The Psychology Book (43 page)

1942
Counseling and

therapy based on humanistic

Psychotherapy

psychology. He also spent

1951
Client-centered Therapy

time with the United Service

1961
On Becoming a Person

PSYCHOTHERAPY 137

Teaching a child
to ride a bicycle

requires encouragement and support

but ultimately the child must be brave

and trust himself. Rogers likened his

person-centered therapy to this process.

him find what sort of role he would

really like to take. Rogers describes

the process as “supportive, not

reconstructive;” the client must

not come to rely on the therapist

for support, but instead needs to

learn how to become sufficiently

self-aware and self-trusting to

be independent and able to live

“the good life.”

Rogers’ legacy

Rogers was one of the most

influential psychotherapists of the

20th century, and his new client-

centered, non-directive therapy

marked a turning point in the

approval—both from them and from

healthy and capable of growing

development of psychotherapy.

society. In direct contrast, the rates

and realizing its potential. This

He was instrumental in the

of students who drop out or fail

approach was in contrast to the

encounter-group philosophy of

university courses are strikingly

other main psychological therapies

the 1960s, which encouraged

low among those who have have

of the time—psychoanalysis and

open communication between

received little support but worked

behaviorism—both of which

individuals. He was responsible

to pay for their own tuition.

focus on the pathology of the

for the spread of professional

The ways in which people can

individual and how to fix it.

counseling into areas such as

influence our desires and how we

Rogers initially called his

education and social work, and was

define ourselves can be intensely

approach “client-centered,” and then

a pioneer in attempting to resolve

complex. Resentment can be

changed it to “person-centered,” and

international conflict through more

buried deep within us when we

it has since been hugely influential

effective communication. ■

act in accordance with someone

in education, parenting, business,

else’s wishes rather than our own.

and other areas as well as in clinical

If our actions are free of external

work. In person-centered therapy,

influences, we feel more authentic,

which Rogers described as “non-

more solidly in control of creating

directive therapy,” the therapist

our own destiny, and more satisfied

takes the role of a facilitator who

with the results.

helps the client find his or her own

The process of the

answers, based on the belief that

good life… means

Person-centered approach

the client knows himself best. In

launching oneself fully

Rogers’ philosophy became the

person-centered therapy, the client

into the stream of life.

cornerstone of a new approach

identifies his problems and what

Carl Rogers

called humanistic psychology,

direction the therapy should take.

which he founded in the 1950s

For example, the client may not

with Abraham Maslow and Rollo

wish to focus on his childhood but

May. It was based on a positive

rather deal with issues he is facing

view of humanity as basically

at work and the therapist may help

138

WHAT A MAN

CAN BE, HE

MUST BE

ABRAHAM MASLOW (1908–1970)

an individual must discover his

IN CONTEXT

T
hroughout recorded history,

questions have been posed

true purpose in life and pursue it.

about why we are here,

Maslow refers to this ultimate state

APPROACH

and what the purpose is of our lives.

of being as self-actualization.

Humanist psychology

Underlying these questions is a need

BEFORE

to identify what will make us truly

Toward self-actualization

1920s
Alfred Adler claims

satisfied, and a confusion about

Maslow created a highly structured

there is only one motivating

how to find it. Psychoanalysts

plan to explain the path of human

force behind all our behavior

would claim that the fulfilment

motivation, defining the steps that

and experience: the striving

of innate biological drives leads

humans need to follow as they

for perfection.

toward satisfaction, and

move toward self-actualization. His

behaviorists would describe

famous Hierarchy of Needs, which

1935
Henry Murray develops

the importance of meeting

is often drawn as a pyramid,

the Thematic Apperception

physiological needs with food,

positions the most basic needs at

Test, which measures

sleep, and sex, but the new wave

the base and each of the other

personality and motivation.

of psychotherapeutic thought in

essential requirements for a

the early to mid-20th century

fulfilled life in groups on top.

AFTER

believed that the path to inner

Maslow’s hierarchy is split

1950s
Kurt Goldstein defines

fulfillment was much more complex.

into two distinct sections: at the

self-actualization as the

One of the main proponents

beginning are the four stages that

tendency to actualize, as much

of this new approach to the

make up the “deficiency needs” and

as possible, the organism’s

problem was Abraham Maslow, a

all of these must be met before a

individual capacities, and

psychotherapist who is considered

person is able to reach for greater

proclaims that the drive to

one of the founders of the humanist

intellectual satisfaction through

self-actualize is the only

movement in psychology. He

the “growth needs.” The deficiency

drive that determines the

examined human experience by

needs are simple and basic; they

life of an individual.

looking at the things that are most

include physiological necessities

important to us: love, hope, faith,

(such as food, water, and sleep), the

1974
Fritz Perls says that

spirituality, individuality, and

need for safety (to be safe and out

every living thing “has

existence. One of the most crucial

of danger), love and belongingness

only one inborn goal—to

aspects of his theories was that in

needs (our need to be close to and

actualize itself as it is.”

order to reach the most highly

accepted by others), and self-esteem

developed state of consciousness

requirements (our need to achieve

and realize the greatest potential,

in our lives and be recognized).

PSYCHOTHERAPY 139

See also:
Alfred Adler 100–01 ■ Erich Fromm 124–29 ■ Carl Rogers 130–37 ■

Rollo May 141 ■ Martin Seligman 200–01

The Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s hierarchy

of needs
lists the

qualities he observed in

successful individuals

who aimed high but kept

Self-transcendence

their feet on the ground.

Helping

others,

connecting with

something outside

Abraham Maslow

ourselves

Abraham Maslow was born

Self-actualization

Fulfilling personal potential

the eldest of seven children

in Brooklyn, New York.

s

d

Aesthetic

His parents were Jewish

e

e

Order, beauty, symmetry

immigrants who had left

Russia for the US to escape

th n

Cognitive

the tumultuous political

row

Knowing, understanding

situation there. They had

G

D

high expectations of Maslow,

e

and forced him to study

fi

Self-esteem

ci

law—a parental dominance

Achievement, recognition, respect, competence

en

that continued until 1928

cy n

when Maslow decided to take

Love and Belongingness

e

control of his life and pursue

Acceptance, friendship, intimacy, relationships

ed

psychology instead. In the

s

same year he disobeyed his

Safety

parents by marrying his cousin,

Security, stability, health, shelter, money, employment

Bertha Goodman, with whom

he had two children.

Physiological

Maslow moved to the

Air, food, drink, sleep, warmth, exercise

University of Wisconsin and

worked under Harry Harlow,

the behavioral psychologist

At the higher level, the growth

Maslow also proposes that each

famous for his work with

needs are cognitive (a need to

one of us has an individual purpose

primates. Later, at Columbia

know and understand), aesthetic

to which we are uniquely suited,

University, Maslow found a

(a desire for order and beauty), and

and part of the path to fulfillment

mentor in psychoanalyst

lastly, two requirements that define

is to identify and pursue that

and former colleague of

the purpose of life, and lead to

purpose. If someone is not doing

Freud’s, Alfred Adler.

intense spiritual and psychological

what they are best suited to do in

Key works

fulfillment: self-actualization

life, it will not matter if all their

and self-transcendence. Self-

other needs are fulfilled, he or she

1943
A Theory of Human