If you see a doctor, he or she will probably treat your illness in a way that most other doctors would. The world of therapy is not like that. There are a number of different ideas about how therapy works.
In this section, I'm going to offer an overview of the Humanistic perspective .
For Abraham Maslowe, often seen as the founder of Humanistic therapy, the Humanistic perspective meant seeing beyond the individual schools of therapy. He was quite happy to include psychodynamic theorists as within his broad new tradition, the “Third Force”, as he called it. (The other two were Freudian psychoanalysis and Behaviourism.) As he was able to accept many aspects of the psychodynamic view, I have no doubt that he would be able, were he alive today, to integrate aspects of modern Cognitive Behavioural approaches. I think that Maslowe's non-exclusive view of Humanistic psychology is preferable to a more sectarian view which is sometimes encountered today.
However, to be called “Humanistic”, therapy has to be based on certain assumptions. Let me illustrate this practically. When clients tell me that they are drinking less, are less depressed or anxious, less self-destructive, are no longer seeking out abusive partners, have stopped self-harming – whatever it is that they hoped for when they entered therapy- and then say that one of their strongest feelings is that they accomplished this for themselves, then I feel that therapy has been at its most helpful. It is even better if, alongside a sense of deficiencies lessened, there is also a sense of positives strengthened- of a sense of freedom, of balance, of creativity, of adventure, of contentment. The importance, to me and to the client, is that these strengths developed and weaknesses diminished have come from the client.
This is how the values of empathy and positive regard, of respect for the client, of autonomy and self-determination might reveal their presence in practice.
That is not to say that I, as the therapist, has had no significant input. I may supply some psychological evidence, contribute a sense of a pattern, ask questions, spot contradictions, even make challenges. People today are at ease with an element of dialogue, and often request it. What I mean is that the session should fundamentally feel like a dialogue led by the client, a space for self-exploration,and understanding, in which there is a commitment to non-judgemental ways of seeing, to openness and empathy.
The essence of the Humanist approach is to have faith in the client- a faith which is confirmed over and over, as clients display their desire to make progress, have insight and live more fulfilling lives. The Humanist approach seeks to go beyond the preoccupation with the negative in some other approaches. For Humanistic therapists, therapy is not just about , say, “overcoming depression” but also leading a life in which your needs are more fully met. In other words, Humanistic therapists think holistically- that is, they are interested in interconnections and in meaning.
The Humanistic belief in the basic goodness of people rests on the discovery that, in therapy, collaborative and generous thoughts strengthen whilst vengeful and hostile thoughts are often weakened. This implies that the “bad” side to human nature may be less “real” than the good. Whilst this is happening it is indeed true that angry and vengeful feelings may be uncovered but the therapy room is a safe environment in which to deal with this. At the end of the day, it may be possible to accept both ourselves and others as a mixture of good and bad.
Humanistic psychology does not rest on a fairy-tale fantasy of human nature. It fully recognises the capacities and potential of human beings but notes that, in therapy, there seems to be a strengthening of collaborative and generous impulses, and, eventually, a weakening of vengeful and hostile ones. On the way to this, angry and vengeful feelings may be uncovered as part of the process of dealing with them.
I have a fundamental belief that every person has the right to be oneself. But this is not to be confused with selfishness and egotism, Everyone should adopt an appropriate and healthy care for one's own interests, but there is no conflict, or they should not be, with empathy and understanding and tolerance of others. As human beings, there is also a place for justifiable anger or even rage on occasions.
So far I have spoken about therapy in a broad sense. This does not mean that there is no scope sometimes for focussing upon something specific. It may be totally appropriate to focus upon a particular problem, such a sleeplessness or a sexual problem, and approach it in a focussed, problem-solving way. For example, the Sensate Focus exercises work in sex therapy far better than insight methods alone. Maslowe was a great advocate of science and of the scientific method ( he believed, however, in enlarging the definition of “the scientific”). I have seen for myself how concepts in cognitive therapy can bring great relief to clients and therefore, in the Maslowe tradition, I accept the evidence for the effectiveness of Cognitive therapy and use it where appropriate, and see no conflict between that and my more general Humanistic stance. The Cognitive ideas have to be introduced in a way which invites the client to consider their relevance and applicability and how they fit within the client's own perspective.
So, what do I do if someone comes to me, saying that they want to work for six sessions in a Cognitive Behavioural way on a particular problem? Because of my belief that the client's wishes should be honoured, I will be delighted to do just that, making use of the document on this website about Cognitive therapy. Within that framework there will also be room- because use of the document saves time- to explore the client's own perspective so that the Cognitive approach is integrated with, rather than imposed upon, the client's own perspective.
This is what I aim to do. It may all sound very academic but, in practice, it means seeing that there are all kinds if ideas about therapy out there. Hardly any of them are based on firm facts- most are hypotheses of one kind or another. What matters is what works- what works for you.
If counselling, psychotherapy or psychosexual and relationship therapy is for you, do not hesitate to visit the contact us page or call us on 07733 233 992.