Humanistic Approach to Eating Disorders
by Merin Mary Chacko, 1830240, 5 CEP B
The Humanistic Approach focuses on the individual and includes ideas of the self, free will, self actualisation to name a few. This approach looks at individual potential to grow and thereby attain a state of complete satisfaction with oneself.
REASONS for Eating Disorders
A major idea of the humanistic approach is the idea of self-concept, which is how an individual perceives his/her behaviour and characteristics.
According to Carl Rogers, the self concept includes the self image (mixture of different attributes about how one sees oneself) and the ideal self (who the person wishes to be) which can be influenced by socio-cultural factors as well as the individual's ideals.
Carl Rogers
The individual strives towards achieving equality between the self image and the ideal self, called congruence. The less congruent the selves are, the less self esteem (feeling of value towards oneself) an individual experiences. This negative self esteem can be attributed to the way we compare ourselves with others regarding many aspects.
With regard to eating disorders, the humanistic approach of Carl Rogers would explain that they arise through our comparison of our perceptions regarding our body images with that of others. We might view ourselves as 'skinny' or 'fat' compared to others and thus, we might be prompted to increase or reduce our intake of food to achieve our 'ideal' self which will be accepted by others.
Another major humanist was Abraham Maslow who emphasised on the idea of a 'hierarchy of needs' and 'self actualisation'.
Abraham MaslowHe argued that an individual has a chronological order of needs in life, from the basic needs at the lowest rung of this order and the needs becoming more complex as the basic needs get fulfilled, until the person achieves 'self actualisation', which is the most developed state of one's life, when he/she is completely satisfied with oneself.
credit: www.simplypsychology.com
One of the needs of the individual is the esteem needs, which essentially mean that the individual craves acceptance and respect from others. Using this as a means of understanding how eating disorders come about, the standards that society puts on individuals can be a determining factor in understanding the ways in which individuals control their diets. After seeing how individuals with a particular body image get appreciated, one can be influenced to make changes in one's diet to achieve a particular 'body type' and thereby gain acceptance, which will eventually reduce their feelings of inferiority. Unless properly done, these changes can have a negative impact on one’s health, which will eventually affect their mental health and thus, lead to lack of control over a healthy way of living which ultimately leads to eating disorders.
DIAGNOSIS of Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are usually diagnosed in the humanistic approach through psychological evaluation. This means the individual is subject to self assessment questionnaires regarding how they feel and how they think. Using this test will enable the therapist to understand the sources of the individual's lack of self-esteem and other issues which forced him/her to fall into eating disorders.
TREATMENT of Eating Disorders
Individual psychotherapy is the mechanism used to treat individuals with eating disorders. From the humanistic approach, it means focusing on your current day-to-day life and treating you as a whole being rather than focusing on specific aspects of the issue.
It involves the use of Gestalt therapy, which is looking at the individual's current thoughts and feelings and creating scenarios for the individual to react to. These help the therapist to formulate plans wherein individuals are made to think about themselves in a manner that isn't demeaning to themselves: it involves erasing thoughts about being perfect (correcting faulty thinking about self) and helping individuals get in touch with strong, positive emotions to increase self-esteem.
Client-centred therapy is another humanistic approach in treating eating disorders as it involves a one-on-one relationship between the client and the therapist, which reduces the feelings of loneliness and criticism faced by others as there is a guide who accepts you in spite of your characteristics and insecurities. As the therapist listens to what you have to say through complete acceptance, it enables the feelings of self-worth to increase and the individual gets to reduce comparisons with others.
PREVENTION of Eating Disorders
The best way to prevent eating disorders depends on having close relationships with individuals (family, friends etc.) who make you understand your worth. These individuals fulfil the need for affiliation, which help in establishing an individual's self-esteem and idea of self. Moreover, these individuals can help in reducing exposure to unrealistic beauty standards put forward by the media by supporting and appreciating you, which in turn results in less comparisons to others and thus, increase in self-esteem.
Media itself can be a way to increase self-esteem: bands like BTS through their songs like Answer: Love Myself, Epiphany, among many others are vocal in the need to love and appreciate oneself. The lyrics of such songs (eg. from Answer: Love Myself-
Loving myself doesn't require anyone else's permission
I have that beauty, knowing that is going on the path to loving myself
The attitude towards myself, that's the happiness I need for me)
can help the individual be satisfied with oneself and reduce comparisons with others, thus having a realistic idea about self.
BTS performing at Wembley Stadium, London
This was very informative, a lot of examples and pictures were given as visual aid which made reading much easier and engaging. It was also structured very well and neatly.
ReplyDeleteA humanistic approach in treating eating disorders appears to be highly effective at the same time a long drawn process. The approach focuses on self and his/her autonomy in determining themselves thus allowing to tackle an important cause of eating disorders - self esteem. However, such an approach is likely to take numerous sessions to see a change and for an immediate control of the disorder it may be slightly lacking. The blog is engaging with visuals to sustain the reader's attention without an overload of information.
ReplyDeleteComparing with other approaches, Humanistic approach is very positive even though it takes a lot of time. The article is very informative and visually appealing.
ReplyDelete