Section 2:
A Humanistic Approach
A Humanistic Approach Overview
Therefore, Maslow envisioned humanistic theory as a means of approaching holistic understanding. Instead of reducing a person to psychic structures or a stimulus–response framework, the humanistic approach advocates that a complete, unreduced individual should be introduced to the counseling processes and then valued as an individual.
The humanistic approach supposes that understanding an individual is a multidimensional construct, rather than a single dimensional one. Humanistic psychology is a composite of developmental psychology, cultural psychology, and cognitive psychology and cannot be measured as equivalent to any of these subfields. It is an effort to understand the individual within cultural and biological parameters. The approach focuses on individuals’ worth, human values, and dignity and stresses the capacity of humans to overcome hardship. Humans need to be treated with dignity and respect, as each of them is unique. When people are supported adequately, they can self-actualize and realize additional capabilities.


Key Features of the Humanistic Theory
Relationships in Therapy


Application of Humanistic Theory to Psychosis
- Phenomenological Factors: First, the treatment of psychosis can focus on the emotions surrounding the distorted experiences, instead of specific elements of cognition. This approach focuses on overall feelings and emotions the patient is experiencing rather than a specific content.
- Social Disconnection, loneliness and isolation: Effective humanistic treatments should consider the self–world/self–other relationships, to enhance a patient’s quality of life and functional outcomes. Social or interpersonal experiences and self-experiences are closely intertwined. Therefore, loneliness and social isolation are critical targets for treatment.
Humanistic Interventions
- Humanistic Counseling Treatment: Humanistic counseling is an approach in which the counselor commits to ongoing professional and personal development. Humanistic counselors strive to be authentic and to develop various virtues, such as empathy and hope.
- Positive Psychotherapy Treatment: Positive psychotherapy for psychosis (PPP), or positive psychological intervention (PPI), is another novel intervention for treating patients with psychotic features. PPP is commonly used for rehabilitation and group therapy in a variety of settings. This treatment approach concentrates on positives instead of a patient’s problems, which is the main difference between PPP and conventional psychotherapy approaches.
- Need-Adapted Treatment: Need-adapted treatment is among the humanistic treatment approaches used for schizophrenia psychoses. Need-adapted therapy over 40 years based on clinical experience and research. Therapeutic activities in this approach are developed and implemented individually and flexibly to address genuinely the changing needs of patients and those within the patient’s social network, specifically the family.
- Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy: Metacognitive reflection and insight therapy (MERIT) is a recovery-oriented therapy for patients with psychotic features that targets metacognition. Importantly, this approach assumes that patients can improve their metacognitive capacity if they practice certain activities in a series of psychotherapy sessions.
- The Geel Therapeutic Project: The Geel Therapeutic Project is among the oldest therapeutic projects in the world, established in the 13th century. This project has survived and evolved over hundreds of years. In the 21st century, Geel has become a progressive and professional institution providing mental health treatments. The Geel Project is organized as a community with 200 foster families where mental health patients live with foster families for many years as they recover. Patients are enrolled in the community if they have chronic psychiatric disorders, such as mood disorder, dissociative identity disorder, personality disorder, psychotic, or schizophrenia. The Geel community does not focus on healing patients. Instead, the Project expects patients to experience functional improvement and to develop a sense of social inclusion; however, no demands are placed on patients to achieve these outcomes. Occupation, work, and leisure are integrated into the therapy, to ensure patients live life as normally as possible and to simulate real-world, non-institutional experiences. Patients can go to work, stay home, or attend occupational therapy based on their skills, personal preferences, and mental condition. Twelve district nurses are deployed to cater to patients’ needs, with each nurse being responsible for about 40 patients.
- Open Dialogue Therapy: ODT has two overarching goals: to help the patient improve their social connections and to foster change. First, a crisis team helps establish a dialogue with the patient’s family to ensure the patient has good social relationships. Second, the crisis team promotes change in the patient, and this change is replicated in the family. Delusions and hallucinations are ignored at the start of the therapy, and patients are encouraged to share their experiences. Since ODT was introduced in western Lapland in 1980, new cases of schizophrenia have decreased by 90%, and about two-thirds of patients can avoid the use of psychotropic drugs.
