NRNP 6645 Week 7 Assignment Humanistic-Existential Therapy

The humanistic approach believes that humans are inherently good, can maintain healthy and meaningful relationships, and make good choices for themselves and others. The existential approach believes that people have the ability for self-awareness and choice. The humanistic therapist focuses on the well-being of the person, not the symptoms, so the therapies foster creativity, growth, and free will to help the person to develop a stronger sense of self and create meaning in life. The sessions emphasize a person's positive traits and behaviors and develop their ability to use instincts to find wisdom, growth, healing, and fulfillment. The existential therapist focuses on not eliminating the client's symptoms or problems but helping the client to make positive choices to live a whole and happy life and accept that life can be challenging at times. Humanistic psychotherapy emphasizes human creativity, growth, and adaptation, while existential psychotherapy asserts a holistic view of human beings, validating the nature of emotions, thoughts, behavior, and choices. (Farber, 2010). The existential approaches differ from humanism in emphasizing the person's free will, choice, self-determination, and the search for meaning and purpose.