David N. Elkins

Toward a Humanistic-Phenomenological Spirituality Definition, Description, and Measurement

This is an account of research on spirituality being conducted by a group of professors and students at the Graduate School of Education and Psychology of Pepperdine University. The article presents a humanistic definition and description of spirituality based on the writings of Abraham Maslow, John Dewey, William James, Carl Jung, and others. A preliminary report is also made on the development of the Spiritual Orientation Inventory, a measure of spirituality based on the humanistic model and designed to assess the spirituality of those not affiliated with traditional religion.

The Medical Model in Psychotherapy Its Limitations and Failures

This article discusses the limitations and failures of the medical model in psychotherapy. Specifically, the article shows that (a) the medical model does not accurately describe what actually occurs in psychotherapy; (b) the model continues to dominate the field not because of its accuracy but because of its questionable ties with medicine, science, and the health insurance industry; (c) the model obscures the fact that psychotherapy is an interpersonal process, not a medical procedure; and (d) the model fails to account for the fact that the vast majority of clients use psychotherapy for support, guidance, and personal growth instead of treatment for mental illness. Implications of this analysis are presented.

Why Humanistic Psychology Lost Its Power and Influence in American Psychology Implications for Advancing Humanistic Psychology

Why did humanistic psychology lose its power and influence in American psychology? Previous answers have focused on the historical shortcomings of the humanistic movement, a perspective that essentially “blames the victim.” In contrast, this article suggests that two outside forces—mainstream American psychology and conservative forces in the larger culture—also played a role in undermining the humanistic vision. The article concludes that humanistic psychology lost its power and influence, in large measure, because it is inherently incompatible with the basic assumptions and values of contemporary mainstream psychology and with the conservative ideologies that have increasingly gained power in American culture since the 1960s. Implications of this analysis for the future of the humanistic movement are presented.

Empirically Supported Treatments: The Deconstruction of a Myth

This article summarizes recent findings from analyses and meta-analyses of psychotherapy research that show that so-called empirically supported treatments (ESTs) are no more effective than are traditional psychotherapies. In addition, the findings show that specific modalities and techniques have little, if anything at all, to do with therapeutic benefits and that client improvement and therapeutic outcome are instead the result of other factors in the therapeutic situation such as the alliance, the therapist, the relationship, and other contextual factors. The article shows how these findings deconstruct the whole notion of ESTs and make the current debate about them meaningless. Finally, the article discusses implications of the findings and urges humanistic psychologists and other proponents of traditional psychotherapies to shift the debate away from modalities and techniques and to focus on the factors that are actually responsible for therapeutic benefits.

Short-Term, Linear Approaches To Psychotherapy: What We Now Know:

This article critiques short-term, linear approaches to psychotherapy and raises fundamental questions about the claims for their effectiveness. The article delineates the inherent weaknesses of short-term, linear approaches; summarizes a recent meta-analysis that challenges their effectiveness; and summarizes research showing they are less effective than longer-term, traditional psychotherapy. The author suggests that psychologists who are drawn to short-term, linear approaches embed these in a broader, more complex theoretical framework such as that which humanistic-existential psychology provides.

Old Saybrook I and II: The Visioning and Re-Visioning of Humanistic Psychology

This article provides an overview of the process known as Old Saybrook II, which is re-visioning humanistic psychology for the 21st century. In 1964, an eminent group of humanistically oriented psychologists and scholars met at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, to clarify the development of the movement up until then and develop a vision for this new orientation in psychology. Now, 36 years later, Old Saybrook II is an effort to update that original vision. This is a major undertaking that involves several humanistic organizations and dozens of humanistic psychology’s leaders. This article provides information about Old Saybrook II, describing its goals, its organizational structure, its current activities, and some of the issues being addressed.

DSM-5 Reform Efforts by the Society for Humanistic Psychology

Since 2011, the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32 of the American Psychological Association) has taken a lead in organizing an international coalition of organizations and individuals that share major criticisms of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fifth edition (DSM-5) diagnosis and the search for alternatives. Inspired by the British Psychological Society’s public criticism of the DSM-5, Society for Humanistic Psychology began by drafting an Open Letter that outlines criticisms of the DSM-5. The Open Letter went on to receive endorsements from over 50 national and international organizations, and was signed by over 15,000 individuals, primarily mental health professionals. The effort to reform the DSM-5 shifted gears in 2013, when the Society’s efforts began to pivot toward efforts to organize discussions about legitimate alternatives to medical model, DSM diagnoses of human suffering. The culmination of this project was the Global Summit on Diagnostic Alternatives, which persists in several fronts to provide guidelines for the development of diagnostic manuals, and to promote scientifically and ethically sound approaches to understanding and alleviating human suffering.

Open Letter to the DSM-5:

In October 2011, the Open Letter to the DSM-5 was posted as an online petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/dsm5/. To the surprise of its authors, the petition garnered the endorsements of over 15,000 individuals and over 50 professional organizations, including 15 additional divisions of the American Psychological Association. It is here reproduced in print for the first time. For more details on the history of the Open Letter, see Robbins, Kamens, and Elkins (2017) in this special issue.

The American Psychological Association and the Hoffman Report

Based on findings documented in the Independent Review Relating to APA Ethics Guidelines, National Security Investigations, and Torture, more commonly known as the Hoffman report, this guest editorial describes how the American Psychological Association (APA) colluded with the Department of Defense during the Bush administration to provide ethical cover for the Department of Defense’s interrogation program and for psychologists working in the program. Describing the actions of APA as “one of the greatest ethical breaches in the history of psychology,” the article discusses APA’s offenses, what has been done about them to date, and what remains to be done.

The humanistic and behavioral traditions: areas of agreement and disagreement.

This comment, a response to Steven Hayess contribution, addresses areas of agreement and disagreement between the humanistic and behavioral traditions. Areas of agreement include a common interest in humanism, cognition, and contextualism. Areas of disagreement include Hayess analysis of humanistic psychologys historical focus on human science and qualitative research as well as his view that humanistic psychology is not scientifically based. In the interest of collaboration, the article concludes with a request that behavioral clinicians be more cautious about extolling the specialness of behavioral approaches in psychotherapy.