The Life and Times of Abraham Maslow

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces Abraham Maslow, the American psychologist and philosopher who is best known today for his self-actualization theory of psychology, which argued that the primary goal of psychotherapy should be the integration of the self. It provides an overview of Abraham Maslow's life and his major works, followed by a discussion of the times in which he lived and practiced. A summary of the research is provided in the conclusion.

From the Paper:

"Maslow's thinking was refreshingly original for his time; by contrast, most other psychologists before him had been concerned with the abnormal and the ill. Maslow, on the other hand, sought to know what constituted positive mental health. In his book, Toward a Psychology of Being (1968), Maslow says that he believes that humans are not in fact evil, but rather evil behaviors are the result of "neutral" or even "positively good" natures reacting out of frustration. It was from this context that humanistic psychology gave rise to several different therapies, all guided by the idea that people possess the inner resources for growth and healing and that the point of therapy is to help remove obstacles to individuals' achieving this. The most famous of these was client-centered therapy developed by Carl Rogers, who believed even more firmly in the inherent goodness of people than Maslow."

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