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This article anatomizes the experience of violence. Drawing on the phenomenological observations of classic literature, and in particular, the horror genre, this article proposes that the tendency toward violence is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. While brain pathology, genetic disposition, and quantifiable stressors all appear to play a role in the outbreak of violence, the literary genre points to other, less well‐appreciated dimensions. Among these are: a sense of emptiness, the need to compensate for that emptiness through extreme and dramatic acts, and a lack of the sense of awe, meaning, and the carnivalesque in people's lives. This article argues for the restoration of awe, meaning, and the carnivalesque‐and not only as a hedge against the kind of violence observed on September 11th, 2001‐but as a virtue in its own right, and as an antidote, comparatively, to our desolate times.

SYNOPSISThis article examines professional psychology's shifting paradigms throughout the last 100 years, beginning with its roots in philosophy and concluding with its recent embrace of neuroscience. The main contention of this article is that the evolution of psychology is a philosophical as much as, if not more than, a scientific issue, and that the philosophical fashions of the given times tend to influence the focus of the profession. The author concludes that given this philosophical basis for psychological engagements, existential-humanistic philosophy can and should be the leading candidate for the emerging psychology of the future. In light of its holistic aims, it is argued that the existential-humanistic point of view provides the optimal opportunity to transform professional psychology from the narrow to the broad, and from the mechanical to the awe-based.

SUMMARY This article presents a personal reflection on therapeutic awe. Formally, I define awe as the co-mingling of humility, reverence, and wonder before creation; informally, I understand it as the thrill and anxiety of living. Awe is not spotlighted very often as a therapeutic “condition,” but in my work and that of many of my colleagues it is the sine qua non of healing. In this article, I examine the nature, role, and salutary implications of therapeutic awe. Two brief cases are provided to illustrate.

This commentary provides a depth-therapeutic critique of the design methodology of Borkovec et al.'s Practice Research Network (PRN). Although aspects of the network's goals and investigative format are supported, key limitations are also identified. To address these limitations, an amalgamated PRN is proposed, featuring two contemporary design alternatives—hermeneutic single-case efficacy design and multiple-case depth research.

The term "experience-near" has become associated with a variety of alternatives to mainstream clinical research. These alternatives converge on one basic methodological goal-faithfulness to clinical phenomena as lived. This article presents one approach to lived clinical phenomena that I term multiple-case depth research or MCDR. MCDR is a novel and highly sensitive methodology that combines both in-depth case investigation with experiential therapeutic principles. To illustrate the power of MCDR, I present a hypothetical process and outcome study involving three client cohorts (those who undergo respectively cognitive-behavioral therapy, intersubjective psychoanalytic therapy, and existential-humanistic therapy). I detail the structure of this hypothetical study, the steps by which it proceeds, and the yield that it portends. I conclude that, if conducted properly, MCDR can provide rich, valid, and unprecedented insight into effective psychotherapy.

In the past 20 years, American psychology has firmly dissociated itself from its romantic roots. This article elaborates the reasons for this development, the consequences of it, and the rationale for reclaiming those roots. The marginalization of existential-humanistic psychology within mainstream academia, the loss of the influences of the arts and humanities on psychology, and the rich and practical advantages of literary investigations of human experience are detailed. Finally, romanticism is discussed in light of the growing postmodernist movement in psychology. Although the orientations are seen as compatible in certain respects, the limitations of this compatibility also are acknowledged.

SUMMARY This article reflects my personal concerns about the prevailing view of psychological suffering in both psychiatry and the media. In addition to critiquing this prevailing view, I explore what I perceive to be the subtler and more complex understanding of suffering exemplified by existential psychology, poetry, and intimate experience. The conclusion of this investigation is that clients, mental health professionals, and society at targe would benefit from a view of suffering that acknowledges its potentially liberating as well as debilitating dimensions. Only through such an acknowledgment can human existence be seen in its profundity.

This article proposes an existential vision of self and culture‐"the fluid center.” Drawing on existential philosophical and therapeutic principles, the fluid center is elucidated as a “pivot point,” a pause, between the reductionisms, elitisms, and anarchisms, that beset our age. Stated formally, the fluid center is any sphere of consciousness, which has as its concern the widest possible relations to existence. To help illustrate the fluid center, I draw attention to the historical phenomenon known as “carnival.” Like the fluid center, carnival embraces paradox. It promotes play, elasticity, and diversity; but it also acknowledges limits, vulnerabilities, and thresholds. The implications of the fluid center and carnival for politics, work, and therapeutic practice are explored and elaborated.

This article is a tribute not just to Jim Bugental but to his vision. As Jim himself has increasingly recognized, the implications of existential-humanistic practice stretch far beyond the individual and his or her immediate domain. Such notions as liberation, searching, responsibility, and presence have significant implications for the sociopolitical contexts that Jim's (and our) existential-humanistic clients invariably confront. This article argues that if we do not face these sociopolitical implications of our work, then the hard-won gains of our existential-humanistic clients will dissipate into the profit-motivated culture of which they are a part. An overview of these problems is presented along with concrete suggestions for redressing them.

(1996). Requiem for an Enigma. The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal: Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 75-78.

Over the past several years, a growing number of transpersonal theorists have addressed existentialism. These articles have been supportive of existential positions but only to a point. This point concerns one major theme: whether or not the universe is friendly (assimilable, consoling) or unfriendly (unassimilable, “other"). Transpersonalists tend to adopt the former, and in their view, superior, position and existentialists lean toward the latter “delimited” view. This article explores the accuracy of this perception on the part of transpersonalists and strongly argues for its reassessment.

Recently, we have witnessed an explosion of interest in the transcendental dimension of human experience. Leading psychological theorists, however, have become polarized on this matter. Whereas emphatic rationalists (such as Albert Ellis) perceive little value in the transcendental, ardent transpersonalists (such as Ken Wilber) stress its most expansive implications. This article explores a third alternative to these positions-what I term existential spirituality or wonderment. To illustrate the richness of this perspective, I discuss and consider the implications of Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo. We burn with desire to find a steadfast place and an ultimate fixed basis whereon we may build a tower to reach the infinite. But our whole foundation breaks up, and earth opens to the abysses. -Blaise Pascal (1654)

This article investigates the hypothesis that therapists' personal (psychological) maturity is a key factor in therapeutic effectiveness. Maturity is defined in terms of intra- and interpersonal openness, acceptance, and genuineness. Effectiveness is defined in terms of therapeutic process and outcome. The article reviews the literature pertinent to this topic from the standpoint of therapeutic theory and research. Although the results of this review indicate provisional support and far-reaching political and professional implications for the hypothesis, notable limitations in the data preclude a more definitive conclusion.

James F. T. Bugental died peacefully at age 92 at his Petaluma, California, home on September 18, 2008. Jim was a leading psychotherapist and a founding father, with Abraham Maslow and others, of humanistic psychology, or the "third force" (in contrast to psychoanalysis and behaviorism). Jim was also the creator, along with Rollo May, of existential-humanistic psychotherapy. Jim was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Christmas Day in 1915. Jim earned his doctorate in 1948 from Ohio State University, where he was influenced by Victor Raimy and George Kelly. After a brief time on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) faculty in psychology, Jim resigned in 1953 to found the first group practice of psychotherapy, Psychological Service Associates, with Alvin Lasko. With Abraham Maslow and others, Jim was a cofounder of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (JHP) and the Association for Humanistic Psychology in 1961. Jim also wrote many books on the topic of psychotherapy during his lifetime. Jim was a great and bold spirit--his many writings and teachings are cherished today widely, and the field of psychology is much richer for his efforts.

Mounting research suggests that the way we deal with psychophysiological paradoxes or opposites (such as separation vs. attachment, firmness vs. supportiveness, formality vs. informality, masculinity vs. femininity, assertiveness vs. submissive‐ness, or in short, constriction and “drawing back” vs. expansion and “bursting forth") has key implications for our health. Although convincing theoretical treatises have addressed this topic, there has yet to be a concerted review of the pertinent literature. This article is intended to provide such a review.

This article conveys some of my thoughts, feelings, and experiences with R. D. Laing. Although I met him only briefly and did not know him personally, I sympathize greatly with his concerns. Once people believed that the world was flat; however, science has proved that the world is round.... Now in spite of that, one still believes that life is flat and goes from birth to death. However, life is probably round and much superior in extension and capacity to the hemisphere known to us at present. Future generations will probably enlighten us on this so interesting subject; and then science itself might arrive-willy-nilly-at conclusions... relating to the other half of existence. -VINCENT VAN GOGH (quoted in Graetz, 1963, p. 71) We respect the voyager, the explorer, the climber, the space-man. It makes far more sense to me as a valid project-in-deed, as a desperately and urgently required project for our time-to explore the inner space and time of consciousness. -R.D. LAING (1967, p. 127)

This article summarizes and discusses the main themes to emerge from this special section on the renewal of humanism in psychotherapy. It is concluded that (1) despite some controversies, humanism is both a viable and growing influence among the leading specialty areas of psychotherapy; (2) humanism is a foundational element of effectiveness among these specialty areas; and (3) humanistic training is essential to the development of trainees in the aforementioned specialty areas. The implications of these findings for each of the specialty areas, for the profession of psychotherapy, and for the public at large are elaborated, concluding with a call for a reassessment of priorities in the research, practice, and training of standardized mental health delivery.

Comments on the article "The humanistic psychology-positive psychology divide: Contrasts in philosophical foundations" by Waterman (see record 2013-12501-001). Alan Waterman's article is an illuminating contribution that will be reviewed and debated for years to come. The current author is appreciative of Waterman for raising key questions about the respective worldviews of humanistic and positive psychology and their potential for rapprochement. That said, the current author thinks Waterman's conclusion that both perspectives are better off pursuing their own independent agendas is a short-sighted one that is likely to have debilitating, if not dire, effects on the future of our profession. The current author believes that there are many ways for existential-humanistic and positive psychology researchers to collaborate.