Existential psychology. Humanistic and existential psychology

The humanistic and existential trends arose in the middle of the last century in Europe as a result of the development of the philosophical and psychological thought of the last two centuries, being essentially the result of the sublimation of such trends as Nietzsche's "philosophy of life", Schopenhauer's philosophical irrationalism, Bergson's intuitionism, Scheler's philosophical ontology, Freud's and Jung's psychoanalysis and the existentialism of Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. In the works of Horney, Fromm, Rubinstein, their motives clearly traced the motives of this trend. Quite soon the existential approach in psychology gained great popularity in North America. Ideas were supported by prominent representatives of the "third revolution". Simultaneously with existentialism in the psychological thought of this period, the humanistic course developed by such prominent psychologists as Rogers, Kelly, Maslow also developed. Both these branches became a counterbalance to the already established directions in the psychological science - Freudianism and behaviorism.

Existential-humanistic direction and other currents

The founder of the existential-humanistic direction (EGP) - D.Bugental - often criticized behaviorism for a simplified understanding of the person, disregard for the person, his inner world and potential possibilities, the mechanization of behavioral patterns and the desire to control the personality. Behaviorists criticized the humanistic approach for giving supertention to the notion of freedom, treating it as an object of experimental research and insisting that there is no freedom, and the main law of existence is stimulus-reaction. Humanists insisted on the insolvency and even the dangers of such an approach for a person.

Freud's followers also had their own claims, despite the fact that many of them began as psychoanalysts. The second denied the dogmatism and determinism of the concept, opposed the fatalism characteristic of Freudianism, denied the unconscious as a universal explanatory principle. Despite this, it should be noted that the existential psychology of the person is, to some extent, close to psychoanalysis.

The essence of humanism

At the moment, there is no consensus on the degree of independence of humanism and existentialism, but most representatives of these trends prefer to separate them, although everyone recognizes their fundamental commonality, since the main idea of these directions is the recognition of individual freedom in choosing and building their own being. Existentialists and humanists are in solidarity that the realization of being, touching it transforms and transforms a person, raising it above the chaos and emptiness of empirical existence, reveals its identity and thereby makes it its own meaning. In addition, the unconditional dignity of the humanistic concept is that not abstract theories are introduced into life, but, on the contrary, real practical experience serves as the foundation for scientific generalizations. Experience is seen in humanism as a priority value and the main reference point. Both humanistic and existential psychology evaluate practice as an important component. But here also the difference of this method is traced: for humanists it is important to practice real experience of experiencing and solving quite specific personal problems, rather than using and introducing methodological and methodological templates.

Human nature in the GP and EP

At the heart of the humanistic approach (GP) lies the notion of the essence of human nature, which unites its diverse currents and differs from other directions in psychology. According to Roy Cavallo, the essence of human nature is to continuously be in the process of becoming. In the process of becoming a person is autonomous, active, capable of self-change and creative adaptation, is focused on internal choice. Avoiding continuous formation is a rejection of the authenticity of life, "the human in man."

The existential approach of psychology (EP) of humanism is characterized, first of all, by a qualitative assessment of the essence of the personality and a look at the nature of the sources of the process of becoming. According to existentialism, the essence of personality is not set either positive or negative - it is initially neutral. Personality features are found in the process of searching for their unique identity. Possessing both positive and negative potential, the individual chooses and bears personal responsibility for his choice.

Existence

Existence is existence. Its main characteristic is the lack of predestination, pre-tasking, which can influence the personality, determine how it will evolve in the future. Excludes postponing for the future, redirecting responsibility to the shoulders of others, the nation, the society, the state. The person decides for himself - here and now. Existential psychology determines the direction of personality development solely by the choice that it makes. Personality-centered psychology considers the essence of the personality as a given positive from the very beginning.

Faith in man

Belief in personality is the basic setting that distinguishes a humanistic approach in psychology from other currents. If Freudianism, behaviorism and the overwhelming majority of the concepts of Soviet psychologists are based on unbelief in personality, then the existential direction in psychology, on the contrary, considers a person from the point of view of believing in him. In classical Freudianism, the nature of the individual is initially negative, the goal of influencing it is correction and compensation. Behaviorists evaluate the human nature neutrally and influence it by formation and correction. Humanists, on the other hand, see the nature of a person as either undoubtedly positive and see the aid as an objective in the actualization of the personality (Maslow, Rogers), or they evaluate the personal nature as conditionally positive and see the help in choosing (the existential psychology of Frankl and Bugengal) as the main goal of psychological influence. Thus, the basis of his teaching, the institution of existential psychology puts the concept of individual life choices of man. The person is considered as initially neutral.

Problems of Existential Psychology

The humanistic approach is based on the concept of realized values, which the person "chooses for himself", solving the key problems of life. Existential psychology of the individual declares the primacy of human existence in the world. The individual from the moment of birth continuously interacts with the world and finds in it the meanings of his being. The world contains both threats and positive alternatives and opportunities that a person can choose. Interaction with the world generates the main existential problems in a person, stress and anxiety, inability to cope with them leads to an imbalance in the psyche of the individual. The problems are diverse, but it can be schematically reduced to four basic "nodes" of polarities, in which individuals in the process of development need to make choices.

Time, life and death

Death is the most easily realized, since the most obvious inevitable ultimate given. Awareness of the impending death fills a person with fear. The desire to live and the simultaneous awareness of the temporality of existence is the main conflict that existential psychology studies.

Determinism, freedom, responsibility

The understanding of freedom in existentialism is also ambiguous. On the one hand, a person tends to the absence of an external structure, on the other, he is afraid of its absence. After all, it is easier to exist in an organized, subordinate to the outer plan of the universe. But, on the other hand, existential psychology insists that a person creates his own world and is fully responsible for it. Awareness of the lack of prepared templates and structure generates fear.

Communication, love and loneliness

At the heart of the understanding of loneliness is the concept of existential isolation, that is, detachment from the world and society. A person comes to the world alone and leaves it the same way. The conflict is caused by the awareness of one's own loneliness, on the one hand, and the need for a person to communicate, protect, belong to something larger - on the other.

The meaninglessness and meaning of being

The problem of the absence of the meaning of life stems from the first three knots. On the one hand, being in continuous knowledge, a person creates his own meaning, on the other - he realizes his isolation, loneliness and the impending death.

Authenticity and conformism. Wines

Humanist psychologists, based on the principle of a person's personal choice, distinguish two main polarities - authenticity and conformism. In an authentic world view, a person manifests his or her unique personal qualities, sees himself as a person who is able to influence his own experience and society through decision-making, because society is created by the choice of individual individuals, hence, can change as a result of their efforts. Authentic lifestyle is inherent in the inner direction, innovation, harmony, refinement, courage and love.

A person oriented externally, not having the courage to take responsibility for his own choice, chooses the path of conformism, defining himself exclusively as the executor of social roles. Acting on the prepared social patterns, such a person thinks stereotypically, does not know how and does not want to recognize his choice and give him an internal assessment. The conformist looks to the past, relying on ready-made paradigms, as a result of which he has uncertainty and a sense of worthlessness. There is an accumulation of ontological guilt.

Valuable approach to a person and belief in a person, its power allow you to study it more deeply. The presence of various angles of view in it also attests to the heuristic direction. The main ones are the traditional existential, existential-analytical and humanistic existential psychology. May and Schneider also highlight an existential-integrative approach. In addition, there are approaches such as Friedman's dialogic therapy and Frankl's logotherapy.

Despite a number of conceptual discrepancies, the person-centered humanistic and existential currents are solidary in the belief in the person. An important advantage of these directions is that they do not seek to "simplify" the individual, place her most essential problems in the center of her attention, do not cut off the intractable questions of the correspondence between human being in the world and its internal nature. Recognizing that society influences the formation of the personality and its being in it, existential psychology is closely related to history, cultural studies, sociology, philosophy, social psychology, while being an integral and promising branch of modern science about the individual.