Humanistic Psychotherapy

“Our task is to be guide, friend and interpreter to persons on their journeys through their private hells and purgatories.”

Rollo May 1991, The Cry for Myth

Humanistic therapy emphasizes people’s capacity to make rational choices and develop to their maximum potential. It emphasises the whole person rather than the parts. The main founder was Abraham Maslow who believed there was need for a psychological theory which would focus on human experience and meaning. Maslow viewed psychology at the time as either too concerned with that which was “neurotic”, or that which was “mechanistic”. Rather than focusing on what was wrong with the client, Maslow focused on the positive aspects of the personality such as basic goodness or creativity which he believed were inherent in all individuals, although these could be suppressed through trauma. The Humanistic view looks at oneself, others and the world. It is based on inner experience, on people’s capacity to make rational choices, to have concern and respect for others and to develop their maximum potential.

Humanistic Psychotherapy was developed in the mid-20th century during the humanistic movement influenced by Humanistic philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Buber and Søren Kierkegaard

Humanistic Psychotherapies deal with issues such as: trauma, depression, chronic conditions, anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship conflicts, personality disorders, addictions, existential depression or crisis.