The Directory

The first edition of this Directory was published in 1981.  It was then sponsored by Division 32 (Humanistic Psychology) of the American Psychological Association (APA).  The second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth editions have been co-sponsored by Division 32 and the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP).  Both organizations have received thousands of inquiries for information concerning degree-granting graduate programs oriented towards humanistic, existential, phenomenological, or transpersonal psychology.

This directory reflects the effort of identifying such programs in the interest of offering to interested prospective students, faculty, or other individuals some factual and philosophical material they can use as a starting point for more specific inquiry.  Those using the directory might be reminded that factual information - i.e., tuition, requirements, faculty figures - are soon outdated.  Even philosophical positions can change with time.  So it is wise to consider this directory as a rough guide - accurate at the date of printing - but one which leads to more specific follow-through for the latest information.
 

Humanistic Graduate Programs and Philosophy

Not everybody means the same thing by humanistic psychology (which was formerly characterized as Third Force psychology by Abraham Maslow).  There is very little, if any, kinship between humanistic psychology and the secular humanism if by this latter is intended, justifiably or not, value-free or lacking in spiritual concern.  While insisting on personal responsibility and the possibility of freedom beyond reductionism and determinism, humanistic psychologies have emerged specifically with the emphasis on values, meaning, and human potential which open up rather than foreclose on spiritual questions.  There is an historical kinship between humanistic psychology and phenomenological and existential psychology and Eastern and transpersonal psychologies (the latter sometimes characterized as Fourth Force psychology).  While humanistic psychologists tend to take a definite position on the kinds of scientific approaches best suiting study of the whole person, these psychologists - reflecting a variety of religious backgrounds personally, or none - seek human understanding which is not necessarily incompatible with any religious faith.  It is only the dogmatism or authority sometimes associated with varieties of science or religion - which can block the fuller search of what it means to be human - that poses a problem for humanistic inquiry.

In recognition of the great variety of understandings of humanistic psychology, we asked the schools themselves to determine if their orientations fit within the sense of humanistic psychology which they understand, even if that term is not used by them.  We asked if this sense of humanistic psychology was their central orientation rather than a peripheral or partial one.  This directory concentrated only on programs centered around a humanistic orientation.  We, ourselves, incorporated into the sense of humanistic those programs centrally focused on areas related to existentialism, phenomenology, or transpersonal psychology.  Finally, we also included in this sixth edition some programs whose emphases and degrees are centered on education and where approaches and atmosphere are quite expressive of humanistic psychology.  It should be noted that there are many programs not listed in the directory which have on their faculties individuals who are themselves interested in questions raised by humanistic psychology or who take a humanistic approach to instruction and research.
 

The Work and Support

No work, no directory!  I want to give special thanks to all of those, particularly here at West Georgia, who have devoted their efforts to this directory.  This sixth edition owes greatly to Andrew Bland, who took over the work from Martha Bennett, Johanna Nilsson, Shawn Skalin, Andrew Glas, Anthony Jones, Phil Frieson, and Debbie Powell, who completed the fifth, fourth, third, and second editions, and Robert S. Walker, III, who created a web version of the fifth edition.  The original first edition was created and finalized by Howard Whitehouse.   Special thanks to our department chair, Don Rice, and our secretary Morgen East, as well as our former secretaries Jeanne Shell, Rose Davis, Nancy Gillespie, and Joyce Tuttle.  Also thanks to Mary Geyer and Rosemary Gainor for their past work with the directory.  Finally, there would be no directory without the support of the Executive Boards of APA Division 32 and the Association for Humanistic Psychology and the Administration of State University of West Georgia.