to motivate behavior. These higher-level needs include security and safety needs, such as financial security and health; social needs, such as friendships, family, romantic attachments, and community involvement; and esteem needs, such as gaining respect and appreciation from others. Once these needs are filled, people would achieve self-actualization, which is a concept that helps a person to reach their full potential of inner fulfillment. Maslow also worked with Bugental, and together they cofounded the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and the Association for Humanistic Psychology in the early 1960s.

Rogers was a psychologist who subscribed to humanism, with much of his major work being written during the 1950s. He felt that Maslow’s theory was mainly accurate, and coined the term “actualizing tendency.” However, he felt that for personal growth and healthy relationships to flourish, a person needs the right environment, providing genuineness, acceptance, and empathy. Self-actualization could only be achieved by being in this ideal environment, and behavior and experiences in life are linked with self-image. A distorted self-image thus creates problems and inconsistencies.

Others influenced the development of existential-humanistic psychology. Among them were German philosophers Martin Heidegger and Friedrich Nietzsche, Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, German-Swiss psychiatrist Karl Jaspers, Austrian philosopher Martin Buber, German-American philosopher Paul Tillich, and American psychiatrist Irvin Yalom. Variations and interpretations in thought and theory exist among existential-humanistic thinkers, but this is an indication of existential theory not holding to a fixed set of principles. Although waning in popularity toward the end of the twentieth century, the twenty-first century saw an increase in interest in existential-humanistic thinking in psychology. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, many psychotherapists drew from this field of psychology to assist clients to deal with the unique challenges of anxiety, distress, and loss that came as a result of the global health crisis.

Overview

The focus of existential-humanistic psychology is on the human experience as a whole and as interconnected to the world around them. It presents cognitive distress and psychological problems as the result of not being able to make choices that are true to a person’s self about how they feel they should live. It balances the ideas of human potential with human limitations to better understand cognition.

Humanism and existentialism are two different schools of thought, although they do have some common principles relating to self-awareness. The existential-humanistic theory was influenced by European existential philosophy, which was blended with American humanistic psychology. However, they both share the belief that people can not only be fully aware of themselves but are guided by their choices and have the capacity for self-direction.

Humanism sees humans as essentially good with a sense of motivation and the potential for success, and it sees in people the desire to make choices in the interest of not only themselves but others as well. This perspective also allows people to tap into their consciousness, not just to be true to themselves, but to grow and reach their full potential without the constraints of preconceived notions, assumptions, and limiting attitudes.

Existentialism looks more to the unconscious and past for reasoning behind people’s behavior and thinking. It seeks to help a person find meaning in themselves and provides an interpretation of dysfunction. Existentialism explains that problems are caused by deep-seated anxiety related to isolation, loneliness, despair, or even death. In the face of life that brings inevitable suffering and loss, the qualities of creativity, love, and being true to oneself can help to manage these realities, and by taking charge and creating a meaningful life, a person can combat negative internal forces.

Merging the two into the existential-humanistic approach seeks to increase a person’s self-awareness to build acceptance and personal growth. With this acute mindfulness comes, not only responsibility, but a sense of freedom from presumptions. An existential-humanistic therapist seeks to create an accepting and meaningful environment to help their client get in touch with their cognitive processes to help them to find the root cause for any uncomfortable feelings or dysfunction. They employ techniques such as empathy, reflective listening, and acceptance. A client is helped to see that their destiny is shaped by their choices and that they have the free will to make new choices that will promote future happiness.

When existential-humanistic psychology is used in psychotherapy, there are several main goals. These include developing the ability for self-awareness and understanding the full meaning of free will, creating a unique identity and using this to develop healthy relationships with others, searching for the meaning and purpose related to one’s values and beliefs in life, accepting that anxiety is a natural part of existence, and being aware of the eventuality of death and nonexistence that faces all humans. During a psychotherapy session, a client takes an active role in analyzing life choices and experience, while the therapist supports and provides an empathetic environment.

Therapies and interventions, even for substance-abuse disorders, address factors such as the fears a client may have about death or relationships with others, a lack of real meaning in life, and an emotional or spiritual void in their lives. The client is helped to see that these factors may have influenced their present choices subconsciously, but consciously they can attack the problem by making choices that provide more emotional fulfillment in the future. In the case of substance abuse, it helps clients to free themselves from addiction and learn to want to choose not to use harmful substances, thus promoting their reliance on themselves over the addiction. A therapist may use strategies to guide a client including cognitive-behavioral therapy, which confronts negative thinking patterns to learn how to deal with them healthily and productively, or mindfulness, which is consciously concentrating on one's thoughts. This increased self-awareness and self-direction foster motivation, self-respect, and ultimately emotional growth that provides a client with internal resources to deal with external challenges.

Existential-humanistic psychologists have come under some criticism for their nontraditional approach to cognition because it does not rely as much on empirical evidence and quantifiable results from research, as is the case with other fields of psychology. Instead, it uses a qualitative, or subjective, approach that puts more weight on interpretation and making sense of the explanations and experiences people provide. This perspective is also sometimes thought to promote atheism or agnosticism as a spiritual or religious view because it encourages a person to reach their potential within themselves, without the assistance of a higher spiritual power.

Bibliography

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