The Growth-Experience and the Growth-Centered Attitude

Abstract

&dquo;I consider this paper to be of historical and contemporary importance and to have been neglected and overlooked by myself and others. I feel it ought to be called to the attention of the humanistic psychologists.&dquo; -Abraham H. Maslow (July 1967) 1NTR0©LICTION AT the present time, a counseling relationship appears to be one of the most effective and efficient ways of achieving emotional growth for a good many individuals who need professional help. It is our belief, however, that a single growth-experience' is not necessarily enough as far as a client's growth needs are concerned. His level of emotional development, after the growth-experience, may not be adequate to cope with the pressure of new problems, or a worsening of the old.In our experience, one reason for this is that clients (and many counselors) tend to over-estimate the actual amount or degree of growth achieved in a successful counseling experience. This applies equally well to several kinds of psychotherapeutic relationships. There is no question here about the value of a growth-experience. Nor do we want to minimize the value of the various psychoanalytical and other therapeutic experiences that preceded our counseling relationship with a number of clients. Rather, it is a matter of coming to grips with the fact that a client may need to go further than he ordinarily does and that if he wishes, recognizes, or feels a need to do so, some means of helping him seems to be in order. This therefore raises an important question: Are there ways in which he can properly be helped to become aware of this possibility, and, if so, what are they? 1 Published as a separate