Psychoanalysis Vs. Humanism

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a structural progression of psychological and physical needs. Maslow hypothesized that there were two distinct types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs2. The deficiency needs,

The next level would include safety needs, personal and financial security health and well being. As you move up the pyramid the needs increase to love and belonging, self –esteem and the highest level would include self-actualization, reaching one’s full potential. The theory is that you can not reach the highest level without first obtaining the basics. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs, 10/20/10)

In the hierarchy needs the basics are things such as physical needs and safety, but

Psychology can be defined as the systematic study of mental processes, couple with behaviors, and experiences (Kalat, 2011). There are many ways in examining, mental processes and behaviors among people, and therefore psychologist uses different perspectives to understand how human beings, think, act, and behave. Some psychologist uses one perspective to analyze behaviors, and other uses a multidimensional approach. Carter & Seifert (2013) identified 7 major perspectives that are used to study people’s behavior, and mental processes. These perspectives are the biological, evolutionary, psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, and the sociocultural perspective.

     Abraham Maslow described the hierarchy of needs as a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused. The most basic needs are physiological needs that one must have in order to survive. Then you need safety and security. If these needs are not met, you don't go on to belongingness and love needs. And without belongingness and love, you won't have a very high self-esteem, which is the next level. This hierarchy goes up until you reach the need for self-actualization. This is the need to fulfill your potential. Maslow described this as "What a man can be, he must be." I think that this applies to myself. If I get my final grades and they are

Physiological needs, such as food and shelter, are followed by needs related to safety. Next, there are needs of love and belonging. Fourth, humans have needs of esteem, such as the need for being respected. The final need in the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization (fulfilling one's potential). The hierarchy suggests that basic needs must be met prior to less basic needs; for example, a starving person will seek food before self-actualization.”(Maslow,

Humanistic Psychology can support various individuals regardless of their circumstances. The meaning of life can be different for many however; when we grow as individuals, we have no reason for living unless we create an importance through our passions, goals, and success’s. As an individual, I have an endless desire to help others find happiness, passion, and success; therefore, I believe that the humanistic approach in psychology would have a profound effect on people who are searching for a purpose in life.

fulfill and complete certain needs. The needs are ranged from food, water, shelter, to self actualization. The developing psychologists feels that the needs should be

Physiological needs exist at the base and exist as hunger or thirst. The next need refers to safety needs. Those refer to the feelings of safety, security, and stability. Order and law well exemplify safety needs. The next section of the pyramid, belongingness and love needs, discusses humans need for love, belonging, and acceptance. Friendships exemplify this level of belongingness and love needs. Esteem needs, self-actualization needs, and self-transcendence needs make up the top three sections of the pyramid. Esteem needs refer to the need for self-esteem. Self-respect and respect from others exemplify esteem needs. Self-actualization needs discuss living up to one’s capabilities in life. Fulfilling one’s potential in life exemplifies self-actualization needs. Finally, self-transcendence needs refer to one’s need for identity outside of themselves. For example, this can occur

During my earlier years as undergraduate, I recall being very interested in the humanistic approach to psychotherapy, simply because it was congenial to the person I was at that time. I was deeply interested in the concepts of free will, self-concept, self-actualization, and most importantly, conditions of worth. In addition, when I considered the type of therapist I would have been the most willing to do therapeutic work with, I tended to think of a therapist with a humanistic orientation. However, I was quite naïve and discredited the other theoretical orientations.

Starting from the bottom of the pyramid is physiological needs. These necessities are survival based; the need for food, water, and rest. This consists of the most basic needs. All levels out of the pyramid come secondary until these physiological needs are met (Tay L. Diener, “Maslow’s

The reading of personality has a thick layer of theories in psychology and is one of the most important fragments of psychological history to this day. This paper will compare and contrast the differences between the great theories of the psychodynamic theory from Sigmund Freud and the humanistic theory from Carl Rogers. These two theorists have different views of how personality is developed, with both theorists influencing the world of psychological personality to this day. Disputes between both theorists exist with both of them having complete different views on personality and how personality influences a person. The main issues of this paper are going to be about the basic theory and research methods that Freud and Rogers used in their Psychodynamic and Humanistic theories of psychology respectively.

The Hierarchy of needs theory is a formation of the needs of an individual person. Basically this hierarchy are based on five level which is classified into Physiological needs, Safety needs, Love/Belonging needs, Esteem needs and Self-actualization needs. It can be illustrated with a diagram 1.0 The Diagram of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.

So those needs must be fulfilled before the other needs. When the lower level needs are fulfilled, higher level needs arise. The hierarchy of needs has certain limitations. It has lack of effective application in different cultural contexts. Some cultures may value social needs over psychological and safety needs.

Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ theory laid a special emphasis of dividing different desires into different levels in a form of a pyramid. To reach higher level on the hierarchy pyramid, one must complete the previous level on pyramid. The lowest level focus on basic desires like that of food, shelter etc. Whereas, higher levels focus more on ‘self-actualization needs’ of the person as one try to realize personal experiences, goals and self -fulfilment of the goals.(Maslow,1954:92) This makes