The division of humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology is in one way contradictory to who we are because we claim to be inclusive of all that is human. The same with separating out existential. The division is more positional than real and based on an historical context event.
A reflection on a death anticipated that has not yet come to be.
KEY WORDS:
Anticipating, grief, death, loss
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
When I was a student at West Georgia in 1988, I presented a paper entitled, "On the Fringe of Loss: Anticipating the Death of My Father" at the SEPA Conference in New Orleans.
I would just like to say that twelve years later, he is still alive!
CONTRIBUTORS:
Kevin Large, WGC '89
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TITLE / THEME:
Old Saybrook~ Old Saybrook 2
SUMMARY:
Credit to two founders of humanistic psychology…for helping form my path.
KEY WORDS:
Old Saybrook, OS2, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
I was six years old when "they" met the last time. Thanks for the opportunity to be with you now.
P.S. My regards to Abe and Carl-I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them…(In my Intro Psychology course in 1979, test with photos).
CONTRIBUTORS:
Kevin M. Large, WGC '89
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TITLE / THEME:
Calling Kindred Spirits
SUMMARY:
A reflection on calling for silence and song.
KEY WORDS:
Silence, creativity, song
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
If you want a moment of silence, let it be. If you want to call on creativity, let it be. If you want song, they will sing.
A Personal Tribute to Those Most Influential in Shaping My Path in Humanistic Psychology.
SUMMARY:
A therapist gives thanks to those who have guided his development.
KEY WORDS:
Influential path, Development
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
On the occasion of OS2, I would like to thank those who were the most influential in shaping my path-both academic and professional:
Reading about Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow in my Introductory Psychology course.
My advisor, teachers, and friend Les Beach at Hope College-Holland, Michigan.
Visits with the late Rolf von Eckartsburg at Duquesne University.
Mike Arons, as my contact when I was drawn to West Georgia College and continued conversations.
Anne Richards for her presence, guidance, and support.
Tip Schumrum, for the family therapy and marital therapy courses at WGC, and for guiding me into choosing that I could do "both" family therapy and grief counseling when I was wondering what path to take in leaving WGC.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Kevin M. Large, WGC '89
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TITLE / THEME:
Understanding and accepting/nurturing SELF
SUMMARY:
"Self" as a process rather than an entity is a valid and useful conceptualization.
Many people feel anxious when unable to clearly define a "true self". They also may feel hypocritical if they sense multiple and/or conflicting selves. By viewing "self" as an open, spontaneously organizing process/system, people may rid themselves of the inherent limitations of definition, as well as the consequent distress of not being "who they should be." Furthermore, they may come to embrace the sense of inner chaos that accompanies this natural, spiritual move into another organization as the temporary growing pains of an ever strengthening, ever emerging, yet true self!
CONTRIBUTORS:
Penny S. Mills in response to ideas espoused by Ken Bausch
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TITLE / THEME:
SUMMARY:
KEY WORDS:
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Maybe Humanistic Psychology's role is to be the yeast in the bread, permeating and changing so much of our culture and world rather than being a separate entity.
Reflects on the Old Saybrook (1964) conference as a beacon for the movement and OS-2 as a wake-up call
KEY WORDS:
Old Saybrook Conference, 1964; OS-2; lighthouse; Taylor
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
I have been reflecting on the significance of this gathering (a) in relation to the legacy provided us by those who were a part of the original Saybrook Conference in 1964 and (b) with respect to the future of Humanistic Psychology. For a forthcoming edited book on the original Saybrook conference presentations, EugeneTaylor chose a lighthouse for the cover-capturing the way the meeting has stood as a beacon for the development of the movement. In contrast, OS-2 seems to represent more of a wake-up call for our movement-an opportunity to take some new bearing and weigh and consider matters of consequence before we find ourselves hopelessly adrift, lost at sea, or mindlessly running a seaworthy ship aground.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Anne C. Richards
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TITLE / THEME:
Association of Humanistic Psychology/ Association of Transpersonal Psychology
SUMMARY:
KEY WORDS:
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Maybe we should change the names of the Association of Humanistic Psychology and the Association of Transpersonal Psychology-"Psychology" is too narrow a box. Substitute a word like "Movement" so that we include others like educators who use our paradigm and insights. How about an inter-disciplinary approach?
CONTRIBUTORS:
Robert Schmitt
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TITLE / THEME:
Inventing the Future of Humanistic Psychology
SUMMARY:
OS2 is the opportunity to invent the future of humanistic psychology.
KEY WORDS:
Future, Humanistic Psychology
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
OS2 puts a lie to the idea that humanistic psychology has no future. We can take three positions with respect to that future: 1)Just let it happen. 2)Let it be constructed for us. 3) Consciously invent it ourselves. The third of these is the most important. We need to actively and imaginatively seize this opportunity to create the future, and of course-it is only in the present moment that the future is created.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Dave Hiles
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TITLE / THEME:
Spirituality in Psychology
SUMMARY:
Spirituality should be addressed within therapy. Therapists need training tools. The public needs to be taught tools and understanding to integrate spiritual experiences.
KEY WORDS:
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
High level of interest-35 people attended.
Spirituality is a personal experience, influenced by a person's life experience and believes. It differs from person to person.
The therapist's role in supporting their client's spiritual path is to help the client "find the word of God that is sweet to their tongue." A Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield was recommended.
"The values at the heart of human existence draws us to healing."
Participants personal stories demonstrated that spirituality is something you feel-you feel the spirit, you feel with your heart.
Spirituality cannot be defined, just as God cannot be defined. This was demonstrated by prior discussion attempts to "define" spirituality, which were divisive, fruitless, and led to a dead end.
What we are still hearing throughout this conference is the position of humanistic psychology, a struggle of, I would say, ego, because this insecurity has never been sufficiently addressed, although much talked about. The humanistic psychology positions itself into opposition to other branches of psychology. I think it's -time to take social responsibility and to define humanistic psychology through actions and social impact instead of the endless struggles of ego identity.
Art-Creativity-Humanities
Roots of Humanistic Psychology
SUMMARY:
KEY WORDS:
Humanities, creativity, arts, culture
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
The foundation of humanistic psychology are in epistemology, ethics and aesthetics. This requires that we rethink about our relationships to research, authority of knowledge, arthority of power, intervention, creativity, etc.
The core ethic is recognizing the value of the intangibles of the human experience of all participants in human systems. We are rethinking our relationship to society at large and its core cultural assumptions.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Art Warmoth
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TITLE / THEME:
ATTP needs to become more concerned with growth than repair
i.e. education vs. therapy
SUMMARY:
Bringing together people from other disciplines interested in ways to enhance the quality of life for all peoples through proper change, progress, or education.
KEY WORDS:
Need to reach out to other organizations and groups involved in necessary education as a process for actualizing our humanness which involves skills in relating to self and others as well as skills in the 3 R's.
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
CONTRIBUTORS:
Stanley Krippner, Robert Schmitt, Nora Weckler
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TITLE / THEME:
Globalization and Humanistic Psychology
SUMMARY:
Need for forms of action around this pressing issue.
KEY WORDS:
Globalization
Humanistic Allies
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Recommend to sponsor a conference on globalization, involving representatives from other relevant disciplines and allied groups who are inspired by principles of humanistic psychology.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Daniel Helminiak, Robert Schmitt, Carmi Harari, Fred Massarik, Nora Weckler, Elena Mustakova-Possardt
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TITLE / THEME:
Replacing Reactivity with Conscious Creativity
SUMMARY:
Reactivity has served its purpose. Now, the future of Humanistic Psychology lies in its ability to consciously create itself.
KEY WORDS:
Conscious Creativity
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
In the past, humanistic psychology has been a largely reactive movement (i.e. reactive to psychoanalytic, behavioral, and positivistic perspectives). This reactivity has served its purposes and now can be seen as part of the demise of the whole movement. The energies of reactivity are only temporary. Instead, we need to replace reactivity with conscious creativity. The future vision of the movement needs to be consciously created out of the resources inherently available.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Dave Hiles
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TITLE / THEME:
Spirituality in Humanistic Psychology
SUMMARY:
Exploring the question of spirituality in humanistic psychology.
KEY WORDS:
Spirituality, humanistic psychology
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Can psychologists authentically include a framework for dealing with issues of spirituality and the Divine? At this point, it appears that those who seek some underlying basic Truth or Truths either through the use of scientific or theoretical models or paradigms will not be satisfied by the idea that there can be many truths. And, those who validate the idea that there can be many truths will be put off by the notion of a single Truth or a single set of Truths. My sense about this dynamic and creative tension in exploring the topic of spirituality in humanistic psychology is that all of the thought and dialogue will be screened through each person's notions about what s/he considers as "valuable" (what is important) to his/her self and his/her world and what "meaning" each person has already subconsciously adopted (i.e. scientific, theoretical, religious, spiritual dogma, etc.). Creative tensions are not unhealthy. They push us toward clarity-clarity within the mind ultimately leads to clear manifestations.
The Common Vision that We Share Towards a Global Society
SUMMARY:
How do we move beyond fragmentation and viewing humanistic psychology as the only game in town, and begin to build allies/partnerships, and become a prominent global force?
KEY WORDS:
global allies
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Just as the birth of humanistic psychology responded to the need for respect of the individual, the rebirth of humanistic psychology in the context of globalization needs to translate the earlier principle into work for unity in diversity.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Robert Schmitt, Elena Mustakova-Possardt
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TITLE / THEME:
Adequate Historical and Psychological Misunderstanding of the Process of Globalization
SUMMARY:
We need to move beyond our negative reactions to the globalization process, and we need to discern and build a database of information on positive global partnerships and operating principles.
KEY WORDS:
Database of groups and partnerships
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
CONTRIBUTORS:
Robert Schmitt, Elena Mustakova-Possardt
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TITLE / THEME:
Conscious Co-Creating and working with energy principles and "The Mirror Effect"
SUMMARY:
We are currently co-creators manifesting without a lot of awareness about how we do this. This kind of framework has resulted in our creating many paths of growth with pain. Through using the mirror effect and consciously using energy principles, we can learn how to create newer paths of growth with joy and one's consciousness expands.
KEY WORDS:
Conscious co-creation
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
As human beings with conscious minds, we simultaneously live a 3 life spaces (i.e., a personal life space, a societal life space, and a global life space). The mirror effect can be defined as the effect(s) manifested in a person's life spaces (personal, societal, and/or global) which ahs emerged or flows from the energy attracted to a person's core believes (core ideas) about the self (mind, body, and spirit) and his/her world (physical and spiritual). Core beliefs are often "transparent" and it is often their effect(s) that make them more conscious. The mirror effect, therefore, is the externally reflected outcomes or conditions of inner-directed energy in accord with these core beliefs and with what some authors have referred to as universal energy law. Severn energy laws may be referenced as follows:
the law of attraction
the law of polarity
the law of neutrality
the law of consequences
the law of intention
the law of allowing
the law of universality
The premise here is that in our life spaces we are already co-creators, but we tend to use the principles of energy laws, we can be "conscious co-creators" to attract and manifest events, circumstances, objects, and people in our life spaces that nurture our higher potentials.
Similar to my current practice of inducting "deep" psychotherapy
CONTRIBUTORS:
Eric
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TITLE / THEME:
Conversation with Amedeo Giorgi
SUMMARY:
Explanation of our respective experiences with phenomenology and our current focal points
KEY WORDS:
Phenomenology
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Phenomenology's philosophical foundations and its consequences for praxis toward our qualitative method or methodology.
The term "phenomenology" is used perniciously in humanistic circles-it is empty without the philosophical group of Husserl's contributions and those of others
The difference between mainstream helping professionals and humanistic helping professionals.
SUMMARY:
A reflection on differences of inclusion of therapists' experiences in the therapy process.
KEY WORDS:
Self-of-therapist, experience
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
It appears to me that the 'mainstream' therapists/social workers typically does not talk openly about their own personal experience and/or personal therapy experience. From my experience in the family therapy field, there is talk, and examination of, 'the self of the therapist.' It seems to me, though, that it is only in the realm of humanistic psychology that there is an openness to one's own being as a guide, and a part of, the overall therapy process-one in being with the other.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Kevin M. Large, WGC '89
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TITLE / THEME:
Psyc/Soul/Nature and Technology
SUMMARY:
How we can take action to slow the destruction of the earth to allow regeneration to occur. How can we reconnect and honor the earth in balance with technology?
KEY WORDS:
Earth and technology
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Group thoughts: 1) The more unhealthy the earth, the more unhealthy we, as individuals, become. 2) Half of the world population does not have access to clean drinking water. Consumption is a big part of the problem-70% of natural resources are used by 1/5th of the population. Other problems include; pollution by both corporation and individuals, population growth and increasing disconnection with the earth, communities and each other. 3) Funding environmental groups that go after large corporate polluters helps. 4) Education on a community level-example: recycle. 5) Punishment versus reward with the corporations. How can we support corporations to adopt and restore the land, water and air. 6) Technology overuse is seen with our children when they prefer to interact with a computer/TV than play outside and with each other. 7) We each need to take individual responsibility for our own actions. Teach by example in our everyday life. 8)Helping people connect to the earth and spirit leads to more conscious interaction with nature and technology. 9) Small practical actions we can take in organic gardening, walk instead of drive when possible, decrease packaging of products, pickup litter, encourage community gardening in our cities, support our children to explore nature, reuse cups and plates at OS2. 10) Spiritual discussion of dominion over versus us being servants of the earth. 11) We are all connected, not separate from nature, 'the web of life,' and each other. 12) As psychologists working with children who are headed toward institutionalization; send these children on Outward Bound programs. Discussion of a State of Georgia program where prior to the institutionalization, children are sent to the Outdoor Therapeutic Program. They live in nature in a year or two. The recidivism rate is only 15%. How can we support other states utilizing this approach. The decision was made to continue this discussion in an e-mail group with the goal of developing a social action committee.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Rebecca Angeline Roberts
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TITLE / THEME:
Who should our clients/customers be? Human systems facilitation (Personal/Social)
SUMMARY:
New opportunities for service/facilitation
KEY WORDS:
Practice, facilitation, mutuality, healthy community
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Take personal responsibility, share experience, dialogue/keep conversation going, risk letting go of authority in order to listen better to my problem/their problem/our problem, seek more information, witness, reflect, practice art, peer learning, be honest, risk going our of our normal experience, look for opportunities to contribute, try something new, be open about our own values/morals, but don't impose
The role of existential reflection of engagement with awe in the culture at large
KEY WORDS:
awe, paradox, spontaneity, embodiment, pausing versus speed, breathing
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Fervent discussion regarding awe--the thrill and anxiety of living-what it is, how to cultivate it individually/collectively, what it implies for our high tech age. Also, discussion of awe in the educational and work settings
The origin of the word suggest a political slant: People who did not speak Latin were vulgar in the Roman Empire. The term probably distanced the conquered from the conquerors.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Jim Pugh
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TITLE / THEME:
From fully human to humanistic psychology
SUMMARY:
KEY WORDS:
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
New people to this community may desire (need to, benefit from) exploring the central (core) essence or theme of humanistic psychology, or participate in an experiential dialogue about what is 'being fully human.' It may also be helpful for people who have been with or in and out of organizations and or theories or practices rooted in humanistic psychology to also re/explore, experientially, the meaning and felt-sense of 'fully human' (including transcendence…). Such personal exploration with others allows all of us to experience the central 'themes' of this movement/ideology, ect., such that we can more fully identify vision, mission, action plans, ect…
Resolved cases develop good and functional theories in humanistic psychology. Is it possible to collect or organize something about this?
CONTRIBUTORS:
Francesco Palmirotta
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TITLE / THEME:
Thematic group, Setting Boundaries, Building Identity, Clarification of/ Focus on Core World Views, etc.
SUMMARY:
KEY WORDS:
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
It is important that a world view makes room for the evolution of the human being and for the human being to recognize that beingness as part of a vast Essence of Beingness. Can we co-create with those who are interested in lifting the vibration of the material universe to a higher level? This requires developing an understanding of how we can co-create "consciously" and to do so in a context of responsible action and building "harmonious boundaries." Is it possible to learn to view ourselves as "ever-evolving selves?"
Lersch was a German psychologist whose writing included many humanistic themes.
KEY WORDS:
Transcendence, activity, psychology
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Many outstanding contributors in humanistic psychology wrote materials that deserve to be translated into English.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Carmi Harari, John Rowan
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TITLE / THEME:
Art, Creativity, Humanities-Roots of Humanistic Psychology (A.K.A. Creativity)
SUMMARY:
The use of art, music, writing, or any other form of creativity is beneficial and conducive in learning and counseling.
KEY WORDS:
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
-Whether we are being shut off from using creativity or not.
- It would appear that humanistic psychology has not become shut off from creativity. It's open and discerning-in that humanistic psychology programs do implement successful counseling and therapy. Creativity builds self-esteem and confidence. It allows a person to open up and to find oneself.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Mike Arons and Ilene Serlin
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TITLE / THEME:
SUMMARY:
KEY WORDS:
DESCRIPTION / INSIGHT:
Concrete steps we can take to promote alternatives to the medical model etc. is a positive development. Being bold in bringing up controversial issues of economics and power structures is worthwhile and necessary for promotion of postmodern thought.
We might want to give up certain constructs as a fatal embrace and certain binaries:
-The self versus the social
-Language versus experience
-Rational versus subjective
-The objective as our whipping boy
-The spiritual versus the material
What do we really know, really, that aren't glossy buzzwords?
