Introduction to EHI and The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology by EHI's Vice President, Kirk Schneider, PhD

A Blog Series Introducing EHI Faculty and Their Contributions to the Second Edition of The Handbook

The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology 2nd Edition
Edited by Kirk J. Schneider, J. Fraser Pierson and James F. T. Bugental
Sage Publications, February 2014

For this new edition of The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology, there have been 13 new chapters and sections added, along with some 23 new contributors. Among these contributors are several from EHI including myself, Orah Krug, Nader Shabahangi, Ilene Serlin, and Troy Piwowarski. Major developments in humanistic theory, research, healthcare, eldercare, multicultural psychology, neuroscience, developmental psychology, awe-based spirituality, social and political psychology, and psychotherapy have all been vividly and methodically detailed. Moreover, the volume addresses key controversies that are brewing both within and without humanistic psychology. Among these are the withering pressures on mainstream psychology to shift further from its humanistic roots and to cater to military-industrial interests, the pressure on humanistic and general psychotherapy to stress short-term, solution focused interventions and the pressure on psychology as a whole to become a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) discipline.

~ Kirk Schneider, PhD, EHI Vice President

EHI and The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology

EHI would like to present a series of posts on the EHI contributors to The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology and give visitors a look at the humanistic work that EHI professionals are doing in their fields; in practice as well as in education and outreach.

The series EHI and The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology is part of our ongoing series on  EHI Professionals found here on the EHI blog.

Find out more about the 2nd Edition of The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology and Order your personal copy today -SAVE 30% - Download the information Book Flyer with Special Offer!

View even more details on the Sage Publications page.

Report from E-H Institute's Experiential II Spring 2014 Session

See More EHI 2014 Experiential II Photos on EHI Gallery Page

by Juanita Ratner, EHI Advanced Certificate Student

I recently returned from a retreat-style experiential training course, a part of EHI’s certificate programs in Existential-Humanistic Therapy. It was held at the Angela Center in Santa Rosa, CA. In a retreat environment a field was created and maintained, thanks to the closed, intimate setting.  The work was able to go much deeper; discussions were more open, thanks to the level of trust created; and the shared search proved fruitful. We were all quite enthusiastic about the learning that went on, the bonds created, and the support for our individual practices. Also included were guest presentations by Ilene Serlin on dance/movement in therapy and Sonja Saltman, executive director, on working with dreams in therapy. Kirk Schneider, a core teacher, guided us through an exercise on bringing dimensions of awe into the field of our counseling, and Orah Krug, director of the certificate programs, helped us to experientially deepen our awareness of how our own context can affect our therapeutic interactions.

There were many opportunities to work in dyads and practice with each other, with faculty observing. I was struck by how much everyone had grown in their openness and ability to stay with each other since the first experiential training. I found myself able to do some good inner work that was perhaps just ready to be done. It seemed others around me and in the dyads I worked in were also truly searching within and with each other.  We were able to see in concrete manifestations the principles and constructs we had read about—but now they came alive in the moment; for example, how one’s context manifests in the way we enter into (or avoid) the therapeutic encounter; the experience of being, of presence. We practiced attending to both the intrapersonal and the interpersonal.

This has been my second year in the program; I’m currently pursuing the Advanced Certificate.  I completed all the work for the Foundations program at the beginning of January and was ready to receive that certificate.  We were all in a circle for the closing.  People offered their heartfelt impressions and gratitude for the work together.  One of us sang a lovely song, appropriate for the moment and somehow also integrating the poignant energy of leaving and going on into life.  As I walked across the circle to receive my certificate from Orah, someone began to hum Pomp and Circumstance.  Everyone joined in and I made my way around the circle collecting hugs from each participant. It was a beautiful moment; so full of good wishes that I’m sure the memory will remain with me the rest of my life. I looked around the circle at the faces, expressions all radiant.  During the brief three and a half days we had let go of so much, found so much, and learned to enter into the realm of unknowing together.  I heard many vows to remain in touch, to come back next year for more, perhaps every year.

Plans are already firming up for the next two experiential courses to be held in the fall and spring at Westerbeke Ranch, which not only provides a wonderful setting in the rolling hills of Sonoma County but delicious food!  Deposits are needed - see Certificate Programs Travel and Lodging page for details as they become available. 

EHI Experientials I & II are held Fall and Spring consecutively...The next dates for the Fall 2014-Spring 2015 Sessions are: 

Fall Experiential I - 

Oct 31 to Nov 4, 2014. 

Spring, Experiential II - 
March 25 to March 29,  2015. 



For more information about the certificate programs that EHI offers which includes the certificate program offered jointly with Saybrook, see the EHI website at:
http://ehinstitute.org/ehi-eh-therapy-certificate.html

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The Saybrook website has information only about the EHI/Saybrook certificate program. Go to: http://www.saybrook.edu/academic-affairs/non-degree/pii/existential-humanistic-therapy



**Note that the Foundations Certificate is included in Saybrook PII tuition, though travel and residential fees are additional. These experiential courses offer students’ training in the application of Existential-Humanistic theory, and opens the individual to the depth of their being as only a shared experience can facilitate.


Contact EHI at info [at] ehinstitute.org for more specifics on registering for next upcoming Experientials.

To see Westerbeke Ranch, check out:
http://www.westranch.com/

 


Latest Article by Bob Edelstein on Authentic Engagement entitled "The Anxiety of Being"

The Anxiety of Being

How do you relate to your anxiety?

Published on March 23, 2014 by Bob Edelstein, L.M.F.T., M.F.T in Authentic Engagement

Bob Edelstein, EHI Board Advisor recently published a new article on his Psychology Today blog. Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

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"Anxiety is often looked at as the enemy in our culture. The goal is to get rid of it, or at the least, to tone it down. Often it is associated with being neurotic. Woody Allen has made a career portraying the anxious neurotic that we can all laugh at. There is a cultural conditioning that says, something is wrong with you if you get too anxious. This same conditioning tells us that anxiety needs to be eliminated. The aim is to be cool, calm, and collected, like the archetype of a martini-sipping James Bond."

Read the full article on Authentic Engagement at PsychologyToday.com. 

Latest Article by Kirk Schneider on Awakening to Awe entitled "The Peril Is Not Mental Illness but the Polarized Mind"

Article by Kirk Schneider on PsychologyToday.com

 

I was just informed about Dr. Kirk Schneider's article in Psychology Today on "The Peril is Not Mental Illness but The Polarized Mind" posted five days ago. He was pleased to report that the piece already had over a thousand views in the first two days. Dr. Schneider offers a critical under-appreciated perspective on mental illness, society, and well being.

 

For those of you who are not familiar with Kirk's book, The Polarized Mind, this article will provide a nice summary.

 

by Juanita Ratner - Saturday, 15 March 2014

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The Peril Is Not Mental Illness but the Polarized Mind

The social catastrophe that gets repeatedly overlooked.

Published on March 9, 2014 by Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D. in Awakening to Awe

Kirk Schneider, EHI Vice-President has a blog on Psychology Today where he regularly contributes articles on Humanistic Psychology topics. Here is the intro to his latest blog piece:  

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"There is a reason that many of the most twisted and destructive people on this planet are not seen as “mental patients.”  They tend to be ordinary or even celebrated individuals—and their brains are as “normal” as the rest of us. Does this not tell us something glaring about the inadequacy of our current diagnostic system, as well as the culture out of which it arises?  We have no language for the malady that both supersedes and in many cases fuels the diagnostic categories we conventionally term psychiatric illnesses, and our reduction of them to brain abnormalities almost entirely blinds us to their deeper cause. This cause is overridingly environmental and the product not of sickness but of unaddressed, unacknowledged fear—which leads individuals and societies to become rigid, narrow, and destructive."

Read the full story on Awakening to Awe at PsychologyToday.

2nd Edition of The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology Available Now!

The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology, Second Edition
Edited by Kirk J. Schneider, J. Fraser Pierson and James F. T. Bugental

View book details on the Sage Publications page Thoroughly updated and revised, with 23 new contributors and 13 new
chapters!

Order your personal copy today and SAVE 30% - Download the Book Flyer with Special Offer!

With leading person-centered perspectives of our time and including contributions from 23 additional authors this newly published 2nd edition of The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology represents the latest scholarship in the fields of humanistic psychology and psychotherapy.

EHI and The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology

In addition to being edited by EHI's Vice-President Kirk Schneider, there are contributions from EHI Board Members, present and past, EHI Advisors and other leading Existential-Humanistic professionals associated with EHI Conferences and Events. The work features chapter contributions from these EHI Professionals: Nader Shabahangi, Kirk Schneider, Orah Krug, Troy Piwowarski, Bob Edelstein, Amedeo Giorgi,Tom Greening, J Pierson and Ilene Serlin.

• EHI President, Nader Shabahangi, authored "Ch.16: Humanistic Eldercare: Toward a New Conceptual Framework for Aging a chapter on Humanistic Eldercare"
• EHI Vice-President, Kirk Schneider, authored "Ch 6: Rediscovering Awe: A New Front in Humanistic Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Society," "Ch 26: The Renewal of Humanism in Psychotherapy: A Roundtable Discussion" and "Ch 39: An Existential-Integrative Approach to Experiential Liberation."
• Director of Certificate Programs, Orah Krug, with co-authors Troy Piwowarski, EHI Student Outreach Coordinator, and J Pierson, EHI Board Advisor, authored "Ch 41: Cultivating Psychotherapeutic Artistry: Model Existential-Humanistic Training Programs."
• EHI Board Advisor, Bob Edelstein, authored  "Ch 27: Frames, Attitudes, and Skills of an Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapist."
• EHI Board Advisor, Amedeo Giorgi, authored  "Ch 5: The Search for Psyche."
• Tom Greening, EHI Board Advisor, authored  "Ch 13: Becoming Authentic: An Existential-Humanistic Approach to Reading Literature."
• EHI Board Advisor, Ilene Serlin with EHI 2014 Conference Presenter, Eleanor Criswell, authored  "Ch 42: Humanistic Psychology, Mind/Body Medicine, and Whole Person Healthcare."

More info regarding this latest Edition of the The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology from the flyer:

The Second Edition of the cutting edge work, The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology, by Kirk J. Schneider, J. Fraser Pierson and James F. T. Bugental, represents the very latest scholarship in the field of humanistic psychology and psychotherapy. Set against trends inclined toward psychological standardization and medicalization, the handbook offers a rich tapestry of reflection by the leading person-centered scholars of our time. Their range in topics is far-reaching——from the historical, theoretical and methodological, to the spiritual, psychotherapeutic and multicultural. The handbook illuminates the vibrant "heartland" of the humanistic perspective and invites the reader to experience its profundity and inspiration.

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

•• Offers the latest scholarship in the fields of humanistic psychology and psychotherapy with contributions from 23 additional authors
• Thirteen new chapters and sections are included in the thoroughly updated Second Edition
•• Covers important new developments in neurophenomenology, humanistic-integrative therapies, humanistic multiculturalism, humanistic perspectives on development, personality, organizational psychology, social activism, peace and ecological psychologies, existential and transpersonal psychologies, whole-person healthcare, gender, and humanistic eldercare

KEY FEATURES:

•• Promotes the fuller, deeper, and more personal psychological orientation for which students and professionals yearn
•• Provides readers with a multifaceted understanding of the field through expertise in a vast range of topics
•• Contains the leading person-centered perspectives of our time
•• Illustrates the application of existential-humanistic perspectives in ways readers can draw upon personally and professionally

Check out the 2nd Edition's full Table of Contents on the Sage Publications page

Download the The Handbook of Humanistic Pyschology Special Offer Flyer and recieve 30% off your copy today! [PDF]

This flyer has a special priority code to use during ordering.

The book is available for purchase on SagePub.com or at Amazon.com

RELATED POSTS:

Check back here for our new series on EHI Professionals and their contribution to The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology. The series will introduce the EHI Professional's Chapter topic in the book and share examples of their field of study and practice.