Abnormal Psychology

The History of Abnormal Psychology 21

is not that there can be more than one hypothesis based on psychodynamic theory,

but rather that there is no evidence and no clear means for obtaining evidence that

either hypothesis (or both) is correct.

The Humanist Response

Some psychologists, such as Abraham Maslow (1908–1970), reacted adversely to

Freud’s ideas, especially two notions: (1) that mental processes are mechanistic (with

the same sort of cause-and-effect relations that govern all machines), driven by sexual

and aggressive impulses, and (2) that humans don’t really have free will because our

behavior is in response to unconscious processes. These psychologists proposed a dif-

ferent view of human nature and mental illness that came to be called humanistic psy-

chology, which focuses on free will, innate goodness, creativity, and the self (Maslow,

1968). Mental health clinicians with this outlook, such as Carl Rogers (1902–1987),

are often calledhumanists. Rogers (1942) proposed that symptoms of distress and

mental illness arise when a potential route to personal growth is blocked, as can occur

when a person lacks a coherent and unifi ed sense of self or when there is a mismatch—

orincongruence—between the ideal self (the qualities a person wants to have) and

the real self (the qualities the person actually has). For example, suppose a woman

believes she should always be energetic (ideal self), but her real self is someone who is

often energetic, but not always. The incongruence between the two selves can lead her

to feel bad about herself, which in turn creates feelings of apathy and guilt.

Rogers developed client-centered therapy to help people reduce such incongru-

ence and to help them create solutions to their problems by releasing their “real

selves.” In accordance with this approach of self-empowerment, Rogers (1942)

stressed that his clients were not patients, who are seen to be “sick” and lacking in

power. Referring to people as “clients” indicated that they had control over their

own lives and were interested in self-improvement through engagement with mental

health services (Kahn, 1998).

However, although the emphasis on self-empowerment has proven useful, the

humanist approach falls shorts as a general method for conceptualizing and treat-

ing mental illness. As we shall see, other factors (e.g., biological and social) must

be considered.

Building on the humanist nomenclature, other clinicians have recognized that

clients are consumers of mental health services who often choose from a variety of

possible treatments. Nevertheless, it is also acceptable to use the term patient, and

in this book we use the term patient and patients to emphasize the suffering and

distress experienced by people with psychological disorders.

Lasting Contributions of Psychodynamic

and Humanist Approaches

As the humanist response made clear, psychodynamic theory was not solidly rooted

in science. Nevertheless, despite its limitations, psychodynamic theory rested on

a fundamental insight that was crucial for the development of later theories and

treatments:Mental processes are the internal operations that underlie cognitive

and emotional functions (such as perception, memory, and guilt feelings) and most

human behavior. In addition, psychodynamic theory’s focus on mental contents—

the specifi c memories, knowledge, goals, and other material that are stored and pro-

cessed in the mind—has led to much fruitful research. Furthermore, the notion that

some mental processes and mental contents are hidden away from consciousness

has proven invaluable to understanding psychopathology. Psychodynamic theory is

still used by some mental health clinicians to help them understand aspects of men-

tal illness. Moreover, psychodynamic approaches cleared the way for more scientifi c

approaches to understand psychological disorders, which we consider next.

Mental processes

The internal operations that underlie

cognitive and emotional functions (such as

perception, memory, and guilt feelings) and

most human behavior.

Mental contents

The specifi c material that is stored in the

mind and operated on by mental processes.