Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

 Answers to Evaluate Questions 
1. 
1-c, 2-a, 3-d, 4-b; 
2. 
defense mechanisms; 
3. 
manifest, latent; 
4. 
a
 Module 
49 
Psychotherapy: Psychodynamic, Behavioral, and Cognitive Approaches to Treatment 
555
cognitive-behavioral 
approach p. 553
rational-emotive behavior 
therapy p. 553
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Humanistic Therapy
As you know from your own experience, a student cannot master the material cov-
ered in a course without some hard work, no matter how good the teacher and the 
textbook are. You must take the time to study, memorize the vocabulary, and learn 
the concepts. Nobody else can do it for you. If you choose to put in the effort, you’ll 
succeed; if you don’t, you’ll fail. The responsibility is primarily yours. 
 Humanistic therapy  draws on this philosophical perspective of self-responsibility 
in developing treatment techniques. The many different types of therapy that fi t into 
this category have a similar rationale: We have control of our own behavior, we can 
make choices about the kinds of lives we want to live, and it is up to us to solve the 
diffi culties we encounter in our daily lives. 
Humanistic therapists believe that people naturally are motivated to strive for self-
actualization . As we discussed in the chapter on motivation, self-actualization  is the term 
that clinical psychologist Abraham Maslow used to describe the state of self-fulfi llment 
in which people realize their highest potentials in their own unique way. 
Instead of acting in the more directive manner of some psychodynamic and 
behavioral approaches, humanistic therapists view themselves as guides or facilita-
tors. Therapists using humanistic techniques seek to help people understand them-
selves and fi nd ways to come closer to the ideal they hold for themselves. In this 
view, psychological disorders result from the inability to fi nd meaning in life and 
from feelings of loneliness and a lack of connection to others (Cain, 2002). 
Humanistic approaches have produced many therapeutic techniques. Among the 
most important is person-centered therapy.