Psychology in the Year 2005, United States

Psychology

In the year 2005, United States experience one of the biggest, deadliest and costly hurricanes of that period. The hurricane was named Hurricane Katrina; it cost loss of lives, property and flooding across different states. The emergency situation had to be dealt with immediately and strategies to do so had to be all rounded. This is because those affected were either directly involved or witnessed the occurrence. This discussion is aimed and analyzing the victims of the emergency following two approaches that is humanistic and behavioral while comparing and contrasting their effectiveness.

How do therapists using each of these perspectives view the client and client's problem?

Behavioral approach is concerned with theoretical and measurable aspects of human behavior. Human behavior can either be learnt or unlearnt depending on whether they are acceptable on a social and cultural basis. Humanistic approach in the other hand is concerned with individual responses to stimulants provided by therapists that are limited by psychodynamic theories that interfere with results that could provide answers to the real meaning of healthy growth and behavior. Behavioral responses of victims of Hurricane Katrina include antisocial behaviors, reluctance to abandon property, non-communication, withdrawal, erratic movements, and startled responses, changes in speech patterns, impulsivity and pacing. Humanistic responses of the victims include expressed feelings of unreality, denial that the situation has taken place, hopelessness, hostility, anger and feelings of guilt Sue & Sue, 2008.

Using the two approaches as defined above, therapists have different perspectives about the client and the problem they are going through. Hurricane Katrina presented wide problems where victims and witnesses were greatly traumatized and therapists had to find ways to help them deal with their problems. The two approaches are aimed at alleviating psychological suffering depending on the perception of the therapist using developed after symptoms of the patient have been analyzed. This triggers the therapist to decide which approach to focus on amongst the two or even employ both.

How are the goals of treatment similar or different in these approaches?

The focus of therapist in both approaches is to ensure the problem of traumatic stress is effectively curbed, through the provision of problem solving and coping abilities. It is important to mention the consequences of traumatic stress which include triggering disease, paves way for mental disorders, and destroys relationships between families and friends and results to substance abuse. Using the two approaches to mitigate the psychological stress brought about by the intense hurricane will have a positive effect on the victims, beyond this; media can also be used to offer more timely and practical information to mitigate ongoing emotional suffering. The difference in the two approaches is the manner in which the therapists handle the patients. While using the behavioral approach, techniques employed will focus on behavior change without background information of how the problem came about and any further indulgence trying to find the source of the complexity. In other words, the therapist concentrates on the individual and his current surrounding in order to identify factors responsible for his/her behavior followed by manipulation of the troubling environment to alleviate the difficulty Sue & Sue, 2008.

Therapist attempt to enhance desirable behavior and ensure they are promptly rewarded while the undesirable ones are punished so as to avoid them. Humanistic approach involves the therapist's investigation of individual perception of oneself during the traumatic stress and their willingness to accept and recognize growth, responsibilities and self-direction. The method offers an understanding and non-judgmental experience for the victims to be optimistic, recognize their strengths and strategies to overcome their weaknesses.

How would the process of therapy be different?

What is your overall comment about how these approaches compare in your chosen event?

In the event of the emergency situation that hurricane Katrina presented, humanistic approach was to be intensely employed compared to behavioral approach because of the nature of the victims. This situation was unexpected, it caused great loses and before the victims could be urged to change their behavior then, they needed to be treated with sympathy, care and understanding. It is difficult to urge an individual who had everything going in his or her life and has suddenly lost people in their lives together with property, to stop pacing around in deep thought and only then would you provide the reward of new items. At this moment, this individual is not at his right senses; instead focus should be on peer centered counseling, existential and gestalt therapy, transactional analysis and finally psycho synthesis and transpersonal psychology. Therapist will ensure victims are aware that, despite life experiences in whatever harsh matter, an individual can still develop towards full potential. The individual becomes attains self-awareness, is able to communicate effectively while linking the past, make of discoveries about the self while emphasizing on the victims capacity to make choices that will affect his or her future. While considering the behavioral approach, this would follow even without a therapist's intervention but either way it is still important to use it to ensure the entire well-being of a patient Cervone & Pervin, 2010()

Given your understanding at this point, which of these approaches would you most likely consider using?

At this point, it is important to note that the personality of an individual is more valuable in the understanding of psychology Cervone & Pervin, 2010.

Taking the example of the emergency situation that hurricane Katrina created, the most appropriate approach to employ is the both the humanistic and behavioral approach because an individual's personality can be deduced from their behavior and for this case reactions to the situation. Unobservable behavior should be disregarded in this situation in order to address the immediate needs of the individual and provide motivation to reinforce the desired behavior that contributes to the wellness of the victims. The victims should also learn the desired behaviors while accepting that the situation cannot be reversed. It is important for the victims to understand that the process is aimed at helping themselves and should be ready and willing to participate in the same. This is enhanced by the fact that behavior is more of an automatic stimulus rather than cognitive.