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Presents an article about humanistic psychology. Perception of humanist Alvin Mahrer regarding choices; Implications of personal action; Arguments of other humanists.

Summary A heresy is what happens when one part of a coherent body of doctrine gets taken and blown up in size until it becomes something new, but distorted and one-sided. The heresies in this article are Instrumentalism, Feelingism, Autonomy-ism, Peace-and-loveism, Peakism, Spiritual-ism, Expertism, Sexism, and Eclectic Mish-mash-ism. They are described and then criticized in detail. In the conclusion, humanistic psychology is described and its hopeful nature is outlined in world terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This theoretical study outlines four levels of listening (intellect, feelings, body, and soul/spirit) and four types of listening (empathy, awareness, countertransference, and resonance) forming a matrix of sixteen cells, because each type can be carried out at each level. Eight possible combinations are described in detail. Any of these ways of listening may be conducted purely in a conscious manner, or bringing in the unconscious as well. Examples are given of working in these various modes, and it is suggested that most of us do most of these things already. Some considerations about the pre/trans fallacy are offered, and some of the implications for the training of counselors and psychotherapists, for research in this area, and for the selection of therapists by clients are also drawn out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The concept of self-actualization is central to humanistic psychology. But what is this self that is to be actualized? Maslow, who introduced the term, thought that it belonged to the realm of Being, most easily accessed through peak experiences. It was essentially something transcendent, and to contact it was to partake of something like a mystical experience. But Maslow, in company with many earlier and later writers, took it that there was just one mystical experience, which might be described as unitive consciousness or cosmic consciousness. There are, however, at least seven quite separate and distinct mystical experiences, and I outline these with references to the literature of mysticism. The practice of meditation is then looked at in the light of these considerations, and criticized for its ambiguity. The spiritual path is then discussed in the context of the preceding argument, and I show that the practice of personal growth and humanistic psychotherapy offer a safe and sound basis for starting on the spiritual path. This may lead to a clean mysticism free from mystification, and a real religion with an aware psychology. "Through therapy or personal growth, we learn how to open up to our own inner process Through mysticism, we learn how to carry on with that same process, into the deepest depths of all." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]