Final answer:
Humanistic therapists believe that psychological problems stem from individuals not meeting their growth and self-actualization needs, failing to achieve their maximum potential.
Step-by-step explanation:
The view of a humanistic therapist regarding the cause of psychological problems is that they occur as a result of the client functioning below their optimal level, specifically in failing to meet their innate needs for growth and self-actualization. Humanistic psychology emphasizes free will, self-determination, and the pursuit of self-actualization. It's a reaction against the deterministic views of psychoanalysis and the behaviorism's perspective that people are merely reactive to their environment. Rather, humanistic therapy focuses on each individual's potential for growth.
According to Abraham Maslow, one of the pioneering humanists, failure to meet the hierarchical needs, from the basic physiological up to self-actualization, can be the source of emotional and behavioral concerns. Similarly, Carl Rogers, who developed client-centered therapy, believed that creating a therapeutic environment with unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy is crucial for individuals to be able to work through their psychological problems and achieve their fullest potential. By not achieving self-actualization and failing to satisfy their innate desire to grow, individuals may experience psychological problems according to humanistic therapists.
Humanistic therapists attribute psychological problems to the client's failure to achieve self-actualization and personal growth. Psychological problems are seen as a result of functioning below the optimal level of self-development and self-actualization needs as espoused by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.