Learn about existentialism vs humanism. Examine the foundations of humanistic and existential therapy and identify their similarities and differences.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Existentialism & Humanism in Therapy | Similarities & Differences
Table of Contents
- What are Humanistic and Existential Personality Theories?
- Similarities Between Humanist and Existential Therapy Techniques
- Differences Between Existentialism vs Humanism
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
Is existentialism a humanistic theory?
No, existentialism is not a humanistic theory. In psychology, humanism focuses more on becoming the best version of oneself whereas existentialism focuses on the meaning of life.
What are the differences between humanistic and existential psychology?
Humanists believe that individuals are inherently good and are constantly seeking to become the best version of themselves. Existentialists believe that individuals are neither good nor bad, but capable of either, and are seeking the meaning of life.
What is the goal of existentialism?
The goal of existentialism is to re-live past experiences and then live more in the present to find the meaning of one's life. The result of this work is, ideally, a fulfilling life for the individual.
Table of Contents
- What are Humanistic and Existential Personality Theories?
- Similarities Between Humanist and Existential Therapy Techniques
- Differences Between Existentialism vs Humanism
- Lesson Summary
Humanism is a philosophy that is not informed by religion or spirituality but is centered around science and the arts. Humanists believe that everything should be centered around reason and our basic, moral, human values. This is where the term humanist comes from. It approaches life from a moral and ethical approach and believes that people have the ability to shape their own lives and create meaning where they see fit. They also believe that human needs should take priority in this life over self-wants or material pleasures.
Existentialism, once a radical movement, is the belief that an individual has free will and freedom of choice to determine their own course of development. Existentialism states that because individuals have free will of choice, one must take personal responsibility for oneself and that there is no higher power to which one has to remain faithful. There is no purpose for life other than to serve oneself. This often leads to anxious or despondent schools of thought and is typically a reaction against other, more traditional philosophies.
The humanistic personality theory, derived from the humanistic viewpoint, states that people are naturally good and have a desire to achieve and become a better version of themselves. People seek self-actualization, which is the growth toward becoming the ideal version of oneself. Like existentialism, the humanist theory also understands free will and believes that with that free will, people can become better versions of themselves. Self-actualization, in this theory, occurs in a positive environment. A positive environment allows people to be themselves and hold unconditional positive regard for others. Occasionally in the growth period, one can experience incongruence, which is when a person's real actions are opposing the ideal self that one is trying to achieve. This can make self-actualization difficult but can be neutralized by a positive, growth-promoting environment.
The existential personality theory attempts to understand individuals through their experiences and who they are. This theory does not place labels on a person or their actions, instead viewing people as fluid and constantly changing. It involves seeking an open mind and not viewing clients as being in a particular genre of person or group, clients simply just "are." Due to this state of being, this theory proposes that individuals may struggle with the pursuit of a life goal or struggle with finding meaning in life, potentially leading to increased rates of anxiety and depression.
Humanistic Therapy
Humanistic therapy is based on humanism and the belief that everyone has good within them. Because everyone has good within them, individuals can become the best version of themselves, accept themselves, and that people are on a continuous path to do so, called self-actualization. Humanistic therapy starts with the individual accepting the self and understanding what shapes who they are and what they believe. After understanding what helps shape existence, positive regard is included. Positive regard is needed from outside and internally, to create a safe experience. Positive regard is allowing oneself to make mistakes and accept those mistakes without anger or negativity. The overarching goal of humanistic therapy is to help clients accept who they are without influence from outsiders and work towards personal growth.
Existential Therapy
Existential therapy, which is based on existentialism and the idea that people are searching for the meaning of life, is often used with clients that are in crisis. It is an exploratory therapy that assists clients in exploring the meaning of their own life through constructive challenges. Therapists and clients work together to explore a client's lived experiences, and places emphasis on a client's here-and-now experiences, which is where they will find the most meaning. The existential model places its focus on how each individual is unique and can make their own decisions through free will and how they will use that free will to create rich life experiences and meaning for themselves.
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Humanist and existential therapy techniques are similar in several ways. Both models place an emphasis on an individual's positive potential. Each believes that therapy should be individually focused, that the individual is seeking something that can be found through self-realization and self-actualization. Both humanist and existential therapies place their focus on the views and experiences of their client as being what shapes their client's reality. This means that lived experiences create who a person is, through the person's free will of experience. Both therapy models place an emphasis on an individual's free will. Because neither model really places an emphasis on a higher power, there is the implication that an individual can do whatever they would like. This also means that it is an individual's responsibility, and mostly within their control, to make their life what they would like it to be.
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Existentialism states that people are searching for meaning in their lives, while humanism states that people are constantly seeking to become good. Along with becoming good, humanists believe that individuals are inherently good, while society is inherently evil. Existentialists believe that an individual is neither good nor bad but has the potential for both. They shape whether they are good or bad through their free will. Through humanism, people work towards becoming the best version of themselves through a process of self-realization, which is called actualization. In existentialism, the goal is to find meaning in one's life. This is done through examining lived experiences and finding what one believes is truly valuable.
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In summary, humanism states that people are intrinsically good, while society is intrinsically evil. In contrast, existentialism states that individuals have both good and evil in them. The humanistic personality theory, derived from the humanistic viewpoint, states that people are naturally good and have a desire to achieve and become a better version of themselves. The existential personality theory attempts to understand individuals through their experiences and who they are. This theory does not place labels on a person or their actions, instead viewing people as fluid and constantly changing. Humanistic and existential therapies both place value in the views of the individual, in the power of free will, and in the positive potential of each person. Humanists believe that individuals are seeking to become the best version of themselves through self-actualization, whereas existentialists believe that individuals are seeking meaning to their lives.
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Video Transcript
Humanistic & Existential Theories
Amelia has a problem. She can't make any decisions. She has a great job that she loves but is not sure if it's where she wants to grow in her career or if she wants to continue living in the Midwest. She was recently offered a groundbreaking job on the West Coast but worries about making such a life-changing move. She knows she's valued and is up for a promotion, but she loves the idea of packing up and moving to the coast to start a new life, even knowing there are risks to such a move. She likes the opportunity, but her fear holds her back as she worries about repercussions of making the wrong decision.
On the surface, everything looks good for Amelia: she's successful, has a great car and home and job security. She's young and has her whole life in front of her. So what's causing Amelia's fears about making a change? And more importantly, how can she get past them to live a happy life?
There are many approaches to abnormal psychology and many ways to view Amelia's problem. Some people might say that Amelia has a chemical imbalance in her brain that's causing her anxiety. Some would say that she has a problem with her subconscious.
Two theories that are often confused in psychology are humanistic and existential theories of psychology. The humanistic theory of psychology says that humans are constantly striving to become the best version of themselves that they can be. The existential theory of psychology says that humans are searching for the meaning of life. Let's look closer at the similarities and differences in the humanistic and existential theories and treatments in psychology.
Similarities
As we mentioned, humanistic psychology says that people strive to be the best versions of themselves, while existential psychology says that people are searching for the meaning of life. They are very similar, though, in the way that people achieve those ends - through personal responsibility and free will. Essentially, both humanistic and existential psychologists value the ability of humans to make their own choices and lead their own lives.
So imagine that you're a psychologist and Amelia comes to see you. She's scared and feeling very anxious, she's got two companies that want her to work for them. Whether you are a humanistic or existential psychologist, you're likely to work hard to help Amelia see that she's got the opportunity to make her own decisions and follow her own path. Maybe that means that Amelia decides to leave her current job. Or maybe it means that she's able to stay where her career growth is secure, and she will still be close to family and friends, knowing that she's making a choice and not just being swept away by the lure of something shiny and new.
A large part of therapy for both existential and humanistic psychologists involves looking at the individual experiences and views of the patient. From the outside, Amelia looks like she has it all: she's young, she's healthy, and she stands out in her profession.
But Amelia herself is feeling scared and anxious and isn't sure whether she wants to opt for security or take an exciting risk. At the end of the day, what matters is Amelia's perspective, not anyone else's. As such, humanistic and existential psychologists place a very high importance on the individual's experiences and subjective view.
One final similarity between the existential and humanistic theories is that they both stress the positive sides of human nature. Many theories of psychology focus on what's lacking in the individual: this person has a chemical imbalance, which means they lack some element in their brain; that person is guided by unresolved issues in their subconscious.
But existential and humanistic psychology views people as whole and complete. It does not look at Amelia, for example, and say that her problems are because she's a weak, incomplete person. Instead, they look at Amelia as a person with great positive potential, and therapy is meant to help her realize that potential.
Differences
Despite the similarities, though, there are some key differences in humanistic and existential psychology. The biggest difference lies in the underlying view of human nature. The humanistic theory of psychology assumes that people are good and that society causes them to do bad or evil things. For example, humanistic psychology sees Amelia as a good person without any evil in her. But because of the pressures of society, perhaps she lies to her employer about being sick so she can interview with the West Coast company. It's not that she's evil; it's that society has acted on her, and she reacted.
On the other hand, the existential view of humanity says that people have the inherent capability for both good and evil within them. In other words, they are both good and evil, and the choices they make are what define them. So to an existential psychologist, Amelia is both good and evil, and the bad choice she made to lie to her supportive employer is a reflection of that bad side of her coming out.
As we mentioned, one similarity is that both humanistic and existential psychology look at the positive potential of humans. But how humans attempt to reach that potential is another difference in the two theories. In humanistic psychology, humans have a hierarchy of needs; that is, there are certain things that everyone needs and certain needs that must be met before others can be pursued. For example, if Amelia isn't getting enough to eat and she's homeless, she's probably not going to be striving to seek out adventure. She's too busy trying to survive.
But if her basic needs are met, Amelia might begin to look beyond those needs to other, higher needs. Perhaps she feels like she can't stay with her current company because she will fall into a rut with no autonomy or creativity. Those needs (autonomy and creativity) are higher than her basic needs for survival and can only be pursued when Amelia's physical survival is assured.
On the other hand, existential psychologists believe that everyone has motivations, called daimons, and we pair those daimons with wishes. We make decisions on how to act based on our daimons and wishes, so that our life is constructed of how we use free will to fulfill wishes.
In that context, Amelia might be running from staying in her current job because she has a wish that she wants to fulfill. Maybe she dreams of living close to the ocean and in the heart of California wine country. Those wishes, along with her daimons, are drawing her away from her current job. She is feeling anxious because she's ignoring them, but when she exercises her free will to pursue her dreams, she'll be happy.
Lesson Summary
The humanistic theory of psychology says that people are constantly striving to be the best version of themselves that they can be. The existential theory of psychology says that people are searching for the meaning of life. They are similar in that they both stress free will, look at the individual view of the person, and see the positive potential of humans.
There are some differences, though, including the fact that humanistic psychology sees people as good and society as evil, whereas existential psychology sees people as both good and evil. Further, humanistic psychology stresses a hierarchy of needs, while existential psychology looks at the way we use our free will to pursue our dreams.
Learning Outcome
When this lesson is done, you should be able to discuss the similarities and differences between the humanistic and existential theories.
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Existentialism & Humanism in Therapy | Similarities & Differences
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