Psychodynamic Approach To Psychology

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The field of psychology as a whole has changed numerous times. In the early parts Structuralism and Functionalism were at the forefront. Next came the psychodynamic approach, which put most of its emphasis on unconscious effects on a person and past experiences. Then along came Behaviorism saying that only overt behavior can be explained through conditioning, learning, and associations. Then came the Humanistic approach. This approach focused on the client or person needing help. It highlighted the human qualities like empathy, self-esteem, caring, unconditional love that the other psychological fields seemed to ignore or not even acknowledge. Carl Rogers was a pioneer in the Humanistic field. He theorized and implemented his own version …show more content…

The three core conditions are as follows: 1. Congruence-willingness and openness of the therapist to relate to the client without hiding behind professionalism 2. Unconditional Positive Regard-this is actively listening to the client and holding no judgment toward the client whatsoever and a complete openness to the client without making recommendations, giving advice, but steering the client to figuring out the problem themselves 3. Empathy-ability to understand how or what a person is feeling Congruence or also referred to as genuiness is one of the most important factors in the Person centered approach. This is important because it fosters an environment where the client can be completely honest without worrying about being judged. This trust between the client and therapist is crucial in the client being able to open up certain facets of their live they may feel embarrassed about or hesitant in fear of being ridiculed for. The therapist withholds all judgment toward the client and acts like a friend during the process only accentuating the conversation between the …show more content…

Empathy-the ability to relate and understand how another is feeling 6. Client perception-the ability of the client to perceive in some fashion the attempt of the therapist to show unconditional positive regard and empathy towards them. All of these six necessary and sufficient conditions needs to be met for the therapy to be effective. One of the major highpoints of the Person centered approach is the positivity of it. Even if it is not effective for a person there is no drawback or negative implications from using it. For example if a person is misdiagnosed biologically and given the wrong medicine it can have adverse effects both mentally and psychologically. If a person tries psychoanalysis and doesn’t have repressed issues they may feel as though they have wasted money. If a person is not needing a behavioral treatment then behavioral therapy isn’t going to suffice. Ergo humanistic therapy even when shown to be ineffective has no negative drawbacks and only strives to push a person towards growth, reaching their full potential, and eventually towards self-actualization. It may need to be considered to be the first therapeutic response towards internalizing symptoms like depression and anxiety before medicine is prescribed. Giving the person the tools to understand their own ailments, giving them a more positive outlook on themselves and the world, and promoting self-growth, self-esteem, and eventually self-actualization surely cannot be a bad

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