Journal 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.

Five selections from an interview with Abraham Maslow are presented here. These five excerpts, each introduced with commentary by the author, include such topics as Maslow’s early experiences in psychology, his problems with timidity and isolation, the inspiration for his concept of self-actualization, and his gradual withdrawal from many of life’s pleasures to devote more time to his work. Also discussed are the difficult theoretical problems he faced following his discovery that many individuals do not move automatically into the sphere of self-actualization after all other needs have been gratified. The final selection presents Maslow’s views on the development of third-force psychology and its future. Finally, a coda is presented, giving attention to the vastly different psychological and social realities that have evolved since 1968, when the interview was held. The implications of these changing realities are discussed as they relate to humanistic psychology and its future.

This qualitative study explores empathic listening from the vantage point of 5 female clients engaged in consecutive therapeutic relationships with two different therapists, a male and a female. Previous experiences of being “misunderstood” or “not heard” stood in stark contrast to experiences of being empathically understood in their relationships with the two therapists. Participants experienced being heard when therapists created a safe space for selfexploration, were actively and genuinely engaged in the therapeutic dialogue (paraphrasing, clarifying, questioning, and remembering details), and did not flinch when painful material was brought to the therapeutic process. Each participant’s experience of being heard was idiosyncratic and reflected something of what she had been missing in previous interpersonal encounters. Empathic listening emerges as a relational, interactional variable unique to each therapeutic encounter examined and not reducible to a technique or skill.

A sizable group of modern writers have been criticizing the prevalent practice of using pathology terms to describe human experiences. The practice of pathologizing was already prevalent more than 100 years ago when William James was a medical student at Harvard. Quotes from James’s letters, publications, and lectures inform us as to how his conceptualization of experiences commonly referred to as pathological developed as he matured. By the time James wrote The Varieties of Religious Experience, his dissatisfaction with pathology terminology reached its apex. Referring to it as “simple minded” and “superficial medical talk,” James employed three principles that provide an alternative to this kind of language and three principles that neutralize the negative effects that can occur whenever pathology terms are employed by others. These six principles are examined and then applied to James’s description of Leo Tolstoy’s profound struggle with melancholy.