John Rowan

Early Days in Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology

SYNOPSISThis article dredges up some of my most vivid memories of the early days in humanistic and radical psychology in this country. The 1970s were very exciting for me, and also for the practice of therapy—particularly group therapy—in this country. And the formation of the UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners (AHPP) was a highly significant move, followed as it was by the founding of the British Association for Counselling (or BAC, as it was then) accreditation scheme, which took over many of the ideas worked out in the AHPP. When the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) came to be formed, two of the three people who wrote the identity statement for the Humanistic and Integrative Section (as it was then) came from the AHPP.

An aim for men

It is getting harder and harder to know what a man is supposed to be like, but Aaron Kipnis made a great contribution with his notion of the ‘initiated man’ who has dared to go in for personal therapy. I want to expand on this idea, and to give some examples of how it works in practice.

Self-actualization and individuation

This article aims at relating Maslows idea of self-actualization to the Jungian idea of individuation. It turns out that self-actualization is quite a definite and achievable level of consciousness, within reach of all of us. Individuation, on the other hand, is only vaguely stated, and it seems quite doubtful as to whether it is achievable at all. This article provides many references (see Further Relevant Readings section), enabling further corroboration of the arguments presented.

Don't You Dare Ignore the Transpersonal!

SynopsisWhy is it important nowadays to factor in the transpersonal movement when discussing the field of psychology and psychotherapy? The article presents a brief history of transpersonal psychology in order to highlight the process that developed a way of dealing with ‘mental dis-ease’ that has been known since ancient times and cannot be forgotten. Transpersonal psychology points to something that is beyond ordinary personality, and hence facilitates communication with people holding different belief systems.

Opinion: How to Study Humanistic Psychology

SYNOPSISOne of the most important ideas which is being discussed at the moment is the notion of levels of consciousness. It is a deeply embarrassing notion, because it suggests that some people are further on in their mental development than others, and are actually thinking differently from the average. This is a disturbing idea for many people, because it seems to threaten the democratic ideal. Of course it does not. What I am trying to do in this article is to give evidence for the belief that Humanistic Psychology comes from, and relates to, a higher level of thought than the everyday thinking of black and white, yes or no, either/or, one or zero—and which is generally labelled as ‘dialectical logic’, or ‘second-tier thought’. In this article I am trying to explore some of the facets of this conceptual jewel.

The dialogical self and the transpersonal: new thinking in psychotherapy

One of the most exciting developments in the field of counselling and psychotherapy is the current work in the area of multiplicity within the person. Of course we are all familiar with this idea through the notion of subpersonalities, and similar ideas such as ego states and subselves and parts. The trouble with the term subpersonalities is that it lends itself too easily to reification. Reification is that all too easy process by which we turn a theoretical construct into a solid object. I know from my reading of student essays how easy it is to speak or write as if ‘the oral type’ really existed out there in the world, and similarly with ‘the unconscious’, ‘the schizoid character’, ‘the ego’ and all the rest of these concepts.

The Problem of Accreditation

The AHP is continually approached by people who want a recommended list of therapists or group-leaders—names of people they can go to with confidence, in the knowledge that they are not putting themselves into the hands of inexpert amateurs or exploitative ego-trippers.

Consciousness and Experience

Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 “Conscious” and “Consciousness” ..................................................................................... 1 “Self-conscious” and “Self-consciousness” ....................................................................... 3 Degrees of Being Conscious ............................................................................................... 4 Consciousness and Self-consciousness ............................................................................. 6 Intentionality ...................................................................................................................... 7 Experience .......................................................................................................................... 7 Who is Conscious? ............................................................................................................. 8 References ........................................................................................................................... 9 Revision History ................................................................................................................. 9

Bleakley's Embrace

This is not a review of Alan Bleakleys book Earths Embrace (Gateway Books 1989) but rather an attempt to examine some of the issues which he raises in his Chapter 5, which is entitled ‘Humanistic Psychology: a Religion Without Gods’. Although this is only one out of six chapters, it is the only one which speaks to the subtitle on the title page of this book Archetypal Psychologys Challenge to the Growth Movement.

Conflict and Integration

This is an extract from ORDINARY ECSTASY by John Rowan to be published in Spring 1976 by Routledge and Kegan Paul.