Briefly describe humanistic therapy. How would a humanistic therapist help someone with low self-esteem?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Students' examples may vary.

The answer should contain the following information:

Humanistic therapy draws on the philosophical perspective of self-responsibility in developing treatment techniques. The many different types of therapy that fit into this category have a similar rationale: we have control of our own behavior, we can make choices about the kinds of lives we want to live, and it is up to us to solve the difficulties we encounter in our daily lives.

Humanistic therapists believe that people naturally are motivated to strive for self-actualization. Self-actualization is the term that clinical psychologist Abraham Maslow used to describe the state of self-fulfillment in which people realize their highest potentials, each in his or her own unique way.

Instead of acting in the more directive manner of some psychodynamic and behavioral approaches, humanistic therapists view themselves as guides or facilitators. Therapists using humanistic techniques seek to help people understand themselves and find ways to come closer to the ideal they hold for themselves. In this view, psychological disorders result from the inability to find meaning in life, from the feelings of loneliness, and from a lack of connection to others.

A person with low self-esteem may benefit from person-centered therapy. Person-centered therapy (also called client-centered therapy) aims to enable people to reach their potential for self-actualization. By providing a warm and accepting environment, therapists hope to motivate clients to air their problems and feelings. In turn, this enables clients to make realistic and constructive choices and decisions about the things that bother them in their current lives.

Instead of directing the choices clients make, therapists provide what Carl Rogers calls unconditional positive regard. Unconditional positive regard involves providing wholehearted acceptance, support, and understanding, no matter what feelings and attitudes a client expresses. By doing this, therapists hope to create an atmosphere that enables clients to come to decisions that can improve their lives.

Furnishing unconditional positive regard does not mean that therapists must approve of everything their clients say or do. Rather, therapists need to communicate that they are caring, nonjudgmental, and empathetic-understanding of a client's emotional experiences.