Theories and techniques of humanism

The humanity Today, although it has made great achievements in science and technology, it has not yet managed to build a human society where all people live in harmony with each other, and with the rest of the creatures living. Various questions cloud the human mind and create limiting feelings. These feelings, which prevent us from realizing the fundamental unity that exists among all beings, have caused throughout history the various conflicts, wars, and imbalances in the world. It is the reason why the humanistic approach originated, which intended that the human being understand himself more by finding a meaning of life in his existence.

Some of the techniques that humanism uses are mentioned in the present Psychology-Online article and are focused on that the client becomes aware of his actions as long as he is responsible for his freedom in the search for the sense of lifetime. The basic principles of humanistic psychotherapy are also mentioned, as well as some criticisms in the sense of proper application in certain areas and that it must be adjusted to the needs of each person. Keep reading this Psychology-Online article to know the

Index

1. Introduction to Neohumamism
2. Background of humanistic psychology
3. Humanistic psychology
4. Basic foundations of humanistic psychology 
5. Influences on the development of humanistic psychology
6. Basic principles of humanist theory
7. Main representatives of humanism
8. Maslow's humanistic theory
9. Rogers' humanistic theory
10. Rogers personality theory
11. Proposals of existential-humanistic psychology: humanistic therapy
12. Existential psychotherapy
13. Neohumanism
14. Main representatives of neohumanism
15. Valuation process
16. Discussion
17. Conclusions on humanistic therapy

Unlike Humanism, Neo-Humanism makes an exhaustive analysis of all the feelings that limit our intellect, and offers us the elements for the liberation of the intellect from all those limiting feelings. Neo-Humanism or the cult of love for all creation is an instrument for the analysis of society and the origin of the conflicts that could be the philosophical link between all the people and groups that today work for a world best.

The ideology of this theory is also a help for those who are on the spiritual path. Especially for those who work for the service of humanity at the same time for their self-realization. It offers a vision that helps us protect the inner treasure of our spiritual realizations as we live in society working to improve.

As Caparrós (1979) has pointed out, within the theories and techniques of humanism, humanistic psychologists recognize the influence that many have had on them throughout the history of psychology have resisted, on each occasion in various ways, the reduction of it to a simple science natural.

Despite this, certain authors or orientations who had previously developed, in a particular way, essential points for Humanist Psychology. Thus Franz Brentano had criticized the mechanistic and reductionist approach of psychology as a science natural, and proposed the psychological study of consciousness as an intentional act and not as a molecular content and passive. Oswald Kúlpe suggested that not all conscious experience could be reduced to elementary forms or explained in terms of content, and authors as Wilhelm Dilthey or William James argued against mechanism in psychology, proposing to focus on consciousness and the individual total. However, it is advisable to adopt a certain caution at this point: the fact that some contemporary humanists recognize these authors as their predecessors, and that they have effectively maintained in his writings points of view akin to the phenomenological, does not authorize to speak of a direct influence of his works on the creators of Psychology Humanist.

Historical framework of the humanist model

More recently the Gestalt psychotherapy He argued that a molar approach to consciousness had to be adopted and insisted, against behaviorism, on the study of conscious experience as a legitimate and useful psychological area. There are also several antecedents of Humanistic Psychology in the psychoanalytic ranks, through the work of Adler. Horney and Erikson. These authors, as is known, are from orthodox psychoanalysis in that the personality is determined in an important way by the forces including, it is important to mention, to Otto Rank - whose influence on humanistic psychology is often forgotten - primarily because of his nondirective approach to psychotherapy and his recognition of the creative potential of all person. (Carpintero, Mayor and Zalbidea, 1990). Humanist Psychology originates in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, subjected to influences of three types: philosophical, social - cultural and properly psychological. (González, 2006).

It arose from the rejection of the two dominant psychologies, behaviorism and psychoanalysis, for offer a dehumanized, reductionist, mechanistic and deterministic vision of the human being (González, 2006). Humanistic psychology will present itself as a "third force." This type of psychology presents a great variety, so it is more appropriate to speak of a movement than of a school (Carpintero, Mayor and Zalbidea, 1990). As well as by social and cultural factors such as discouragement and restlessness after the Second World War, the atomic threat, the cold war and social dissatisfaction. The roots of the humanist movement were William James, the Gestalt Theory, Adler, Jung, Horney, Ericsson, Allport, in Europe, Ludwig Bingswanger and Medar Boss who understand the human being in their works, as the object and method of psychology, pathology and its treatment is related to the philosophical tradition humanist. It also arises from concepts of Phenomenology, the precursor of Gestalt, whose main representatives were Husserl, Muller, Stumpf, and who studies the phenomenon or immediate experience as it occurs independently of the past.

The Gestalt approach sees the human being as a subject tending to complete its existence. The Gestalt therapy proposes 3 specific tasks to facilitate the integration of wants and needs:

• Valuation of the present time; in the here and now, one works with the isolated material, not with the past or with the illusion of the future.
• Appreciation of awareness and acceptance of experience; working with sensory and emotional experience and avoiding intellectual discourse or interpretations.
• Valuation of responsibility and integrity; each one is responsible for their conduct, however illogical or extreme it may seem.

The purpose is for the individual to become aware in the here and now.

The term humanism it is related to the philosophical conceptions that place the human being as the center of their interest. Philosophical humanism highlights the dignity of the human being, although interpreted differently in the different forms of humanism (Christian, socialist, existentialist, scientific, etc.). Humanism can be understood as a certain conception of the human being, and also as a method. For example, humanism understood as a method is present in the psychology of William James, who rejected all absolutism and all denial of variety and spontaneity of the experience and, consequently, claimed flexibility in describing the richness of the real, even at the cost of losing accuracy (Rossi, 2008). For the humanist approach, the relevant knowledge about the human being will be obtained by focusing on purely human phenomena such as love, creativity or anguish. To refer to the humanistic approach in psychology the titles are used: humanistic psychology, existentialist psychology, humanistic-existential psychology.

The humanistic approach it is concerned with developing human potential and is not content with its proper functioning. In a word, humanistic psychology represents a commitment to becoming human, an accentuation of the wholeness and uniqueness of the individual, a concern for improving the human condition, as well as understanding the individual (Carpenter, Mayor and Zalbidea, 1990).

The humanistic psychology it is more of a movement than a school, and even more the reflection of an attitude about the human being and knowledge. The ideas that come out the most from the humanistic approach are:

• The importance assigned to the individual, to personal freedom, free will, individual creativity and spontaneity.
• Emphasis is placed on conscious experience.
• Emphasis is placed on everything related to human nature.

Humanists wish to highlight mental health and all the positive attributes of life, such as happiness, satisfaction, ecstasy, kindness, generosity, affection, etc. In addition, the members of the movement share:

• The eagerness to focus on the person, their inner experience, the meaning that the person gives to their experiences and the self-presence that this implies.
• Emphasis on distinctive and specifically human characteristics: decision, creativity, self-realization, etc.
• Maintenance of the criterion of intrinsic significance in the selection of problems to be investigated, against a value inspired only by the value of objectivity.
• Commitment to the value of human dignity and interest in the full development of the potential inherent in each person; the person as he discovers himself and in relation to other people and social groups is central.

According Martorell and Prieto (2006), the third force or humanistic psychology receives influences from psychology by rejecting the two influences that dominated when it appeared, behaviorism and psychoanalysis, for the vision that these two approaches managed. Another of the influences were social and cultural factors, since at that time various events were presented like the discouragement and restlessness of the Second World War, the atomic threat, the cold war, social dissatisfaction, etc.

Humanistic psychology was also influenced by humanistic philosophy that in Europe directly influenced the development of existential psychology. Existentialism places particular emphasis on the existence of people, on how they live their lives and on their freedom. His theory speaks of the fact that the human being cannot be reduced to any entity, be it a rational animal, a social being, an entity. psychic or biological.

While phenomenology is the most appropriate method to approach man, it seeks to discover what his experience gives him, to approach the contents of consciousness without prejudice or preconceived theories on the part of the observer, is one of the theories used in the humanistic psychology since it focuses exclusively on the person and allows them to develop personal growth that allows them to find the happiness.

Some of the basic postulates that humanistic psychology provides about man are:

• It is more than the sum of its parts.
• It carries out its existence in a human context.
• You have choice.
• It is intentional in its purposes, its evaluative experiences, its creativity and its understanding of meanings.

In addition to these postulates, the supporters of this theory share four characteristics fundamental:

• They show a particular eagerness to focus on the person, the inner experience of him, the meaning that the person gives to his experiences.
• They emphasize distinctive and specifically human characteristics such as creativity, self-realization, decision, etc.
• They maintain the criterion of intrinsic significance when selecting the problems to be investigated, against a value inspired only by the value of objectivity.
• They are committed to human dignity and are interested in the full development of the potential inherent in each person, for them the person is central as he is discovered and in relation to other people and other groups social.

For his part Allport cited in Martorell and Prieto (2006), he distinguished two orientations in psychology with which one can work, the first is the ideographic one that emphasizes individual experience, in the unique case, and the other is nomothetic that is interested in statistical abstractions such as means or standard deviations.

Its main representatives are: William James, Gordon Allport, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Ludwig Bingswanger, Medar Boss, Rollo May, Victor Frankl, Eric Fromm, Ronald Laing. (Carpintero, Mayor and Zalbidea, 1990).

Ludwig bingswanger

Disciple of Husserl and greatly influenced by Heidegger. He used Heideggerian categories in therapy, trying to encompass man as a whole, and not just some of his dimensions. The understanding and description of the patient's world are his main objectives: for this he will propose an interpersonal encounter free of prejudices between the therapist and the patient. He criticized Freud for his emphasis on the biologist and mechanistic view of the human being:

• His treatment of man as a social being was insufficient.
• He, too, did not adequately understand the self in relation to himself.
• Nor human activities in which man transcends the environment (such as love or creativity).

For Bingswanger, the starting point for understanding personality is the human tendency to perceive meanings in events and, therefore, be able to transcend concrete situations. His emphasis on the importance of description has resulted in one of his main contributions are descriptions of the "worlds" of schizophrenics and the "ways frustrated ”to exist.

Regarding the analysis of individual differences, it is understood that these range from the authentic being (being able to influence one's life through decisions and choose the future in thought and action) to conformity (consider themselves defenseless against external forces, be passive, choose the past when they decide something). Along these lines, existential psychopathology shows special interest in states that include lack of meaning. Medard Boss, one of Bingswanger's followers and pioneers of existential therapy, described different contents and levels of efficacy in constructions about the self and the world.

Roll May

He is one of the most important representatives of American humanism. He criticizes the reductionism of Freudian psychoanalysis in its treatment of man, but does not want to dismiss the work of Freud. Non-dogmatic humanist:

• He promotes the humanist vision of psychotherapy but criticizes the exclusion of the negative elements of human nature that some humanist authors postulate.
• He actively defended the right of psychologists to work as psychotherapists in the face of attempts by medical associations to view psychotherapy as a medical specialty, but he denounced the avoidance of confrontation with the dilemmas of man that psychology has made on its way to acceptance Social.

A central concept in May's psychology: the man's dilemma. It originates in the capacity of the latter to feel as a subject and as an object at the same time. Both ways of experiencing yourself are necessary for the science of psychology, for psychotherapy, and for achieving a rewarding life. The psychotherapist alternates and complements the vision of the patient as an object, when he thinks of guidelines and principles general behavior, and as a subject, when he empathizes with his suffering and sees the world through his eyes. He rejects the two alternatives of the consideration of the human being as "purely free" or "purely determined" arguing that both imply refusing to accept the dilemma of man. He introduced existential experiences of anxiety, love and power as fundamental in the context of therapy.

Abraham Maslow

He was an American psychologist, one of the best known figures in humanistic psychology, he shares with other humanistic psychologists the proposal of a holistic system open to the variety of human experience and, therefore, the rejection of the use of a single method for the study of this diversity. He proposes integrating behaviorism and psychoanalysis into larger systems. He had a great interest in humanly exceptional people, which led him to a vision of man that shows what can become and what can be frustrated.

The central concept in Maslow's psychology is that of self-realization, understood as the culmination of the growth tendency that Maslow defines as obtaining the satisfaction of progressively higher needs and, together with this, the satisfaction of the need to structure the world based on its own analysis and values.

Maslow establishes his hierarchy of needs, the best known of his contributions, defining in his pyramid the basic needs of the individual in a hierarchical way, placing the most basic or simple needs at the base of the pyramid and the most relevant or Fundamentals at the top of the pyramid, as needs are being satisfied or achieved, others of a higher level arise or better. In the last phase he encounters "self-realization" which is nothing more than a level of full happiness or harmony.

Abraham Maslow's theory of personality it is often described as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the first four levels can be grouped as "deficit needs"; at the higher level he called it "self-actualization," "growth motivation," or "need to be." "The difference is that while deficit needs can be satisfied, the need to be is a continuous driving force." The basic idea of ​​this hierarchy is that the highest needs occupy our attention only when the lowest needs in the pyramid have been satisfied. The forces of growth lead to an upward movement in the hierarchy, while the regressive forces push the overbearing needs down the hierarchy. He rejected the theories of motivation that started from single determinants of behavior, proposing a theory of multiple determinants hierarchically organized at the following levels:

These are the needs that Maslow describes:

Physiological needs

They are basic to maintain health such as breathing, drinking water, eating the balance of body temperature, sleeping, resting, eliminating waste.

Safety and security needs

They are the needs to feel safe and protected: physical, health, employment, income, resources, moral, family and private property security.

Affiliation and affection needs

They are related to the affective development of the individual, they are the needs of association, participation and acceptance. Among these are: friendship, companionship, affection and love.

Esteem needs

Maslow described two types of esteem needs, one high and one low.

• High esteem concerns the need for self-respect, and includes feelings such as confidence, competence, mastery, achievement, independence, and freedom.
• Low esteem concerns the respect of other people: the need for attention, appreciation, recognition, reputation, status, dignity, fame, glory, and even dominance.

The core of these needs is reflected in low self-esteem and the inferiority complex.

Self-actualization or self-actualization needs

This last level is somewhat different, and Maslow used various terms to name it: "growth motivation," "need to be," and "self-realization." They are the highest needs, they are at the top of the hierarchy, and through their satisfaction, a meaning to life is found through the potential development of an activity. This is reached when all the previous levels have been reached and completed, at least to some extent.

The process that leads to self-realization culminates in what Maslow calls the “peak experience,” which is felt when a height is reached as a human being, a being here and now "lost in the present", with the awareness that what should be, is Maslow identifies healing, self-realization and creativity.. These experiences are perfectly natural and researchable and teach us about mature, evolved and healthy human functioning.

When the process towards self-realization is cut off, discouraging, compensatory or neurotic reactions appear and the behavior is focused towards avoidance, preventing autonomous development. Maslow proposes a conception of pathology, relating the deprivation of the Values ​​of being, with the appearance of certain alterations, which he calls metapathologies and which he understands as decreases in human. Maslow considered self-made a group of historical figures who he estimated fulfilled these criteria: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, William James, among others. Maslow deduced from their biographies, writings, and activities, a number of similar qualities; I estimated that they were people:

• Focused on reality, who knew how to differentiate the false or fictitious from the real and genuine.
• Focused on problems, they face problems by virtue of their solutions.
• With a different perception of meanings and ends.

In their relationships with others, they were people:

• in need of privacy, feeling comfortable in this situation;
• independent of the dominant culture and environment, relying more on their own experiences and judgments;
• resistant to enculturation, as they were not susceptible to social pressure; they were nonconformists;
• with a non-hostile sense of humor, preferring jokes about themselves or the human condition;
• good acceptance of himself and others, just as they were, not pretentious or artificial;
• freshness in appreciation, creative, inventive and original;
• with a tendency to live experiences with more intensity than the rest of humanity.

Metaneeds and metapathologies

Maslow also addresses the problem of what is self-realization in another way, speaking of impulsive needs, and comments on what is needed to be happy: truth, goodness, beauty, unity, integrity and transcendence of opposites, vitality, uniqueness, perfection and necessity, fulfillment, justice and order, simplicity, environmental richness, strength, playful sense, self-sufficiency, and search for what significant. When the needs for self-realization are not met, metapathologies arise, the list of which is complementary and as extensive as that of meta-needs. A certain degree of cynicism, disgust, depression, emotional disability and alienation then emerge.

• Only the unmet needs influence people's behavior, but the satisfied need does not generate any behavior.
• Physiological needs are born with the person, the rest of the needs arise over time.
• As the person manages to control his basic needs, higher order needs gradually appear; not all individuals feel the need for self-realization, because it is an individual conquest.
• The highest needs do not arise as the lowest are being satisfied. They can be concomitant but the basic ones will predominate over the superior ones.
• Basic needs require a relatively short motivational cycle for their satisfaction, in contrast, higher needs require a longer cycle.

Carl rogers

Influential psychologist in American history, who together with Abraham Maslow would come to found the humanistic approach in psychology. His therapeutic method, client-centered therapy, or non-directive therapy, starts from the central hypothesis that the individual possesses in himself same means for self-understanding and for changing self-concept, attitudes and self-directed behavior (Pezzano, 2001). The therapist must provide a climate of favorable psychological attitudes so that the patient can exploit these means. Two main features of client-centered therapy are:

• Radical trust in the person of the client (patient).
• The rejection of the managerial role of the therapist.

For Rogers, the human being is born with a realizing tendency that, if childhood does not spoil it, can lead to result a full person: open to new experiences, reflective, spontaneous and who values ​​others and himself same. The misfit person would have opposite traits: closed, rigid, and contemptuous of himself and others. Rogers insists on the importance of the therapist's attitudes and qualities for the successful outcome of therapy: the three main ones are empathy, authenticity, and consistency. The difference with Maslow is that he considers his self-realization process constant and continuous.

Rogers argues that parenting and especially the mother's role is a basic factor to achieve an adult personality. From 1942 in his Counseling and Psychotherapy, he founds the foundations of his client-centered therapy or client-centered therapy, the cornerstone of the Humanist Psychology movement (Pezzano, 2001). Rogers' Psychotherapy focuses on the person, whom he calls a client and not a patient, because he is not passive but active and responsible in the process of improving his life, having to consciously and rationally decide what is wrong and what to do when respect. The therapist is like a confidant or counselor who listens and encourages on an equal footing, with an understanding attitude, understanding you. He calls this attitude that the therapist must have "encounter."

He was a participant and instrumental manager in the development of non-directive therapy, also known as Client-Centered Therapy, which he renamed as Person-Centered Therapy. This interesting theory is known by its acronym in English PCA “Person-Centered Approach” or person-centered approach (Pezzano, 2001). His theories encompass not only therapist-client interactions, but also apply to all human relationships. Rogerian therapy contrasts with the Freudian psychological and social perspectives of Alfred Adler and Albert Bandura, by the use preference of empathy to achieve the communication process between the client and the therapist or, by extension, between a human being and other.

Person-centered approach

Carl Roger left the cold and rigid therapist role of the passive therapist and got great results, Through this practice he found attitudes that are necessary to promote human development, these They are:

• Congruence towards the other: This refers to the fact that the person must deny as little as possible what he is experiencing when interacting with his client, it is necessary for him to realize what is happening in that relationship, do not take a defensive attitude, try to be in contact with yourself in order to express yourself when you consider that it is significant for the work that is being done or for your patient. Roger proposed that this attitude taken by the professional towards his client, would facilitate his work so that the patient also became aware of his own experience.
• Another of the attitudes that he proposed was positive consideration: refers to shedding the judgments, considering the people who will increase with greater knowledge of the other, when the patient he manages to capture this acceptance, he is also able to realize that he has trust and faith and thus he manages to feel free to be what he it is.
• The last one is empathy: It speaks of having the ability to truly put oneself in the other person's shoes, to visualize the world as the other person really sees it, without losing one's quality of self.

These attitudes have a double objective, on the one hand to generate an environment that promotes growth and, on the other hand, another to teach the other to be like that with himself, that is, to be empathetic, accepting and congruent with himself same. If this learning is achieved, it will be able to flow and develop much more; since the possibility that Rogers handles is that we have stopped in our growth because we have had to be what we are not; we have had to divert our natural tendency to satisfy our needs towards complacency and satisfaction of the needs of others.

According Carl Rogers' Client-Centered Therapy, the patient undergoes a change when he feels understood and accepted by the therapist, that is why all Humanistic therapy is based on giving the human being the value that he has as well as the attention and empathy that required. Some of these changes are:

• He performs a relaxation of feelings, if he previously considered them as something remote, now he makes them his own or sees them as his own and finally as an ever-changing flow.
• He changes his way of experiencing from being very far from the first experience of his existence, he accepts it as something that has a meaning and at the end of the process the patient feels free and guided by their experiences.
• He goes from incoherence to coherence, from ignorance of its contradictions to understanding and avoiding them.
• There is a change in your relationship with your problems, from denial to acceptance of your responsibilities to acceptance.
• He modifies his way of relating to others, he realizes the way in which he previously avoided relating and now seeks to establish intimate relationships and be open to them.
• From before being focused on the past, to the present where the patient forget the past and live the present.

The propositions at the beginning of the series are the furthest from the experience of the therapist and, therefore, the most suspicious, while those that appear towards the end are getting closer and closer to the center of our experience. Rogers wanted to understand and describe the change that the patient undergoes when he feels understood and accepted by the therapist:

• There is a relaxation of feelings: considering them as something remote they are recognized as their own and, finally, as an ever-changing flow.
• Change in the way of experimenting: from the distance with which you first experience the experience of him, you begin to accept it as something that has a meaning, and at the end of the process the patient feels free and guided by his experiences.
• It goes from incoherence to coherence: from ignorance of its contradictions to understanding and avoiding them.
• There is also a change in his relationship with the problems: from the denial of it to the awareness of being responsible for it, passing through the acceptance of it.
• His way of relating to others also changes: from avoidance to seeking intimate relationships and an open disposition.

According to the aforementioned authors, there are various proposals in this theory, one of them was proposed by Ludwig bingswanger who tried to encompass man in his totality and not only in some dimensions. The way in which the patient understands and describes his world are his main objectives and for this reason he proposed an interpersonal encounter free of prejudices between the therapist and the patient. For him, the starting point to understand personality was the human tendency to perceive meanings in events and because of this, it is capable of transcending in concrete situations. used in therapy, called daseinanalyse or being-in-the-world analysis, which was based on the following points:

• The psychopathological disorders they represent an alteration of being-in-the-world.
• Being-in-the-world has a structure and therefore can be studied, described and rectified.
• Psychotherapy tries to understand the existential project of the person.
• And finally, she seeks to help to assume her own experience in all its fullness, discovering the forms and areas of alignment, to regain self-possession and self-determination.

These ideas currently influence the type of existential therapy today. It starts from the consideration that the authentic meaning is the one that people construct for themselves themselves, and it is proposed that people construct that meaning through a process of making decisions. The two basic modes of decision making are the choice of the future or the choice of the past. For the possibilities of development, the choice of the future is the most appropriate as it facilitates growth and self-realization.

The choice of the past stunts growth, by limit the subject to that which is already experientially known. Another person who influenced the development of humanist techniques was Rollo May, cited in Martorell and Prieto (2006), one of the concepts central to his psychology was the man's dilemma, which originates from his ability to feel as a subject and at the same time as a object. Both are fundamental in humanistic psychotherapy, since the psychotherapist alternates and complements the vision of the patient as an object when thinks about the general guidelines and principles of behavior and as a subject when he empathizes with his suffering and sees the world through his eyes.

This author proposes some characteristics for existential therapy:

• He points out that the goal of existential therapy is to increase the client's awareness of their own existence and in this way help them experience their own existence as real.
• The technique that you use must be subordinate and continue to know, that is, it must be flexible and adjust to the needs of the client.
• Both the therapist and the client are two people who maintain a relationship, that is, the therapist does not interpret the facts but rather reveals them in his relationship with the client.
• Psychological dynamisms are not considered common to human beings, he proposes that a emphasis on the particular significance of client dynamics that are derived from the context of his life. The therapist will not always know what is or what motivates the client, and the attitude that the client should take, rather than applying a technique, consists of listening to the patient with care and respect.
• The therapist tries to analyze all the forms of behavior of both himself and his client that prevent a real encounter between the two.
• He gives great importance to the commitment that according to this type of theories is the true way of being alive.

Another of the techniques used is the one proposed by Abraham Maslow, in which, through his pyramid of needs, he elaborated a hierarchy of the needs of being He spoke of the fact that the most basic ones should be satisfied, so that the human being could pay attention to the most complex ones and thus reach self-realization. The concept that this author managed the most was that of self-realization, which is understood as the culmination of the growth trend. The process of this last need culminates according to Maslow cited in Martorell and Prieto (2006), when man reaches the peak experience that according to this author feel when you reach a quota as a human being and a being here and now that it can be said that you are losing the present with the awareness that what should be it is.

There are certain differences between humanistic therapy and the psychoanalytic and behavioral approach, We can observe with the third force gives a broad definition about the human being according to López (2009). The study of the mentally ill is valuable, but not sufficient; the one that is carried out with animals is also so, although it does not reach satisfactory; one that is carried out with average people will not solve the problem in itself. Hence comes Rogers' client-centered therapy. The humanistic approach gives great importance to the study of man and his feelings, desires, hopes, aspirations that for other approaches consider them subjective and of little importance, such as behavioral theories that are based solely on the behaviors of individuals or psychoanalysis that considers patients to be victims of a disturbance mental.

Within humanistic psychology, interest in human existence and responsibility for it becomes the central issue. Man is considered as an integrated and responsible subject, which is defined in the freedom of his actions. All this leads him to continuous decision-making, which commits him and makes him responsible. Existentialism has a positive definition of man as a being capable of self-realization and transcending.

Every therapist is existentialist to the extent that he can learn the patient in his reality and is able to provide understanding. Understanding existentialism as a basic philosophy that sustains and strengthens the therapeutic action, and provides it with an epistemological foundation.

Hendrik Ruitenbeek, an American author interested in existentialism, was concerned with analyzing the contact between existentialism as philosophy and psychotherapy. He found in existential philosophy a series of principles that made possible a broad interpretation of the clinical material of this man in crisis, the object of psychotherapy. For its part, Von Gebsattel, argued that the crisis of psychotherapy was born from its contact with neurotic states of need, which refers to the original crisis of man and "consists in the distinction of his existential relations of being that is for or being and that without However, it is. This contradiction penetrates the tearing of his fundamental will, it continues in the paralyzing of an empty situation and derealizes the relationship of the self with the transcendent, with other men, with the world and with oneself ”(Gebsattel in González, 2006:190).

According to existentialism we understand psychotherapy as a crisis. Man is continually in crisis, it is where he puts his existence and his way of living it at stake.

Under the crisis of modernity and the anguish that it imposes post-modernism real in the spiritual condition of contemporary man, a new conception of Humanism is developing: a new humanism that restores man in his transcendent endeavor to unravel the mysteries of his Nature and of the environment in which he finds himself develops. The new consciousness of reality shows us that the limit that limits human understanding is reason itself, that logical, limited and fragile delusion, which has gone mad by giving primacy to the rational over the real. Human history is not only the result of the conquests of reason, but also of the blindness and misguidance that it generates.

The new consciousness, which represents post-rationalism, seeks to save rationality, on the basis of accepting that there is also uncertainty, multidimensionality, contradiction, chaos, that is, the complexity. This enables what Morin calls "the new Alliance", between scientific knowledge (based on verifications, observations, "falsifications") that looks towards the objectivity and philosophical knowledge (based on the merely reflective), which seeks to elucidate the relationship between the subject and the object of the knowledge.

Human beings reach the peak of devotion, by subjective approach and objective adjustment. And also explain how devotion develops through various psychic expressions. Now we must understand them clearly, the introspective aspect (subjective approach) and the extrovert aspect (objective adjustment). These should be crystal clear to each and everyone. The internal psychic movement of human beings, their existential knowledge, is completely rhythmic. A portion of what happens in the external world, in external existence, adjusts with the internal psychic rhythm.

When there is a bad adjustment between the external physical rhythm and the psychic rhythm, you feel anguish, you will have experienced in your life personal, who sometimes feel very uncomfortable in the company of certain people, but are quite comfortable with another group. When the rhythm of your movement in the external world, the rhythm of your lifestyle, adjusts to your internal psychic rhythm, they feel at ease, but when these rhythms do not correspond, they feel uncomfortable. For progress in the external world, there should be clear guidelines, a clear and well-integrated philosophical foundation. Society often lacks this and this is why people tend to lose their balance in social life. When those who have developed intellectually come into contact with an incompatible environment, they find it difficult to accommodate.

Comments on Humanistic Psychology

Present-day humanity has undoubtedly made considerable intellectual progress, but in the external world there is a lack of adjustment. There is not only a bad adjustment in the speed but also in the rhythm; it means that the model of the internal psychic rhythm is completely different from the external physical rhythm corresponding to the objective world. Obviously the shock is unavoidable and the impact of this shock is felt much more on the psychic plane than on the physical sphere. As a result, human beings lose their mental adjustment. Many theories have been proposed in the world. Some referred mainly to the spiritual world without taking any interest in the rationality of the psychic world. Unfortunately, many of these theories have been thrown into the trash heap of history. There were some theories that also showed some interest in the psychic plane, but they also failed to develop the mental equilibrium of society and were also rejected by the people. Some of these philosophies related to the physical world seemed very refined, but they were not in tune with the harsh realities of the objective world. Those philosophies were satisfactory enough in the dreamland of theory, but they had no connection whatsoever with the practicalities of the earth.

Other theories that sounded somewhat more palatable to the ear spoke fluently of human equality; but in applying them people discovered their ineffectiveness, because the fundamental principles of these philosophies were contrary to the basic realities of the world. "Diversity is the law of nature; there will never be uniformity. " The world is full of diversities, a panorama of variegated shapes and colors, diverse and varied expressions. One must never forget it. Sometimes the superficial display of these theories has dazzled the eyes of the beholder, but in reality they contained no dynamism. And yet, dynamism is the first and last word of human existence. What has lost its dynamism is like a stagnant well. In the absence of flow, a pool fills with weeds and becomes a health hazard. It is better to fill these kinds of ponds with soil. Many philosophies of the past have rendered this kind of negative service to humanity.

Devotional sentiment is the highest and most valuable sentiment of humanity. In “Diversity is the law of nature; there will never be uniformity ”of the human heart. This element of devotion, humanity's most precious treasure, must be preserved with the utmost care. Because it is such a tender inner value, to preserve it from the onslaught of materialism, it is you must build a protective fence around it, like a fence around a plant delicate. Now, the question is: What is the protective wiring? It is a proper philosophy that establishes a correct harmony between the material and spiritual worlds, and is the source that provides inspiration for the advancement of society.

Interest in the pulsating life flow in other human creatures has led people to scope of theories of humanism, has made them humanists. Now if the same human sentiment extends to include all the creatures of this universe, then and only then can it be said that human existence has reached its final consummation. And in this process of expanding inner love to all creatures, another human feeling will arise that extends to include to every creature in this universe, then and only then can human existence be said to have reached its consummation final. And in the process of expanding the inner love to other creatures, another feeling will arise behind the human that will vibrate in all directions, which will touch the deepest corners of the hearts of all creatures and lead everyone to the final stage of supreme bliss.

Herbart

Herbart's psychology, although based on the a priori foundations mentioned above, represents one of the most complete and organic aspects of associationism and anticipates the actual psychological science that will emerge in the second half of the century. XIX. The atomistic pluralism of his metaphysics is projected in the individual psychological life where, as it is Obviously, the multiplicity of representations can only arise from the original movement of entities simple. Simple representations (sounds, colors, etc.) are as elementary and devoid of internal relationships as acts of self-preservation of simple entities must be. The soul is not the proper object of psychology because it too is a simple and immutable real. The object of psychology are the acts of self-preservation or representations of the soul, as current or persistent in memory. The representations have a dynamic character: "mutually penetrating each other in the soul, which is one, they repel each other insofar as they are opposite, and unite in a common force insofar as they are not opposite."

According to Herbart, the theory of the optimal organization of the personality is aesthetics, which encompasses, at the same time, beautiful art and morality. In this we can see a derivation of the Schillerian idea of ​​the beautiful soul, although elaborating it in the sense of the aforementioned mechanics of representations. Indeed, the aesthetic experience depends on the solidity, the extension and the harmony reached by the representations-force, basically antagonistic, that constitute the self. Moral ideas are related to these same characters and are the following: inner freedom, perfection, benevolence, law and equity. The most fundamental is the first, with respect to which the others represent necessary conditions for its achievement. For Herbart, children are not truly free because they have not yet acquired a character, that is, a true solidity in the dominant mass of representations. On the other hand, the character itself, the adult ego, is susceptible to breaking or splitting as it happens in cases of splitting of the personality, that is, in certain forms of dementia. The doctrine of virtues refers to the conformity of conduct with the five moral ideas and has as its main branches politics and pedagogy. Politics essentially refers to the idea of ​​law; pedagogy encompasses all five ideas, but emphasizes that of perfection.

Raths

Raths and his collaborators proposed the alternative of clarifying values ​​in a book entitled Values ​​and Teaching, where it was explained what this technique consisted of, stimulating interest on the subject. The clarification proposal is opposite to the previous techniques of inculcation or indoctrination of human values, its idea is that young people should not be indoctrinated, but that the The individual is free to choose his own values, whatever these are, therefore, he denies that there are better values ​​than others, but everything depends on the hierarchy of values ​​that each person have.

Other followers, such as Howe, L. W. (1977) and Kirschenbaum, H. (1982), have done about Raths, L.E. (1967) very important contributions, in the sense that they have connected this methodology with some attitudes that Rogers, C.R. (1978) considers necessary to promote human development, such as: authenticity, acceptance and empathy. One of the contributions of this method is that the person clearly identifies the values ​​that he owns and those he would like to possess, as well as the numerous strategies created for education in values. Pascual, A. affirms that “the clarification of values ​​is a conscious and systematic action of the counselor or teacher that aims to stimulate the assessment process in the students so that they come to realize what their values ​​really are and can, thus, feel responsible and committed to them " .

Its purpose is to provoke in the student a reflection in the search for what they consider and want in the field of values. In any case, thanks to one or the other authors, the clarification of values ​​has been widely disseminated, being used in numerous schools in different countries, including Spain. If we go into the origin of the Clarification of Values, it is well known that in times previous years, socio-cultural progress was more relevant than the cultivation of the person, of his humanization. Today things have changed, and education in values ​​has become a fundamental pillar to take into account in any subject.

As established by Pascual, A. (1988), it is necessary to have basic instructions that allow us to work on those values ​​that are within a culture. It is essential to do this, avoid indoctrination and promote autonomy and reflection. It is necessary to look for an interactionist model to discover all the possibilities of the person, even those not discovered. The method of Clarification of Values ​​has been widely disseminated throughout the school world, helping students to identify the values ​​they live and those they want to live.

In this way, the method of Clarification of Values, according to Quintana Cabanas, J.A (1998: 293), aims to “help the student so that, by himself, be aware of your own values, clarify about them and, thus making them personal goals, be able to affirm them and translate them into works ”. Every day there are more people who are not clear where they are going, they live without orientation or meaning, they are little motivated and it is difficult to make them reflect on their scale of values. The clarification of values ​​should offer them a procedure that allows them to analyze their lives, assume responsibility for their behavior, articulate defined values, and act in accordance with the themselves. But it is evident that this evaluation process follows different moments or phases depending on the authors.

According to Raths theory, L. (1967: 33), considered one of the most significant pedagogues of his time and a pioneer in the elaboration of strategies For this clarification, the process by which we accept certain values ​​is the one that dictates the steps to follow in this method. For the author, the process of formation of values ​​consists of three moments, each of which comprises several conditions or peculiarities:

• Selection of values: made freely, among several alternatives, after considering their consequences.
• Estimation of values: appreciate and enjoy the choice made, be willing to publicly affirm it.
• Acting according to those values: acting according to our choice of values, and doing it repeatedly in our lives.

The biggest problem that has been blamed on the author is that the seven threads seem insufficient to understand the valuation process. That is why Kirschenbaum, H. (1982: 19) elaborates a broader concept: “it is a process by which we increase the probability that, either our way of life in general or any decision in particular, have, first, a positive value for us and, second, are constructive within the context Social".

Kirschenbaum considers that the assessment process involves five related dimensions, which cannot be identified as stages but as processes, which are set out below:

• Thought: helping students learn to think, either by promoting critical thinking (Raths, L. AND. 1967), a moral reasoning (Kohlberg, L. 1986), etc.
• Feeling: clarify what we appreciate or want. Help young people to reinforce the concept of themselves and to manage their feelings.
• Choice: choice of alternatives and consideration of consequences. You need to set goals, gather the available data, choose an alternative, and consider the consequences of the decision. When making the decision or opting for an alternative we can do so freely, identifying the consequences of a subjective decision, of what we believe is better; or plan the different strategies that will help me increase the probability of reaching those goals.
• Communication: values ​​evolve thanks to a process of social interaction. It is necessary to send clear messages, actively listen to what the other wants to say, etc.
• Action: act repeatedly and consistently to achieve our goals, help the individual to acquire a positive sense in your life and act skillfully in the areas of action to achieve personal benefit and Social.

Structured the phases in this way, Pascual, A. (1995: 16) thinks that “the development of valuation enables people to make their choices from their responsibility and freedom, which underpins the ethical commitment to values”.

By assessment process, we understand the steps that the person must follow to capture and internalize values, and that this process of value development culminates and is transferred to the behavior of the individual. In short, make the scale of values ​​your own. In this way, Hernando, Mª.A. (1997: 85) considers it necessary to “use a methodology that puts people in contact the person with her own experience so that she is aware of his attitudes towards the values ​​and their options ”. Pascual, A. (1988) considers that the focus of assessment is on the person himself. Intelligence and affectivity are fundamental in his development, but the world of values ​​helps him to develop and grow.

Humanistic psychology tells us about the absence of empirical validation of its proposals. Rogers himself insisted on the need to combine psychotherapy with objective techniques such as recordings or the use of tests.

As well as excesses in the vindication of subjectivity and the rejection of experimentalism. Lack of operational definitions of basic humanist concepts and postulates, which makes it difficult to investigate it. Excessive emphasis on a positive and optimistic vision of the human being, especially in North American authors.

When a humanistic psychology is presented: there is a stable minority of psychologists who declare themselves humanists; Furthermore, the influence of some principles of this theory in fields such as education or in studies on the effect of the therapist-client relationship on the outcome of therapy is clear.

According to Manfred Max-Neef in the book Development on a human scale, and also with Paul Ekins In Wealth Without Limits, Gaia Atlas of the Green Economy, Maslow's conception is credited with legitimizing social "pyramidality." If the needs are hierarchical and infinite, society will also be configured "naturally" as a pyramid where only the top accesses more and more at the cost of keeping down a base the broader and more dispossessed convenient. This is in contrast to Max-Neef's view of needs as a finite component matrix (9 in four embodiments: Subsistence, Protection, Affection, Understanding, Participation, Creation, Recreation, Identity and Freedom, through Being, Having, Doing and Be related).

The most common criticism is the one that concerns his methodology, due to the fact that he has chosen a small number of characters, that he he considered self-actualization, and came to conclusions of what self-actualization is after reading their biographies or talking to they.

Although Maslow's theory has been seen as an improvement on previous theories of personality and motivation, concepts such as "self-actualization" are somewhat vague. As a consequence, the operability of Maslow's theory is complicated.

There are examples of people who possess traits of self-fulfillment and have not had their basic needs met. Many of the best artists suffered from poverty, poor parenting, neurosis, and depression. However, some scientific studies show the full interest of human beings in self-fulfillment and tend to a higher level of satisfaction.

A final criticism would be to consider the security of private property more important than having a family or a morality, eg. Most of the natives of South America, Africa or Asia do not have properties and can supply the rest of their needs.

According to Rogers humanistic techniques are applicable to all kinds of peopleHowever, currently we can realize that in some problems this process could turn out to be quite long and effective results in terms of other people could be the appropriate method, that is why many authors speak that the psychologist must have an eclectic approach and take the best of each theory and work what is appropriate to each patient.

It is well known that self-realization is unique to each person and if it is not known with certainty if all people have the instinct to meet that need, This is because humanism has a subjective part in which each person finds the meaning of life differently, we cannot measure it, and even as time goes by it goes changing this sense, and falls into another concept that is self-actualization in which a person can reach self-realization, and then actualize to continue on that rung and not lose it.

Humanistic psychology has to his credit the defense of concepts such as subjectivity, experience or construction of meaning, has clearly influenced the beliefs of North American society in a more concrete way, highlights for example the influence of the proposals of Rogers on the importance of the attitude of the therapist and the educator, not as a sufficient condition but at least as a condition necessary.

This approach has provided an alternative to traditional psychoanalytic forms of therapy, and in doing so has offered another perspective of self-determination, and is an internal process of seeking to develop their human potential, rather than instincts biological. The evolving and growing person replaces the victim of personal history. Freedom of choice replaces the mechanically determined set of behaviors.

It is in this way that the word client suggests an aspect that has importance, thus, replacing the role of passive patient in the context of the physician's demand for authority to choose, equality and Liberty. And it is important to point out that the facilitator must take attitudes similar to those of his client since in this relationship both must be in the same conditions and without prejudice, providing the client with the necessary conditions for his growth and thus he can become responsible for his attitudes and his Liberty.

The less active role of the therapist required less training, yet this humanistic, client-centered stance, he has produced a whole generation of pseudo-therapies whose lack of training cannot be compensated with enthusiasm and authenticity.

A major contribution was the emphasis on research as he was responsible for the first concentrated efforts to carry out research about the therapeutic process, being also the first to use records in therapy sessions to study the process of investigating its efficiency. Rogers in whom he opens therapy, making it an object of study; This is how this therapy is effective, but not in any way more than any other psychological treatment.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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