THIRD FORCE IN PSYCHOLOGY

Three forces in psychology: behavioural, psychodynamic and

humanistic approach.

Humanistic psychology is the third force in psychology.

 it has reacted against psychodynamic and behavioural

approaches that were dominant in the early 20th century. (a)

Behavioural psychology assumed that human nature was

mechanistic (link between stimuli and response); (b)

Psychodynamic psychology assumed human nature was

deterministic and reduced humanity to basic biological drives;

(c) Humanistic psychology is a ‘response to the denigration of

the human spirit that has so often been implied in the image of

the person drawn by behavioural and social sciences.

 Focuses on the individual human experience, rather than

objective scientific enquiry. Founding fathers of humanism

were heavily influenced by existential phenomenology

(Kierkegaard, Husserl, Heidegger, etc). Existential

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phenomenology suggests that the human condition must be

considered from the perspective of the individual as a unique

whole seeking answers about reality. Existential

phenomenology emphasises the subjective nature of meaning

and the importance of individual experience. Friedman (1994)

argued that the humanistic shift could be described as a move

‘from determinism to self-determination, from causality to

purpose, from manipulation to self-responsibility, from analysis

to synthesis, from diagnosis to dialogue, from solution -

oriented models to process, from degradation of human life to

celebration of the human spirit’. This approach rejects the

objective control of science in favour of an empathic

understanding of humanity.

*Roggers suggested that psychology in general and therapy in

particular should focus on the individual as a unique human

being.

*One of the key principles of the humanistic approach is the

idea of individuals in a constant process of ‘becoming’.

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 Becoming means to be constantly striving to be more effective

and moving towards self-actualisation.

CARL ROGERS (1902-1987)

He introduced the person-centred therapy as a therapeutic

model of applying the principles of humanism. He emphasized the importance of

the therapeutic relationship in moving a client towards self-actualisation. He

argued that 6 conditions were necessary and sufficient for the therapist to

encourage positive therapeutic change. Rogers focused on the client being ‘fully

received’ and the idea of ‘presence’.

Other humanist theorists: Abraham Maslow; Rollo May; James Bugental; Eugene

Gendlin; Natalie Rogers; Garry Prouty.

HUMANISTIC THEORIES OF HUMAN NATURE AND PERSONALITY

ORGANISMIC SELF AND SELF-CONCEPT

Organismic self:

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Actual self: human organism generally provides the individual with trustworthy

messages and will naturally strive towards enhancing the self.

Children are often completely congruent with the organismic selves ( child falls

over=child feels pain= child begins to cry).

Self-concept:

Self-concept is defined as ‘that organization of qualities that the individual

attributes to himself’.

Configurations of self:

The self-concept is not a unified entity in fact, the individual may hold many

different concepts of the self. For example, we might feel that we can be both

spontaneous and cautious or loving and angry. Different configurations of the self

may result in different and possibly conflicting thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

It is important to note that these configurations are different parts of the same

personality. This is not a split personality disorder.

Different ‘parts’ of the self are known as different ‘configurations of self’.

‘Configurations of self’ is used instead of ‘parts of self’ so that it is recognized that

each ‘part’ is also made up of many different parts.

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*Mearns et al. (2000): ‘ configuration is a hypothetical construct denoting a

coherent pattern of feelings, thoughts, and preferred behavioural responses

symbolized by the person as reflective of a dimension of existence within the

Self’. Mearns et al. (2000) note that this notion of pluralism’ in the self-concept

(multiple parts of the self-concept) offers an ‘adaptive versatility’ because the

different parts of the self can be used in different social environments.

Perception of self:

Social experiences will teach us about the person we ‘should’ be. In fact, many of

the different configurations of the self-concept have been created according to

social influence.

Children learn how they ‘should’ act, feel and think through interaction with

others in their environment. For example: child falls over=child feels pain=child

begins to cry=child is told that boys don’t cry=child learns that pain should be

buried and crying is a sign of weakness.

Children eventually internalize these values and these values impact on their

perception of the self. For example: Child learns that crying is a sign of

weakness= child believes that people he is weak for wanting to cry= part of the

self-concept of the child involves being a weak person= ‘weak me’.

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OR

Child learns that crying is a sign of weakness= child believes that people who cry

are weak= part of the self-concept of the child involves being a person who ‘never

cries’= ‘strong me’

Both of these self-concepts are equally damaging:

‘I am a weak person’ can cause low self-esteem.

‘I never cry’ can cause repression and emotional detachment.

Perception of self is reinforced by interactions with others over time. Any

interaction not fitting with the perception of self (self-concept) will be ignored or

distorted to fit with the self-concept.

Self-concept involves being a weak person= individual is complimented for being a

strong person= individual believes that the person giving the compliment does not

really know him (Information is ignored).

Self-concept involves being a strong person who never cries= individual is hurt and

wants to cry= feelings of sadness are changed into feelings of anger (information

is distorted.

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IMPACT OF CONDITIONS OF WORTH ON THE SELF-CONCEPT

POSITIVE REGARD

The organismic self has a natural desire to receive positive regard from others

(family, friends, colleagues, superiors, etc.). Positive regard is rarely

unconditional. Most of the significant people in our lives offer us conditional

positive regard (parents imply that they love us if we are good, spouses implythat

they love us if we are faithful, friends imply that they love us if we are nice, etc.

CONDITIONS OF WORTH (Rogers, 1959)

Conditions of worth are the evaluations made by significant others about the

correct way to act, think and feel in order to receive conditional positive regard.

Conditions of worth are often internalized in childhood.

TENDENCY TOWARDS SELF-ACTUALISATION

Self-actualisation is the natural drive towards fulfillment

In the absence of blocks and restrictions, all humans will naturally move towards

self-actualisation. This actualizing tendency refers to the directional movement

towards realization, autonomy, perfection, acceptance, etc. All humans have this

natural drive towards positivity but they are often confounded in their attempts .

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To be described as ‘self-actualising’, an individual must be moving towards his or

her true potential. The actualizing tendency is a state of movement, rather than a

state of being.

Congruency between organismic self and self-concept (Rogers, 1951)

In the presence of unconditional positive regard, you will become your ‘real self’

and experience self-respect, gain positive regard and value yourself as an

individual. Your self-concept (perception of self) is not the same as your

organismic self (true self). This is known as congruence. In the case that your self-

concept is not the same as your organismic self, this is known as incongruence.

Self-actualisation is an attempt to reduce the space between the organismic self

and the self-concept.

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Self-actualisation is a basic human need (Maslow, 1943)- Tendency towards self-

actualisation is the highest need for the individual to achieve, but it can be sought

when all other needs are being met.

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HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Self-Actualisation

Esteem needs

Love needs

Safety needs

Physiological needs

Tendency towards self-actualisation is the highest need for the individual to

achieve, but it can only be sought when all the other needs are being met.

 Physiological needs: food, water, sex, homeostasis, sleep.etc.

 Safety needs: security of self, family and property

 Love needs: intimacy in terms of family, friends and partners

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 Esteem needs: self-respect, respect of others, confidence and

achievements

 Self-actualisation needs: self-actualisation is unique to each individual so it

cannot be defined as a list of needs. Maslow (1943) explains that ‘what a

man can be, he must be’ and states that self-actualisation involves the

individual doing exactly what he is fitted to do : ‘ A musician must make

music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately

happy’.

*Peak experiences:

Frankl (1946) suggested that self-actualisation is attainable (although

perhaps only for short periods of time). After achieving self-actualisation,

the individual will feel happy with his or her life and enjoy peak

experiences. Peak experiences are those events that bring absolute

satisfaction and give a meaning ort a purpose to life. For example, a woman

might have a peak experience after the birth of her child when she feels

intense joy and feels that her life has a purpose. Frankl (1946) argues that

this ‘will to meaning’ is the highest human need.

But is this a simplistic perspective of human needs?

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How can we explain the man who risks his life (safety need) for the woman

he loves (love need)? How can we explain the woman who does not eat for

days (physiological need) because she is so engrossed in her work (esteem

need)? Maslow (1943) argues that we often underestimate the importance

of a need met at a chronic and extreme level. Modern western society has

adapted to ensure that physiological and safety needs are rarely neglected

in the extreme. ‘The average American citizen is experiencing appetite

rather than hunger when he says ‘I am hungry’. He is apt to experience

sheer life-and -death hunger only by accident and then only a few times

through his entire life (Maslow, 1943). Those living in this culturemay

underestimate the value of these lower needs to the extent that they can

afford to risk losing them. Those people who experience true deprivation of

a basic need will be dominated by the desire to fulfil that need to the

exclusion of all other factors. ‘For our chronically and extremely hungry

man, Utopia can be defined very simply as a place where there is plenty of

food. Life itself tends to be defined in terms of eating. Anything else will be

defined as unimportant. Freedom, love, community feeling, respect,

philosophy, may all be waved aside as fripperies which are useless since

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they fail to fill the stomach. Such a man may fairly be said to live by bread

alone’ (Maslow, 1943).

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON

THE GOOD LIFE (Rogers, 1961).

Once basic needs (physiological, safety, love, esteem) are being met, the

individual can strive to achieve congruency between the self-concept and

the organismic self (self-actualisation). An individual who is striving towards

self-actualisation can be regarded as a fully functioning person. Fully

functioning persons are experiencing the ‘good life’.

‘The good life is a process, not a state of being’ (Rogers, 1961)

‘This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-

hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more

of one’s potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching

oneself fully into the stream of life. Yet the deeply exciting thing about

human beings is that when the individual is inwardly free, he chooses as the

good life this process of becoming (Rogers, 1961).

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON (ROGERS, 1962).

The good life

An individual who is striving towards self-actualisation can be regarded as a

fully-functioning person. Fully functioning persons are experiencing ‘the

good life’.

Rogers (1961): ‘The good life is a process, not a state of being’.

‘This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-

hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more

of one’s potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching

oneself fully in the stream of life. Yet the deeply exciting thing about human

beings is that when the individual is inwardly free, he chooses as the good

life this process of becoming’.

Characteristics of the fully functioning person (Rogers, 1962)

- An increasing openness to experience

An individual who is fully open to experience will allow every single event in

life to pass through his or her body and mind without being distorted by

defensive mechanisms. For example, a man who is open to experience is

likely to accept his poor grades in an exam rather than distort them into

evidence that he is a failure as a person.

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Rogers (1961) argues that one aspect of ‘the good life’ is a ‘movement away

from the pole of defensiveness toward the pole of openness to experience’.

He explains that an individual living the good life would be able to

experience internal events so that he can fully accept negative feelings and

positive feelings.

- Increasingly existential living: an individual who experiences existential

living is able to live fully in each moment. For example, many young

children do not focus on what has happened previously or on what may

happen in the future, but simply enjoy living in the present. Rogers

(1961) argues that each moment in life is new for an individual who is

fully open to his new experience without defensiveness. He explains

that this individual ‘becomes a participant in and an observer of the

ongoing process of organismic experience, rather than being in control

of it’ (Rogers, 1961).

- An increasing trust in his organism.

An individual who places trust in his own self could evaluate each

situation and experience based on the available data, rather than relying

on prejudice, fear and defensiveness. Rogers (1961) suggests that this

individual would have ‘access to all of the available data in the situation,

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on which to base his behaviour; the social demands, his own complex

and possibly conflicting needs , his memories of similar situations, his

perception of the uniqueness of this situation, etc.’ (Rogers, 1961). On

the basis of all this complex information, this individual could then

‘permit his total organism, his consciousness participating, to consider

each stimulus, need and demand, its relative intensity and importance,

and out of this complex weighing and balancing, discover the course of

action which would come closest to satisfying all his needs in the

situation’ (Rogers, 1961).

NINETEEN PROPOSITIONS OF PERSONALITY

1. ‘Every individual (organism) exists in a continuous changing world of

experience of which he is the centre’.

The world around us is constantly changing. From our own perspective,

we sit at the centre of this world because we are the main person of our

own history. For each of us, our experiences (what we consciously feel,

see, hear, etc). combine to create an internal private world. Note that

not all stimuli contribute to the private world- many senses are

stimulated outside of conscious awareness. This private world is our

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experiential field or phenomenal field. Only you can truly understand

your own phenomenal field because you are the only person who has

had all of these unique experiences.

2. ‘The organism reacts to the field as it is experienced and perceived.

This perceptual field is, for the individual, ‘reality’’. We do not react to

an objective actual reality. Instead, we react to our own perception of

reality based on our own phenomenal field. This is why two people can

react in completely different ways to exactly the same stimuli. On a

philosophical, actual reality is nothing more than the agreed acceptance

of certain things as real based on overlap between many phenomenal

fields.

3. ‘ The organism reacts as an organized whole to this phenomenal field’

Strict physiological or behavioural approaches are insufficient. We need

to consider the organism as a whole.

4. ‘ The organism has one basic tendency and striving- to actualize,

maintain and enhancing the experiencing organism’.

5. ‘Behaviour is basically the goal-directed attempt of the organism to

satisfy its needs as experienced, in the field as perceived’.

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6. ‘ Emotion accompanies and in general facilitates goal-directed

behaviour, the kind of emotion being related to the seeking versus the

consummatory aspects of the behaviour, and the intensity of the

emotion being related to the perceived significance of the behaviour for

the maintenance and enhancement of the organism’. Significant

behaviours are those that you believe will help you survive or move

closer to self-actualization.

7. ‘ The best vantage point for understanding behaviour is from the

internal frame of reference of the individual himself’. You are the only

person who has had all of the unique experiences from your position in

the world- this means that you are an expert about you. If someone

would like too truly understand you as an individual, she/he would need

to view your behaviour while attempting to take into account your own

private world. They would need to stand in your shoes. Our attempt at

viewing behaviour from the private world or internal frame of reference

of the individual is known as empathy.

8. ‘A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes

differentiated as the self’. ‘Self’ refers to the individual awareness of

being. Development of the conscious self occurs during childhood as we

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realise that some parts of the world belong to us (things under our

control) and other parts of the world are external to us (things not

under our control.

9. ‘ As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a

result of evaluational interaction with others, the structure of the self is

formed- an organized , fluid but consistent conceptual pattern of

perceptions of characteristics and relationships Of the ‘I’ or the ‘me’,

together with values attached to these concepts’.

10. ‘The values attached to experiences, and the values which are part

of the self-structure, in some instances are values experienced directly

by the organism, and in some instances are values introjected or taken

over from others, but perceived in distorted fashion, as if they had been

experienced directly’.

11. ‘As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either, a)

symbolized, perceived and organized into some relationship to the self,

b) ignored because there is no perceived relationship to the self-

structure, c) denied symbolization or given distorted symbolization

because the experience is inconsistent with the structure of the self’.

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12. ‘ Most of the ways of behaving which are adopted by the organism

are those that are consistent with the concept of self’.

13. ‘Behaviour may, in some instances, be brought about by organic

experiences and needs which have not been yet symbolized. Such

behaviour may be inconsistent with the structure of the self but in such

instances the behaviour is not ‘owned’ by the individual’.

14. ‘Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies

awareness of significant sensory and visceral experiences, which

consequently are not symbolized and organized into the Gestalt of the

self-structure. When this situation exists, there is a basic or potential

psychological tension’. Any refusal to accept organic sensations (natural

feelings and perceptions) because they do not match the self-concept

will lead to anxiety.

15. ‘ Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such

that all the sensory and visceral experiences of the organism are, or may

be, assimilated on a symbolic level into a consistent relationship with

the concept of self’.

16. ‘Any experience which is inconsistent with the organization or the

structure of the self may be perceived as a threat, and the more of these

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perceptions there are, the more rigidly the self structure is organized to

maintain itself’.

17. ‘Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of

threat to the self structure, experiences which are inconsistent with it

may be perceived and examined, and the structure of self revised to

assimilate and include such experiences’.

18. ‘When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and

integrated system all his sensory and visceral experiences, then he is

necessarily more understanding of others and is more accepting of

others and is more accepting of others as separate individuals’.

19. ‘As the individual perceives and accepts into his self-structure more

of his organic experiences, he finds that he is replacing his present value

system- based extensively on introjections which have been distortedly

symbolized-with a continuing organismic valuing process’.

THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP IN PERSON-CENTRED THERAPY

SIX CONDITIONS FOR CONSTRUCTIVE PERSONALITY CHANGE

1.Relationship is key in person-centred therapy

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Relationship is the most important part of the therapy. Techniques,

strategies, methods, activities, etc. are not encouraged in this type of

therapy. Instead, the therapist focuses on developing a positive

relationship with the client under the assumption that this will give the

conditions to change in a positive way.

Rogers (1957) outlined six therapeutic conditions for constructive

personality change in the client. For constructive personality change to

occur, it is necessary that these conditions exist and continue over a

period of time.

1. Two persons are in psychological contact

2. The first, whom we shall term the client, is in a state of incongruence,

being vulnerable or anxious.

3. The second person, whom we shall term the therapist, is in a state of

congruence or integrated in the relationship.

4. The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client.

5. The therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client’s

internal frame of reference and endeavours to communicate this

experience to the client.

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6. The communication to the client of the therapist’s empathic

understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal degree

achieved.

No other conditions are necessary.

First condition of two persons in psychological contact

Two persons in psychological contact

Therapeutic relationship is described as ‘psychological contact’ because

it relates to the contact between two people engaged in the mental- as

opposed to physical- relationship typical of therapy. This condition

forms the basis for subsequent conditions as it is assumed that there is

no potential for a relationship of any kind without initial contact forming

between the two individuals. Most forms of therapy involve contact to

some extent.

Second condition of incongruence in client

Client is in a vulnerable or anxious state of incongruence

Self-concept is incongruent with the organismic self.

Third condition of congruence in therapist

Therapist is congruent and integrated in the relationship

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Congruency is known otherwise known as genuineness as it refers to the

degree to which one can relate to another individual in a sincere and

honest manner. Genuineness is essential for both empathic

understanding and unconditional positive regard. In the absence of

congruence, it is very difficult for the therapist to demonstrate the

remaining core conditions

*Rogers (1957) suggests that the therapist need only be congruent and

genuine in the moment in the therapeutic setting for the relationship to

be successful. Therapy can only be genuine if the therapist discloses all

thoughts to the client- Rogers himself disclosed his own feelings of

boredom to a client (Landreth, 1984).

Fourth condition of unconditional positive regard from therapist

Therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client

Rogers (1957) suggests that successful personality change requires the

therapist to accept the client with genuine warmth (positive regard)

irrespective of the personal traits or behavioural actions of the

individual (unconditional). This condition highlights the importance of an

understanding of oneself to be aware of any potential prejudice in order

to maintain a non-judgemental attitude towards the client. *Rogers

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regarded the human condition as inherently worthy, although he did

acknowledge that the individual is capable of both positive and negative

emotions. For this reason, it is important for the therapist to appreciate

that a person is doing the best that they are able to do at that time and

any concerns about the behaviour exhibited by a client should be

directed towards the actions rather than the character of the individual.

Fifth condition of empathic understanding from therapist

Therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client’s frame

of reference

Rogers (1957) states that the fifth condition for successful therapeutic

change is the therapist’s ability to experience ‘an accurate, empathic

understanding of the client’s awareness of his own experience’.

Empathic understanding requires the therapist to be able to perceive

the world of the client from the client’s frame of reference. The

therapist should be close enough to the client to appreciate his/her own

perspective, yet far enough away from the client to remain objective.

True empathy is difficult to obtain as it involves an immersion in the

world of the client without a loss of the self. Many clients have never

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had the experience of being truly understood by another person and the

expression of empathy by the therapist has resulted in many astonished

responses, such as ‘yes, that’s it….I can’t believe how well you

understand me’. True empathy can enhance rapport, thus opening the

lines of communication to a greater extent and allowing the client to

engage in deeper self-reflection.

Primary empathy requires the therapist to respond to the feelings and

behaviour expressed by the client. The therapist should actively attend

to the client and indicate their understanding of exactly what was

expressed by the client. Advanced empathy requires the therapist to

sense the expressions not communicated directly by the client. Self-

disclosure, interpretations and challenges can all be used in advanced

empathy. The client always remain the expert.

Sixth condition of communication between client and therapist

Therapist communicates empathic understanding and unconditional

positive regard to client

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 Unconditional positive regard, congruency and empathy are all

redundant unless the client is able to detect these states in the

therapist.

STAGES OF CONSTRUCTIVE PERSONALITY CHANGE

Rogers wrote about the six conditions in 1957, but it was not until 1961

that he developed his ideas for ‘a process conception of psychotherapy’.

Rogers identified seven stages in the client’s process. All stages can be

In stage one, people are unlikely to come to therapy as they lack

awareness of self, their views of the world are fixed and rigid, they are

out of touch with their feelings, and they take no responsibility for their

actions.

If people become less rigid in thought processes and begin to get in

touch with feelings (through being ‘fully received’ by another), then they

may engage in therapy. Most therapy takes place with clients in stages

two to six. If stage six is achieved, then stage seven will inevitably follow

and is likely to happen outside the therapeutic relationship.

Movement from stage one to stage seven involves the following:

- Feelings unowned in the past to owned in the present.

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 - Incongruence to congruence.

- Experiences changing from remote and fixed to current and fluid.

- Communication with self and others from closed to open.

- Problems not recognised to accepted as part of the self.

- Responsibility put onto others to self-responsibility.

ABSENCE OF TECHNIQUES

Successful therapy is not dependent on techniques

Successful therapy is dependent purely on the nature of the therapeutic

relationship/Constructive personality change requires only that the client

and therapist engage in a positive therapeutic relationship. Person-centred

therapy involves simply being with the client/No use of games, exercises,

activities, homework, etc.

Various methods can be taught and utilised to improve skills in

communicating the core conditions of congruence, unconditional positive

regard and empathy. But these are simply interpersonal skills , rather than

specific therapeutic techniques to be followed according to the instructions.

As noted by Thorne (1996), Rogers was horrified to find that the focus on the

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responses of the therapist became a list of techniques- the whole purpose of

person-centred therapy is to be genuine in that moment, rather than to

follow a set of protocols according to the book.

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