Ritika, 28, works at a bank in Pune. She feels lonely and cut off from others, and says nothing she does feels worthwhile since her parents stopped her from pursuing music. Her first therapist lets her pour out her anger and sadness without any criticism, and leaves it to Ritika to decide where each session goes. Later, a second therapist, a psychiatrist, talks openly about his own values and life, keeps her attention on the present, and reminds her that her life is unlike anyone else's. A third therapist repeats her statements back in simpler words, and his warmth does not change whatever she tells him.
Ritika's parents stopped her from pursuing music, and she now feels lonely and finds nothing worthwhile. From the humanistic-existential view, how does the first lead to the second?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The curb on her innate need to grow emotionally frustrates self-actualisation, and this causes distress.
Option (1) The curb on her innate need to grow emotionally frustrates self-actualisation, and this causes distress. — Correct. Humanistic-existential therapies hold that people have an innate need to grow and to reach self-actualisation. Her family curbed this need, and frustrated self-actualisation causes distress, much as lack of food does.
Option (2) The conflict is pushed into her unconscious, and the repressed wish returns later as anxiety. — Incorrect. Buried conflicts in the unconscious are the psychodynamic account of distress. The humanistic-existential view looks at blocked growth and lost meaning.
Option (3) The event triggers a core schema, and negative automatic thoughts then produce her distress. — Incorrect. A core schema set off by a critical incident is Aaron Beck's cognitive account. It explains anxiety through negative automatic thoughts.
Option (4) The event is judged through irrational 'must' beliefs, which then lead to negative emotions. — Incorrect. Irrational beliefs with 'musts' and 'shoulds' are the cause of distress in Ellis's Rational Emotive Therapy. That is a cognitive view.
NCERT (2026-27): “Humanistic-existential Therapy |