Kirk Schneider

Saybrook University, College of Psychology and Humanistic Studies, Adjunct

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Kirk Schneider is a leading spokesperson for existential-humanistic psychology. He is an adjunct faculty member at Saybrook University, and Teachers College, Columbia University. He is also President of the Existential-Humanistic Institute, Council Member of the American Psychological Association (APA), past President of the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32) of the APA, and the author or coauthor of 13 books including "The Spirituality of Awe," "The Polarized Mind," "Awakening to Awe," and most recently "Existential-Humanistic Therapy" (2nd ed.), and "The Spirituality of Awe: Challenges to the Robotic Revolution." For more information see http://www.kirkjschneider.com

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Andrew Bland

Eugene M DeRobertis

Brookdale College

Hector Martinez Caro

Heatherlyn Cleare-Hoffman

Argosy University

Louis Hoffman

Denise Warren

Alfried Laengle

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt

Orah Krug

Saybrook University

Brian L Wheeler

California Institute of Integral Studies

Steven Pritzker

Saybrook University

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Papers by Kirk Schneider

Depth Psychology in Action: The Corps of Depth Healers' Vision for Collective Healing

by Kirk Schneider and Tyler W. Gamlen, MA

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2024

The Corps of Depth Healers, founded by Kirk Schneider in 2023 and assisted by Tyler Gamlen, emerg... more The Corps of Depth Healers, founded by Kirk Schneider in 2023 and assisted by Tyler Gamlen, emerged in response to escalating social, political, and environmental crises. The Corps addresses contemporary challenges such as political polarization, mental health disparities, and societal fragmentation through emotionally restorative relationships, depth healing, and bridge-building. Key initiatives include Experiential Democracy Dialogues, based on Schneider’s work, which promote depolarization and empathy in a polarized world. Central to the Corps’ philosophy is Schneider’s concept of awe—an experience that fosters profound connection and meaning. The organization operates through a consortium model, collaborating with like-minded groups committed to social justice and depth psychology. Its Depth Dialogues podcast further extends its outreach by engaging scholars and activists. Looking ahead, the Corps envisions systemic mental health advocacy, proposing the creation of a Psychologist General and a national Office of Psychological Advisors. It is also developing a comprehensive training program to equip professionals with depth psychological tools for social healing, uniting individuals across various fields to address existential and societal crises through transformative depth healing and community restoration. Note: This paper is a draft of an article that appeared as an
"online first" publication in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, December 10th, 2024 and may not reflect the final published version of record.

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Evaluation

American Psychological Association eBooks, 2010

EI Approaches to Severe States

Innovations in Short-Term EI Practices

EI Approaches to Multiculturalism

Existential Therapy

PsycTHERAPY Dataset, May 29, 2023

Toward a science of the heart1

Routledge eBooks, Feb 3, 2023

The polarized mind: Why it kills, how it's transformed

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2013

From Despair and Fanaticism to Awe: A Posttraumatic Growth Perspective on Cinematic Horror

Some fears run deeper than threats to life, limb, or property (although I do not make light of th... more

Suffering and Its Ambiguities

Routledge eBooks, Feb 25, 2021

Multiple-Case Depth Research: Bringing Experience-Near Closer

SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks, 2001

The term &quot;experience-near&quot; has become associated with a variety of alternatives... more The term &quot;experience-near&quot; 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.

Requiem for an Enigma Michael Washburn .<i>The Ego and the Dynamic Ground. Second Edition</i>. New York, State University of New York Press, 1995

The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, Mar 1, 1996

The Deified Self

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Apr 1, 1987

This article is an existential-phenomenological ("centaur level")1response to Ken Wilbe... more This article is an existential-phenomenological ("centaur level")1response to Ken Wilber's concept of deified or ultimate consciousness. Ultimate consciousness, according to Wilber, is the supreme expression of human awareness. It is the point at which highly developed people (i.e., mystics) totally transcend space and time, and are aware (at once) of all perspectives in the universe. Three areas of this concept are evaluated and questioned: the human capacity to achieve ultimate consciousness, the relevance of ultimate consciousness for human problems, and the final appeal of ultimate consciousness. The author concludes that the concept of ultimate consciousness is (1) presumptuous and most probably unachievable for human beings; (2) even if achievable, irrelevant to people's day-to-day concerns; and (3) ultimately monotonous and uninteresting (if not terrorizing and overwhelming). A plea is made for a more realistic view of consciousness, one in which boundaries permit optimal freedom of expression.

Therapy process

American Psychological Association eBooks, Jun 12, 2017

Review of The birth of relationship therapy: Carl Rogers meets Otto Rank

The Humanistic Psychologist, Nov 8, 2021

Toward a science of the heart: Romanticism and the revival of psychology

American Psychologist, Mar 1, 1998

... In an in-depth study of American social values, Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, and Tipton (1985) r... more

R.D. Laing Remembered

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Apr 1, 1990

This article conveys some of my thoughts, feelings, and experiences with R. D. Laing. Although I ... more 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)

Paradox and health

The Humanistic Psychologist, 1991

... An untrusting heart. The Sciences, 24,31-36. Wood, C. (1986, September). The hostile heart.Ps... more

The Paradoxical Self: Toward an Understanding of Our Contradictory Nature

Поиск в библиотеке, Расширенный поиск. ...

Ontology and Depth: Rollo May's Inseparable Duo

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2009

Depth Psychology in Action: The Corps of Depth Healers' Vision for Collective Healing

by Kirk Schneider and Tyler W. Gamlen, MA

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2024

Download

Evaluation

American Psychological Association eBooks, 2010

EI Approaches to Severe States

Innovations in Short-Term EI Practices

EI Approaches to Multiculturalism

Existential Therapy

PsycTHERAPY Dataset, May 29, 2023

Toward a science of the heart1

Routledge eBooks, Feb 3, 2023

The polarized mind: Why it kills, how it's transformed

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2013

From Despair and Fanaticism to Awe: A Posttraumatic Growth Perspective on Cinematic Horror

Some fears run deeper than threats to life, limb, or property (although I do not make light of th... more

Suffering and Its Ambiguities

Routledge eBooks, Feb 25, 2021

Multiple-Case Depth Research: Bringing Experience-Near Closer

SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks, 2001

Requiem for an Enigma Michael Washburn .<i>The Ego and the Dynamic Ground. Second Edition</i>. New York, State University of New York Press, 1995

The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, Mar 1, 1996

The Deified Self

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Apr 1, 1987

Therapy process

American Psychological Association eBooks, Jun 12, 2017

Review of The birth of relationship therapy: Carl Rogers meets Otto Rank

The Humanistic Psychologist, Nov 8, 2021

Toward a science of the heart: Romanticism and the revival of psychology

American Psychologist, Mar 1, 1998

... In an in-depth study of American social values, Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, and Tipton (1985) r... more

R.D. Laing Remembered

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Apr 1, 1990

Paradox and health

The Humanistic Psychologist, 1991

... An untrusting heart. The Sciences, 24,31-36. Wood, C. (1986, September). The hostile heart.Ps... more

The Paradoxical Self: Toward an Understanding of Our Contradictory Nature

Поиск в библиотеке, Расширенный поиск. ...

Ontology and Depth: Rollo May's Inseparable Duo

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2009

Morrill 2024 Book Review Life Enhancing Anxiety Proofs Draft

Book Review: Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Key to a Sane World, 2024

I'm very pleased to share a remarkably comprehensive and insightful review of my latest book "Lif... more

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Title: Unsung Torchbearer of Existential-Humanistic Psychology: Otto Rank [Review of The Birth of Relationship Therapy: Carl Rogers Meets Otto Rank

This review of the remarkable book "The Birth of Relationship: Carl Rogers Meets Otto Rank" by Ro... more This review of the remarkable book "The Birth of Relationship: Carl Rogers Meets Otto Rank" by Robert Kramer suggests a revolution in our thinking about the founding figure(s) of the American version of existential-humanistic (E-H) psychology. Despite traditional emphases on the European philosophical and psychiatric lineages of Martin Heidegger, Medard Boss, and Ludwig Binswanger, it now appears that the most central and comprehensive inspiration for the movement--and thus Carl Rogers and Rollo May's importation of it in the 1930s and 1950s--was Otto Rank. This review elaborates why and raises compelling questions about both the long-standing neglect of Rank in the E-H and neo-analytic therapy communities, as well as ways to revive Rank's critical body of work for a fuller and deeper understanding of human lives.

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Title: Unsung Torchbearer of Existential-Humanistic Psychology: Otto Rank [Review of The Birth of Relationship Therapy: Carl Rogers Meets Otto Rank

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JHP CHIEF PERIL FINAL 2018

I believe this article goes to the heart of our troubled times both individually and collectively... more I believe this article goes to the heart of our troubled times both individually and collectively, and especially challenges us as therapeutic agents to find creative ways to integrate polarizing systemic and environmental factors into the context of our guidelines for so called mental disorders. This could entail some kind of narrative discussion of the evidence for psychosocial polarization (or what I call the "polarized mind" or fixation on a single view to the utter exclusion of competing views) as a context-where relevant-for individual "disorders," such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsiveness, post-traumatic stress and even autism spectrum, bipolar and schizophrenic spectrum syndromes. I call for urgent research to expand the present DSM to include contextual-systemic supplementation such as above. Short of this, we will perpetually fall short of a fuller understanding of troubled lives.

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JHP CHIEF PERIL FINAL 2018

Abstract This article calls on organized psychiatry and psychology to wake up and address a major... more Abstract
This article calls on organized psychiatry and psychology to wake up and address a major underappreciated discrepancy. This is the discrepancy between diagnostic nomenclature for therapy clients, and the nonpathologizing or even glorifying nomenclature for many throughout history who are abusive, degrading, and massively destructive. While the former, typically clinical population, may be referred to as the “diagnosed” and the latter, typically nonclinical population, as the “undiagnosed,” I show how the compartmentalization of our current psychiatric diagnostic system prevents us from seeing the larger problems with mental health in our country and beyond, and that these problems require an alternative framework. Such a framework would address both that which we conventionally term “mental disorder” as well as the disorder of cultures, which so often forms the basis for that which we term mental disorders. I propose that the phenomenologically based framework that I call “the polarized mind” is one such alternative that might help us more equitably treat suffering, whether individual or collective.

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PRESENCE Draft.pdf

This article proposes that presence is the core contextual factor of therapeutic effectiveness. P... more This article proposes that presence is the core contextual factor of therapeutic effectiveness. Presence is defined as a complex mix of appreciative openness, concerted engagement, support, and expressiveness, and it both holds and illuminates that which is palpably significant within the client and between client and therapist. While the therapeutic alliance, empathy, collaboration, and the provision of meaning and hope have been established as primary contextual factors in the facilitation of effective therapy, this article contends that presence is at their hub. Given that position, it is concluded that although presence is viewed favorably by leading practitioners, there are two major problems with how presence is actually being engaged: The first problem is the way some practitioners are " using " or " performing " presence rather than cultivating it as a therapeutic stance, and the second problem is how the training of therapists is becoming increasingly technical at the very time when the research (informing such training) is becoming contextual, relational, and nontechnical.

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The Resurgence of Awe in Psychology: Promise, Hope, and Perils 1

The sense of awe, also defined as a perception of vastness that cannot be assimilated but can be ... more The sense of awe, also defined as a perception of vastness that cannot be assimilated but can be accommodated; or as the experience of humility and wonder--adventure--toward living, has become a “hot” topic in psychology. This article considers the basis for this trend, some promising avenues of research, and several challenges to the mainstream--quantitative--perspective on awe. It is concluded that while mainstream perspectives on awe appear to have beneficial effects on an impressive array of human behaviors, the relative neglect of historically rooted, in depth, qualitative approaches to awe pose notable perils. Among these perils are the comparative reductionism of the findings on awe to overt and measurable reactions; the neglect of longer term, life-changing experiences of awe, and the neglect of the broader social implications of awe-based transformation.

Keywords: awe, awe-based, positive psychology, happiness, humanistic, existential, social-political, methodology

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TRIBUTE TO JIM BUGENTAL: MY SMILING ZEN MASTER

This is a draft of a published paper for the Association for Humanistic Psychology Perspective Ma... more This is a draft of a published paper for the Association for Humanistic Psychology Perspective Magazine (2009). It consists of a tribute to my mentor and early founder of Existential-Humanistic Therapy James F.T. Bugental. The distinguishing feature of the article is that it shows how the cultivation of existential-humanistic therapy skill is akin to a course of training in meditation. I experienced the rigors of this training for about a 3 year period as a supervisee of Jim and Elizabeth Bugental in the 1980s, with a particular stress on therapeutic "presence," which is akin to mindfulness and other meditative practices.

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The Resurgence of Awe in Psychology: Promise, Hope, and Perils 1

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Existential-Humanistic and Existential-Integrative Theory

by Louis Hoffman and Kirk Schneider

APA Handbook of Psychotherapy, 2024

LEA BR NJPA 2024 vol74,3, 46 47 Life Enhancing Anxiety Tasso

New Jersey Psychologist, 2024

Another fine review of Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Key to a Sane World. With clarity and succinctness... more

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An Accessible Introduction to Existential-Humanistic Psychology for a New Generation: Review of Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Key to a Sane World, by Kirk J. Schneider, authored by Andrew Bland

by Kirk Schneider and Andrew Bland

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2024

This is another milestone review of my book Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Key to a Sane World. I'm dee... more This is another milestone review of my book Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Key to a Sane World. I'm deeply appreciative of the care and scope of Dr. Bland's review as he delves into each major area of the book and how it pertains to the challenges of an existential-depth perspective on anxiety, not only of our current generation of psychology graduate students, which is urgent enough, but for our contemporary field of psychology, which can and needs to spark a revitalization of human life.

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