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Assignment 1:
Ever since I began my doctoral program I have grown a lot as a person. There have been many instances that have taught me about myself and what I would like to achieve in life. However, there was one experience in particular that truly helped me understand my path in life and what that will lead to as a doctoral learner. My identity as a doctoral learner was experienced by observing people and how they lived their lives, specifically from a woman named Jill. Through her story, my desire to further explore humanistic psychology grew.
Humanistic psychology centers on the belief that humans are innately good. For example, good intentions are one of the driving forces of good behavior. When people experience something bad in their life, it promotes deviation from the natural tendency of being good (Felder, Aten, Neudeck, Shiomi-Chen, & Robbins, 2014). Jill is a 28-year-old Puerto Rican American woman. She explained from her story that she was always very kind to others and wanted people to like her, feeling bad if anyone thought she was mean. When I spoke to her and she discussed her childhood, she seemed like an inherently compassionate and gentle person. However, certain events in her life altered her perception of herself and the world.
She has experienced prejudice from people here in the United States. People sometimes have mistaken her for an illegal immigrant and even would not accept her identification as proof of her citizenship because she was born in Puerto Rico. She has had to endure racial slurs and a sense of not belonging even with people in a similar situation as her. These negative experiences have rendered her angry and afraid of the...
However, certain events led to their disillusionment with the world and thus they took on a path to chaos and evil. Jill’s story is one of many that experience that morality shift, that apathy that I want to help. I want to help understand why someone becomes corrupted by the influences of the world. That if hardship and suffering alter someone from a seemingly good personality to one that is darker, perhaps if these negative influences are removed, the person can gain back some of the inherent ‘goodness’.
When I decided to become a doctoral student, I knew that I was going to question what kind of person, what kind of professional I wanted to become. I was not sure I had made the right decision. Perhaps I may have taken a misstep? But then, I spoke with Jill, and I had an epiphany. I realized I want to help people. I want to understand the human mind. Some may see the human mind in a pessimistic way, imagining that people can be monsters and not really change. However, I refuse to believe that. There is a natural goodness in people that can come back even after experiencing extreme trauma. It just takes work.
So, I talked with Jill and I explained to her why some people may see her in a way that was negative. I showed her that many do not feel the same way and that there is a chance she could find a place to belong. Although it required a lot of effort on her part, she began to let go of some of the fear she had of people and started to look on the bright…
References
Felder, A. J., Aten, H. M., Neudeck, J. A., Shiomi-Chen, J., & Robbins, B. D. (2014). Mindfulness at the heart of existential-phenomenology and humanistic psychology: A century of contemplation and elaboration. The Humanistic Psychologist, 42(1), 6-23. doi:10.1080/08873267.2012.753886
House, R., Kalisch, D., & Maidman, J. (2017). Humanistic psychology: Current trends and future prospects. Routledge.
Kriz, J., & Längle, A. (2012). A European perspective on the position papers. Psychotherapy, 49(4), 475-479. doi:10.1037/a0028027
McDonald, M., & Wearing, S. (2013). A Reconceptualisation of the Self in Humanistic Psychology: Heidegger, Foucault and the Sociocultural Turn. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 44(1), 37-59. doi:10.1163/15691624-12341244
Royce, J. R., & Mos, L. P. (2012). Humanistic Psychology: Concepts and Criticisms. Boston, MA: Springer US.
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