Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper analyzing the humanistic approaches to personality. Your paper should cover the following areas:§ Compare person-centered theory with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.§
Carl Rogers / Abraham Maslow Person-Situation Interactions Person centered theory is such an interesting method that has many components that can assist with my clients when I perform therapy and counseling. Also, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is very important to learn, understand, and practice because it can be used for personal growth and for helping others find their purpose to the human developments. I will discuss throughout this essay the extent to which growth is needed that can influence personality formation, to include the main modules of each theory that has an impact on personality development. I will then state which theory I can relate to most and I will explain why I chose that theory. The humanistic approaches to personality can be beneficial to success and personal growth in achieving the highest potentials. The person centered approach may be a reflection of one’s personal strengths or to seek and fulfill their personal potentials. Carl Rogers was very well known for his theory and created his ideas to psychotherapy. This theory is so important that it impacted the environment as to which course to take with how one finds interactions with the world and how the social aspects influence one’s self identity. To know others and to be viewed as a well put together human includes being open to changed experiences, being trusted, open-minded, creative, and to learn how to persevere through channels and changes of life. “Rogers developed his theory based on his work with emotionally troubled people and claimed that we have a remarkable capacity for self-healing and personal growth leading towards self-actualization. He placed emphasis on the person’s current perception and how we live in the here-and-now. A person enters person centered therapy in a state of incongruence. It is the role of the therapists to reverse this situation.  Rogers (1959) called his therapeutic approach client-centered or person-centered therapy because of the focus on the person’s subjective view of the world. Rogers regarded everyone as a potentially competent individual who could benefit greatly from his form of therapy.  The purpose of Roger’s humanistic therapy is to increase a person’s feelings of self-worth, reduce the level of incongruence between the ideal and actual self, and help a person become more of a fully functioning person” McLeod, S. A. (2015). Living in the here and now gives me an idea to focus and concentrate on the issues and goals of the moment. If I follow the ideas of future occurrences, then I can be wasting unneeded energy and time. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is very well known around the globe and I use the set of principles in my everyday living to better myself and find my purpose with who I am. I can see how my personal experiences impact who I am today because some of my needs of the pyramid were not met as a child which framed my personality and I became the person I am today. It is very hard to change a set of morals and values because I developed this way growing up with certain needs not being met that I just learned to adapt and live without those needs being met. No one is perfect and I can see that sometimes I set my expectations upon myself up to high and expect perfectionism. I try to make up for lost time and always try to start over with new personality traits but I never complete the process because it’s change. My mind and body always revert to what it’s used to be default. It’s very hard for me to break the cycle. I have fear of change and fear of the unknown meaning I don’t know if I can trust how I will act of I change a character defect. I protect myself with a defense mechanism almost without my permission. Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. “He believed that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one, and so on. One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. Once these needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualization. This occurs when a person experiences the world totally for what it is, and there are feelings of euphoria, joy and wonder” McLeod, S. A. (2016). The comparison is that they both follow positive traits which can make a better person. If I were to look Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and find the category that pertains to personality, I will have to say the “esteem needs.” I believe that if a person feels good about themselves that will create a healthy personality. Feelings of an accomplishment holds weight of value and purpose. Then leading to self-actualization can show one’s best esteemable personality. My personality is based on how I was raised and by genetics. “The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person.  The self is our inner personality, and can be likened to the soul, or Freud’s psyche. The self is influenced by the experiences a person has in their life, and out interpretations of those experiences.  Two primary sources that influence our self-concept are childhood experiences and evaluation by others. According to Rogers (1959), we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self.  The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in the self-image” McLeod, S. A. (2014). I can relate more to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs because I can break down each category in sections and understand how my personality is created. After reviewing the theories, I gained so much insight of each and how that relates to my personal life. There is always room for improvement and growth and that I know I can achieve my dreams and goals if I attain positive self-esteem and motivation. I am grateful to be a college student. References McLeod, S. A. (2015). Person Centered Therapy. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/client-centred-therapy.html McLeod, S. A. (2016). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html McLeod, S. A. (2014). Carl Rogers. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html