Introduction of Humanistic Psychology by elliott on Blogster

I am interested in improvement in our interactions personally and professionally, and over the past few years, have read some interesting articles from my medical journals, especially "The Pharos," which is the journal of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, which I was elected to after my sophomore year in medical school. The author I especially have been interested in is Charles Bryan, MD, MACP, a graduate of Johns Hopkins Medical School and director now of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the University of South Carolina.

Anyway, his article "Medical Professionalism and Maslow's Needs Hierarchy," especially struck a chord with me, as many people are really disenchanted with the medical system in the USA and unsatisfactory interactions with many in the field.

Anyway, patterning his article after Abraham Maslow's humanistic psychology, I thought in this first article, to just give a background of Abraham Maslow and demonstrate how someone from such a humble and humiliating background, could rise to such a prominence in his field and contribute to a more humanistic approach to us human's who are having a difficult time in some or all aspects of our lives.

Abraham Maslow was born in 1908 in Brooklyn, NY, dying in 1970 while jogging, apparently from a heart attack. He was the eldest of 7 children of uneducated Jewish immigrants from Russia. Rejected by his mother, from whom he became estranged, neglected by his father, who thought him "an idiot and a fool," and isolated from the neighborhood children because of anti-semitism and his refusal to kill cats or throw rocks at girls, Maslow wrote of his childhood, "I grew up in libraries and among books, without friends...it is a wonder I'm not psychotic."

He had a mediocre early education but found intellectural camaraderie first at the University of Wisconsin and later in New York became a friend and protege of a remarkable group of intellectuals and radical thinkers in Manhattan, most Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany.

He is known for his work with monkeys, but more so for his turning to study of healthy people, especially exceptional or "self-actualized" people. His key concepts included: 1. Needs hierarchy; 2. Self-actualization; 3. Peak Experiences.

I will stop here with this introduction, but am amazed at how some people with no apparent future, can rise to such heights and contribute to society.(Oprah Winfrey is another example, but I won't go into her background here)

If I get some response from this intro, I will proceed with more installments over the summer

Take care and have a "cool" summer.

R Elliott

9 comments on Introduction of Humanistic Psychology

pearle said 1 years ago
Wow, what a guy!

"I grew up in libraries and among books, without friends...it is a wonder I'm not psychotic." - somewhat of my predicament for the past few years. I work at a library and have few friends. I believe this is from my past experiences, it's been somewhat harder to relate to my everyday peers.

Good posts! I'm going to look back on your previous posts for more info.[SMILE]
elliott said 1 years ago
Thanks for you comments. Read some of my private posts to you which I hope are encouraging and open up new avenues of friendship and ways of life in hopes of at least a happier life if not more productive financially as well as emotionally![THUMBUP][HEART][THUMBUP]
expatcisca said 1 years ago
Up rooted from my life in Holland at the age of 13 and coming to America, I found myself without friends. My parents were busy building a new life in a new country while dealing with 4 kids. None of us knew English. The kids at school were cruel and we were teased endlessly. We could not turn to our parents who were fighting their own survival battles. At the age of 13 I discovered the library and a friendly librarian who allowed me to check out 14 books every week. In addition to learing English, I learned about many different subjects, as i was not a discriminatory reader. Years later a therapist told me that books were my drug of choice. To this day, I enjoy reading, whenever I find myself in an unpleasant situation I bury myself in a book. I am not sure that it is healthy, but it has stood me in good stead.
You have piqued my interest in reading more about Abraham Maslow. As an immigrant I live the life of self actualization. [HEART][HEART]
elliott said 1 years ago
Yes, many of us have had similar experiences to one degree or another, relating to Abraham Maslow. I eagerly look forward to summarize what I have learned about him and how it applies to medical professionalism, which at least in the USA is not often felt as very high by many people I listen to outside of medical practice.

Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate those of you who have overcome adversity and are excelling in your lives![THUMBUP][HEART][THUMBUP]
expatcisca said 1 years ago
Interstingly enough, we don't always realize it is adversity until after the fact.[THUMBUP]
sweethoneydew said 1 years ago
There you go again, friend. I don't really know very much humanistic psychology , and am eager to read your future posts on the subject. I think I'm one of those who has overcome adversity and now find a different adversity in my life today. Working on it one day at a time...some good days, some bad. [SMILE][HEART][SMILE]
elliott said 1 years ago
I really don't know much about humanisitic psychology either, but find Maslow's story of reaching such heights when by all odds he should have been possibly confined to an institution. We all are "Maslows" to one degree or another, all have our adversities to overcome, and I agree that we need to live one day at a time, learning from the past, but not dwelling on it, planning for the future, but not obsessing about it. God bless you, Joyce, in all your endeavors. I really appreciate your sharing, as you reach what Maslow calls self-actualization.[HEART][THUMBUP][HEART][HEART]
KDawg said 1 years ago
I love psychology... there is so much to learn! Maslow was interesting to me, there are so many theories and so many interesting takes on things - I just loved learning about it! [HEART]
elliott said 1 years ago
Yes, I agree how interesting the many theories of psychology are. It seems that like clothing, there are fads in psychology. William James' approach really hasn't been dispelled. Norman Vincent Peale's approach to conditioning our unconscious, seems to be validated by modern medicine's more sophisticated testing with functional MRI's,etc. Then, logotherapy per Victor Frankl has merit, not to mention Transactional Analysis' Parent/Adult/Child interactions and games we play, and some coupling this with Gestalt. Now, I have been hearing a lot about cognitive behavioral therapy and just happened to meet a professor who specialized in this through a lady in our church with whom I sit on several committees with, who invited my wife and me to dinner with them. Oh, what an interesting life we have. I still espouse to Christian principles regardless of the psychological methods employed to stay balanced.

Thanks for stopping by and stimulating me to ramble on[THUMBUP][HEART][THUMBUP]