The Humanistic Approach
Rogers
- people have an actualising tendency- a drive towards personal growth
- in order to self actualise your real self must be in line or congruent with your
ideal self
Real self=
- a persons self-concept (or self image) is all the information a person has about
themselves, such as how we think, feel, look and behave
- it is a product of our development- it grows and develops from birth and is greatly
influenced by childhood experiences, particularly conditions of worth
Ideal self=
- this is separate from the real self
- this is how we want to be, developed through experience- for example, what
others (or society) expect of us or what we have been taught
Congruence=
- when the real self and the ideal self are similar they are said to be congruent
- congruence is at the core of mental health and well-being
- a healthy individual tends to see a congruence between their self (their sense of
who they are) and their ideal self (who they think they should be)
Incongruence=
- this is a mismatch or too big a difference between real self and ideal self
- this leads to unhappiness and poor mental health -> the greater the difference, the
unhappier the person is
- self-actualisation will not be possible due to the negative feelings of self-worth that
arise from incongruence
• whether or not we become self-actualised depends on our childhood experiences
• Rogers claimed that many of the issues we experience as adults, such as
worthlessness and a low-self esteem, have their roots in childhood and can often
be explained by a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents
• it is therefore important that as children we receive
Counselling Psychology
• WHAT IT IS:
- a client-centred therapy that aims to reduce the gap between the real self and the
ideal self to help people cope with the problems of everyday living
- patients are seen as clients -> the individual is the expert on their own condition
Rogers
- people have an actualising tendency- a drive towards personal growth
- in order to self actualise your real self must be in line or congruent with your
ideal self
Real self=
- a persons self-concept (or self image) is all the information a person has about
themselves, such as how we think, feel, look and behave
- it is a product of our development- it grows and develops from birth and is greatly
influenced by childhood experiences, particularly conditions of worth
Ideal self=
- this is separate from the real self
- this is how we want to be, developed through experience- for example, what
others (or society) expect of us or what we have been taught
Congruence=
- when the real self and the ideal self are similar they are said to be congruent
- congruence is at the core of mental health and well-being
- a healthy individual tends to see a congruence between their self (their sense of
who they are) and their ideal self (who they think they should be)
Incongruence=
- this is a mismatch or too big a difference between real self and ideal self
- this leads to unhappiness and poor mental health -> the greater the difference, the
unhappier the person is
- self-actualisation will not be possible due to the negative feelings of self-worth that
arise from incongruence
• whether or not we become self-actualised depends on our childhood experiences
• Rogers claimed that many of the issues we experience as adults, such as
worthlessness and a low-self esteem, have their roots in childhood and can often
be explained by a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents
• it is therefore important that as children we receive
Counselling Psychology
• WHAT IT IS:
- a client-centred therapy that aims to reduce the gap between the real self and the
ideal self to help people cope with the problems of everyday living
- patients are seen as clients -> the individual is the expert on their own condition
