Barriers to Psychological Health

conditions of worth

perceive that their parents, peers, or partners love and accept them only if they meet those people's expectations and approval

conditions of worth

h arises when the positive regard of a significant other is conditional, when the individual feels that in some respects he [or she] is prized and in others not

external evaluations

perceptions of other people's view of us that prevent us from being completely open to our own experiences

incongruence

the source of psychological disorders is the gap between self-concept and organismic experience

false self-concept

concept based on distortions and denials and a result of conditions of worth received during childhood

vulnerability

INCONGRUENCE:

experienced when they are unaware of the discrepancy between their organismic self and their significant experience

anxiety and threat

INCONGRUENCE:

experienced as we gain awareness of such an incongruence

anxiety

INCONGRUENCE:

state of uneasiness or tension whose cause is unknown

threat

INCONGRUENCE:

what anxiety evolves into when we become more aware to the point that our self is no longer whole or congruent

defensiveness

protection of the self-concept against anxiety and threat by the denial or distortion of experiences inconsistent with it

distortion

DEFENSIVENESS:

misinterpret an experience in order to fit it into some aspect of our self-concept

distortion

DEFENSIVENESS:

perceive experience in awareness but don't understand meaning

denial

DEFENSIVENESS:

refuse to perceive awareness and is not as common as distortion

disorganization

can occur suddenly, or it can take place gradually over a long period of time

disorganization

what people are vulnerable to during therapy, especially if a therapist accurately interprets their actions

disorganization

state where people sometimes behave consistently with their organismic experience and sometimes in accordance with their shattered self-concept