The psychology It is the science that analyzes the mind (psyche) of individuals. Based on this premise, it is worth noting that psychology, as is the case with most sciences, is divided into different disciplines whose common link is the analysis of mental processes but whose distinctions are reflected in the approach and praxis. Among the most recognized currentslike psychoanalysis or behaviorism, there is also a discipline that is currently regaining strength: humanistic psychology.
Humanistic psychology, also called Third Force, was born as a school that It focuses its attention on the concept that the individual is responsible for both himself and his future in the world.This discipline takes the person as the center of himself and, instead of focusing on his context and influences, aims to accentuate the potential of the individual through his own existential aspects, such as freedom, knowledge or responsibility, among others.
The name Third Force that is associated with humanistic psychology was coined by Abraham Maslow – considered one of the most relevant humanist theorists and author of the famous psychological pyramid of human needs – with the aim of demonstrating that this new psychological school proposed integrating the apparently opposing ideas that were in conflict at the time: behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
A break with psychological tradition
Humanistic psychology, therefore, is a psychological current that was born as a contraposition to the two dominant and totally opposite disciplines: behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Opposing theories in that they reduce the human being to concrete but different aspects: a product that results from quantifiable variables such as his conduct in relation to the world, according to behaviorism, or a computation that derives from his pathologies and negativism, that is, from that which has disturbed him.
Its origins are linked to the emergence of a cultural movement that takes root in the United States in 1960 characterized by the opposition to the social and cultural standards implicit until then. Just as all the crises in the history of humanity have had an impact on the conception of society, artistic manifestations or scientific beliefs, in 1960 psychology also embarked on a process of change.
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