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One key contribution to the humanistic theory by Abraham Maslow is the focus on the healthy mind and existentialism. Existentialism is an approach that many people are deeply moved by, yet there is no single representative figure, nor is there agreement ab0ut its basic theoretical concepts. Perhaps the most defining element of existentialism is the concern with existence, the concern with the person in the human condition (Pervin, pg. 210). Maslow believed strongly in the hierarchy of needs as an innate building tool to self-actualization. He believed in positive mental health and the ability to grow with their inner strength. Rogers suggested a number of contributing factors: the impersonality of our culture, its transient quality, the fear of a close relationship. The existential psychiatrist Viktor Frankl struggled to find meaning while imprisoned in a concentration camp during World War II, (Pervin, 211). Existentialism is not directly concerned with the question, Which course of action should choose? Instead, it addresses a more subtle question: What are the psychological capacities, and what is the nature of the psychological experience, of the individual facing such a choice? Essentialism is a way of thinking that supposes that the most important thing about a person or thing is some inner core quality that it possesses. (Pervin, pg. 212)
One key contribution to the humanistic theory by Carl Rogers is that people have a natural internal drive to succeed. This theory seems to coincide with Maslow’s theory that we are born with an internal drive but Rogers believed that a person’s experience influences their drives. Where Maslow places emphasis on the individual, Rogers believed that a person cannot grow without positive influence from others. Three strengths of the humanistic theory in understanding self, others and relationships are that we all have thrives that motivate our behaviors, we all need others to enforce positivity in our lives and that we are all in control of our own destiny, whether influenced by others are not. It focuses on
