HUMANISTIC

EXISTENTIALISM MODEL

Group 4
“The humanism is a holistic
psychological perspective that attributes
human characteristics and actions to free
will and an innate drive for self-
actualization. Also known as ‘Third
Force’.”
• In 1950, humanistic psychology arose as a reaction
to Behaviorism and psychoanalysis (school of
thought).

• Popularized during 1950 and 1960s following

WWII and the cold war.

• During this time period, psychologist were seeking a

more optimistic approach in response to the stress
that came with the war.
• Influenced by
Early Greek Philosophers
Europeans of Renaissance era

They believed
human beings
as unique
 CONTRIBUTORS

• Two main Contributors

1- Carl Rogers 2- Abraham Maslow
 A/C TO THEM THE FOCUS OF
PSYCHOLOGY

Behavior Unconsci
Thinking
(Skinner ous
(Freud) (Wundt)
)

How individuals
perceive and
interpret events
 ROGER’S THEORIES

• Client Centred Therapy

• Self-Actualization
• Unconditional Positive Regard
• Development of the Self
• Congruence
• The Fully-Functioning Person
 SELF-ACTUALIZATION

• Rogers believed that all people

possess and inherent need to grow
and achieve their potential. This
need to achieve self-actualization,
he believed, was one of the
primary motives driving behavior.
 5 CHARACTERISTICS OF SELF
ACTUALISED PEOPLE
1. Openness to experience

• A fully functioning person is one who receives all experiences flexibly

so that new perceptions always arise. Thus he will experience a lot of
emotions (emotional) both positive and negative.

2. Existential life

• The quality of existential life where people are open to their experiences
so that they always find something new, and always change and tend to
adjust themselves in response to subsequent experiences. Focus on
present rather than past or future.
3. Trust in one's own organism

• Experience will come alive when someone

opens himself to the experience itself. That way
he will behave according to what he feels right
(arise instantly and intuitively) so that he can
consider every aspect of a situation very well.
4. Free Feelings
• Psychologically healthy people can make choices without
hindrance between alternative thoughts and actions. A free
person has a personal sense of power about life and believes that
the future depends on itself, not on past events so that he can see
so many choices in his life and feel able to do whatever he wants
to do
5. Creativity
• Openness to experience and trust in their own
organisms will encourage a person to have creativity
with the characteristics of spontaneous behavior, not
defensive, changing, growing, and developing in
response to various life stimuli around
 MASLOW’S CONTRIBUTIONS

ABRAHAM MASLOW

SUBJECTIVE
EXPERIENCE FREE WILL
SELF
HIERARCHY ACTUAIZATION
OF NEEDS
• Client centered Therapy also known as Person Centered Therapy
and Rogarian Therapy developen in 1940s and 50s.
• Roger, founder of PCT, explained the client’s feelings and
attitudes toward the self and toward other people.
 :
Person Centered Therapy is defiene as :
 :
• The success of Person Centered Therapy relies on Three basic principles:
 :
• According to Rogers, congruence is most important and is also
known as Genuineness.
• If Therapist is saying one thing but the body language is reflective of
something else, clients are aware of this and may impact on their
interest and openness in therapeutic relationship.
• Therapist expressing himself Honestly.
Positive Regard.
Uncondition positive Regard.
Therapist deep and genuine
Caring for client.
Therapist offer no judgment .
Allows client to express and
Help to facilitate change process.
• Ability to understand what the client is feeling.
• Ability to understand sensetively and accurately ( not sympathetically)
the client’s experience and feelings.
:
 :
The person centered approach has been developed by Carl Roges who
took a humanistic approach to therapy. humanistic psychoogy “ views
people as capable and autonomous, with the ability to resolve their
difficulties, realize their potential, and change their lives in positive
ways.”
SPIRITUAL VIEWS AND
INTERVENTION
CLINICAL SCIENTISTS VIEWED
RELIGION AS NEGATIVE AND
BEST NEUTRAL FACTOR IN
MENTAL HEALTH

IN 1900S FREUD ARGUED THAT

RELIGIOUS VIEWS ARE '
DEFENCE MECHANISM '

BORN FROM THE MAN'S NEED

TO MAKE HIS HELPLESSNESS
TOLERABLE
NEGATIVE VIEWS ABOUT RELIGION
ARE ENDING

SPIRITUAL ISSUES TO CLINICAL

TREATMENT

BOOKS AND ARTICLES PUBLISHED

ETHICAL CODES FOR
PSYCHOLOGISTS, PSYCHIATRISTS
AND CHANCELLORS

RELIGION IS TYPE OF DIVERSITY

AND MUST BE RESPECTED
 CORRELATES WITH MENTAL HEALTH

PEOPLE WHO ARE DEVOUT AND VIEW GOD

AS WARM, HELPFUL AND DEPENDABLE ARE
LESS PESSIMISTIC, LESS LONELY, LESS
DEPRESSED OR ANXIOUS

PEOPLE WHO CONSIDER GOD AS COLD AND

UNRESPONSIVE ARE MORE OPEN TO
PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLNESS. SUCH AS
DEPRESSION, ANXIETY ETC. PEOPLE WHO
BELIEVE IN GOD SEEMS TO COPE BETTER
WITH LIFE STRESSORS FROM ILLNESS TO
WAR.
LESS CHANCES OF ATTEMPTING SUICIDE
AND TAKING DRUGS

DOES SPIRITUALITY RESULT IN GREATER

MENTAL HEALTH??

NOT NECESSARILY!
SENSE OF OPTIMISM LEADS TO HIGH
SPIRITUALITY

INDEPENDENTLY OPTIMISM CONTRIBUTE

TO GREATER MENTAL HEALTH
 THERAPISTS NOW INCUDE
SPIRITUAL ISSUES WHEN
TREATING RELIGIOUS CLIENTS

ENCOURAGE CLIENTS TO USE

THEIR RELIGIOUS RESOURCES TO
COPE WITH LIFE STRESSORS

RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS OFFERS

COUNSELLING SERVICES TO IT'S
MEMBERS
EXISTENTIALISM
Theory &therapy
 HISTORY
• Friedrich Nietzsche and Soren Kierkegaard. developed
the theory of existentialism by introducing the idea of free
will and personal responsibility.
• In the early 1900s, philosophers such as Martin
Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre began to explore the role
of investigation and interpretation in the healing
process. Over the next several decades, other
contemporaries started to acknowledge the importance of
experiencing in relation to understanding as a method to
achieving psychological wellness and balance.
 CONT.…….

• Otto Rank was among the first existential therapists

to actively pursue the discipline, and by the middle
of the 20th century, psychologists Paul Tillich and
Rollo May brought existential therapy into the
mainstream through their writings and
teachings, as did Irvin Yalom after them.
The Philadelphia Association, an organization dedicated
to helping people manage their mental health issues
with experiential therapies. Other institutions that
embody the theory of existentialism include the Society
for Existential Analysis, founded in 1988, and the
International Community of Existential Counselors,
created in 2006.
 EXISTENTIALISM
• Existentialism is a philosophical belief which
focuses on existence. On freedom and
choice.

It states that existence precedes essence.

Man exists and in the process man defines
himself and the world in his own thoughts,
and wanders between choice, freedom,
and existential angst.
 EXISTENTIAL THEORY
• The existential theory is a branch of philosophy that deals with what it
identifies as existential questions. These are questions about the
meaning of life. Examples include:
• Why do humans exist?
• Why do I exist?
• How shall I exist?
• What choices are mine to make?
• What do I value?
• Who am I?
• How can I contribute to my world?
 EXISTENTIAL ANXIETY

• What Is Existential Anxiety?

• When humans come to the point of doubting that their lives have to mean,
they experience existential anxiety. This may set them on a quest to search
for a meaning that will satisfy their need to relate to the world in a way that
makes sense to them.
• We may also experience existential anxiety when the meaning we have
made for our lives conflicts our life circumstances. We may become stuck,
feeling confused, powerless, and anxious. Existential psychotherapy's goal
is to help you resolve these dilemmas in a way that is meaningful to you.
 MAJOR THEMES OF
EXISTENTIAL THERAPY

• the major themes of existential therapy are client responsibility and

freedom. Existential therapy focuses on free will, self-determination, and
the search for meaning—often centering on you rather than on the
symptom. The approach emphasizes your capacity to make rational
choices and to develop to your maximum potential.
 The existential approach stresses that:

• All people have the capacity for self-awareness.

• Each person has a unique identity that can be known
only through relationships with others.
•People must continually re-create
themselves because life’s meaning
constantly changes.
•Anxiety is part of the human
condition.
•The search for
meaning,purpose,values,and goals
•Awareness of death and
nonbeing.
WHAT CONDITIONS/DISORDERS DOES EXISTENTIAL
THERAPY TREAT?
 Existential therapy can be highly effective for youth and
adults who are struggling to make healthy life choices and
accept the consequences of these choices.
 This may include individuals struggling with addiction,
anxiety, depression, and a wide range of psychological and
behavioral issues.
 As with most forms of therapy, existential therapy is most
beneficial for an individual who is willing to engage in honest
self-evaluation.
 Individuals who are reluctant to search for meaning or who
would prefer to receive immediate relief from the symptoms
of their problems may not be appropriate for existential
therapy.
 ASPECTS OF EXISTENTIAL
THERAPY
• Personal Power
• Who Am I?
• Personal Freedom
• Choices Aren't Easy
• Narrow And Wider Perspectives
• Innately valuable:
CONT…….
Another aspect of existential psychotherapy
is the idea that you are an innately valuable person. Your
ability to choose for yourself is crucial to living a meaningful
life. Existential therapy can be practiced in many different
ways, but one assumption that rarely varies is that the process
is all about helping you learn what's meaningful to you and
make choices based on that meaning. In other words, what is
true for you is what matters most.
• Authenticity
Another feature of existential therapy is its
assumption that being authentic helps us live in meaningful
ways.
 CONCLUSION

THERE IS A MEANING AND PURPOSE FOR

ALL LIVING
BEINGS…………………
GESTALT
THEORY AND
THERAPY
 HUMANISTIC
APPROACH
• Definition of gestalt
• Introduction : gestalt according to fritz perls
• Develop by fritz Perls
1. Techniques
2. Skillful frustration
3. Role playing
4. List of rules including “ here and now” and “ I”
language.
 According to
Frederick's “fritz “
perls (1893-1970)
main originator
and developer of
gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is an
existential,
phenomenological
and process based
approach.
• Gestalt is a German word mean
whole or total shape of something.
• A gestalt or whole, both includes
the sum of its parts.

• Phenomenological basis mean that

you are seeking to focus on the client
perception of reality.
  TECHNIQUES
• Self awareness
• Skillful frustration
• Role playing
• List of rules
• Here and now
  SELF
AWARENESS
• A key element in this theory is helping the
clients come to an awareness of what he or she
is doing and experience.
• Gestalt therapist guide their client toward self
recognition and self acceptance.
  SELF AWARENESS
• Awareness includes insight, self acceptance,
knowledge of ones environment, a responsibility for
choices or understanding of the concept of choices.
• The initial goal for a client is to gain awareness of
what they are experiencing and doing at that time in
their life.
• for example: if client experienced childhood trauma,
they will be encouraged to become the hurt child
rather than just talk about it.
 SKILLFUL
FRUSTRATION
• It is a technique in which the gestalt
therapist refuse to meet their client
expectation or demand
• This use of frustration is meant to help
people see how often they try to
manipulate other into meeting their
needs.
 HERE AND NOW

• Our “Power is in the present”

• The only moment that is significant is the
present for many people the power of the
present is lost.
• It is another common rule requires clients to
stay in the here and now. They have needs now
and hiding theirs needs now and must
observe them now.
 ROLE PLAYING

• Role playing is a technique in which the therapist instruct

clients to act out the various role model.
• A Person may be told to be another person, an object, an
alternative self or even a part of the body.
• Role playing can become intense as individuals are
encouraged to express emotion fully, many cry out, scream,
kick or pound.
• Through this experience they may come to “own” (accept)
feelings that previously made them comfortable.
 THERAPEUTIC GOAL

• More towards increased awareness of themselves.

• Gradually assumed ownership of their experiences.
• Develop skills and acquire values that will allow them to satisfy
their needs without violating the right of other
• Become more aware of all their senses.
• Learn to accept responsibility for what they do, including
accepting the consequences of their action.
 LIST OF RULES

• Perls also developed a “ list of rules” to ensures that clients

will look at themselves more closely in some version of gestalt
therapy.
• For example client may be required to use “I” language rather
than “IT” language.
• They must say “ I am frightened” rather than “the sensation
is frightened”
ASSESSING THE
HUMANISTIC
• The humanistic-existential model appeals to
many people in and out of clinical field.
• In recognizing the special challenges of
human existence, humanistic and existential
theorists tap into an aspect of psychological
life that typically is missing from the other
models.
• Moreover, the factors that they say are
essential to effective functioning self-
acceptance , personal , values, personal
meaning and personal choice are certainly
lacking in many people with psychological
disturbances.
• At the same time the humanstic existential focus on
abstract issues of human fulfillment gives rise to a
major problem from a scientific point of view,
• These issues are difficult to research in fact, with the
notable exception of rogers, who tried to investigate
his clinical methods carefully, humanistic and
existentialists have traditionally rejected the use of
empirical research.
• This antiresearch position is just now beginning to
change.
• The optimistic tone of humanistic existential
model is also an attraction such optimism
meshes quite well with the goals and
principles of the positive psychology.
• Theorists who follow the principles of
principles of the humanistic existential
model offer great hope when they assert
that, despite past and present events.
• We can make our own choices, determine
our own destiny, and accomplish much.
• Still another attractive feature of the model
is it emphasis on health.
• Humanstic and existential researchers have
conducted several studies in recent years that use
appropriate control groups and statistical analyses.
• They have found that their therapies can beneficial
in some cases (Schneider
&krug,201;Strumpfel,2006)
• This new found interest in research should lead to
important insights about the merits of this model in
the coming years.