Both Existential and Transpersonal psychologies have this in common, a respect for and utilization of Eastern techniques to reach a state of stress-free maintenance of human psychological health.
But the differences lie in their origins. While Transpersonal psychologies are related to the Eastern or Western indigenous epistemologies, Existential-Humanistic psychologies have a Freudian origin, coming through Freud and his descendents. While Transpersonal psychology is considered to be a "fourth force" in psychology, psychoanalysis, behaviorism and humanistic psychologies are outside of the "transegoic" elements, ignoring insights from the world's contemplative traditions in both Eastern and Western religions. Labeled "Western," Existential and Humanistic psychologies are focused mainly on prepersonal and personal aspects of the psyche.
Existential and humanistic psychologies are based on the writings not only of Freud, but Kierkegaard, Nietzche, Heidigger, Sartre, Camus and other European intellectuals who had experienced European wars and chaos during the twentieth century. Important to them were qualities of survival of the ego in a healthy state. Self-reliance, responsibility, mortality and authenticity were the characteristics that brought humans through suffering and this became an abiding theme in the psychologies that come from this era. (Sartre, 1969)
Rollo May, one of best known of the existential-humanistic psychologists, was influenced by American humanism and was interested in reconciling existential psychology with other approaches, especially Freud's. He described existential psychology as focusing on the "here and now." He went on to describe how:
At each moment, a person is free to choose what he or she will do and be. The most important aspect of a person is not what she has genetically inherited, or how her parents treated her when she was an infant, but how she interprets and responds to the world around her at each given instant, and the kinds of choices she makes about what to do next (May, 1969, p. 114).
But to Rollo May and other existential psychologists, freedom of the will was an action of the centered self and always involved social responsibility, occurring with a perception of limits. These limits to freedom...
24). Leitner & Phillips (2003, p. 160) also stress the need for a holistic diagnosis of the human mind so that a more effective conclusion can be derived. Bugental (1963, p. 565) also decries the tendency to compartmentalize the field of psychology to make it resemble the natural sciences. More so, this is a great cause for confusion among psychology students because they end up having a fragmented view
In addition to the above noted areas, there is also green politics, deep ecology, the feminist and gay rights movements, and the psycho-spiritual wing of the peace movement. This takes into account an integrated and balanced view of human nature and maintaining harmony in the grand scheme of existence. As noted by Maureen O'Hara, past president of the Association for Humanistic Psychologists: "As the world's people demand freedom and
Psychology In the year 2005, United States experience one of the biggest, deadliest and costly hurricanes of that period. The hurricane was named Hurricane Katrina; it cost loss of lives, property and flooding across different states. The emergency situation had to be dealt with immediately and strategies to do so had to be all rounded. This is because those affected were either directly involved or witnessed the occurrence. This discussion is
Knowing this, Strenger points out that therapists need to consider "who can work with whom," because the therapeutic outcome may be greatly affected by the "chemistry" between therapist and client. The egalitarian principle in the therapeutic relationship gets played out further in qualitative studies (such as Gallegos, 2005 and Cohen, 2005) in which client experiences in the mental health system and subjective accounts of symptom relief from psychotherapy are
Introduction Psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanistic, transpersonal, and existential (HTE) psychology are the three primary movements in the study of the human experience. Each of these movements uses different research methodologies and epistemologies, and each focuses on different aspects of the human experience. Moreover, each of these movements presents unique therapeutic interventions and goals in the field of psychology. With each having contributed tremendously to the social sciences, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanistic
Humanistic Psychology Humanistic psychology has made a tremendous impact on the overall field of psychology and the social sciences in general. Since Rogers first introduced the concepts of unconditional positive regard, the ideals of professional competence in psychotherapy have changed towards client-centered perspectives and practices (McArthur & Cooper, 2017). However, humanistic psychology often eschews quantitative research methods, diverges considerably from the views in cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis and behaviorism, and has been
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now