The Problem with Humanistic Therapies

This book will be a useful guide to the humanistic therapies, and is drawn from the author s practical experience as a therapist.One major problem for humanistic therapy is not of its own making: as a later arrival on the scene than psychoanalytic therapy, it is inevitably defined and described in contrast to it rather than in its own right. This is perhaps why its own self-descriptions tend strongly to be insular, and often ignorant of what other people are up to. The standard depiction of psychoanalytic work by humanistic writers is around 50 years out of date. But of course much the same is true the other way around; and the analytic world s tendency to ignore the very existence of humanistic work is infuriating in the extreme.Chapter 1 describes in outline what the humanistic therapies are, both in general terms and characterizing each of the big three, Gestalt therapy, Rogerian therapy or counselling, and Transactional Analysis. Chapter 2 looks at the strengths of humanistic work, while Chapter 3 turns each of these around and examines its weaknesses. Chapter 4 then looks at possible futures for humanistic work in a fairly inhospitable environment.