Talking About Counseling: A Plea to Return to Humanistic Language

Abstract

Multiple linguistic systems have emerged to describe the counseling process. In contemporary mental health culture, humanistic lexicons have generally been displaced by technical, experience‐removed descriptors. The author argues that humanistic language should be adopted by counselors because it has far greater utility than technical linguistic systems for describing counseling processes.

The Forgiveness Reconciliation Model: An Empirically Supported Process for Humanistic Counseling

“…Although a criticism of this process is that a measure was developed from a predetermined conceptual model, thereby lending to bias in the research, the identification of a theory followed by the development and validation of a measure to operationalize the theory and provide empirical evidence is a time‐honored process. Attempts to understand humanistic processes in counseling are an imprecise practice (Hansen et al, ), and this study is not an exception. The mechanisms and methods for studying the forgiveness process are by no means exhaustive (Balkin, ) but do provide evidence of the function and relevance to the way in which counselors and clients may engage in humanistic counseling practice.…”

“…This is a relational stage, in which the client's beliefs about forgiveness are explored and likely set the stage for demonstrative outcomes later in the counseling process. Collaborative exploration is not a technique per se but a relational encounter, which may be highly associated with counseling gains (Hansen, ; Wampold, ). During this period, the counselor and client review various forgiveness approaches, the client's beliefs about forgiveness, and the client's worldview in general.…”

The Revision of the Mission and Vision Statements for the Association for Humanistic Counseling

“…Each of these themes is consistent with humanistic counseling and psychology's histories (see Bugental, ; May, ; Rogers, ) and was also present in the previous version of the AHC () mission statement. Furthermore, each of these historic themes has remained consistent with contemporary humanistic psychology and counseling ideologies and practice (see DeRobertis, ; Hansen, ; Wampold, ).…”

Grounding Neuro‐Informed Practice in a Humanistic Framework: A Response to Wilkinson

“…The tension between humanistic principles and reductionist scientific paradigms has been well documented in The Journal of Humanistic Counseling ( JHC ; e.g., Guterman, Martin, & Kopp, ; Hansen, , , ). Recently, this debate resurfaced with a focus on the perceived limitations of neuroscience in counseling (Wilkinson, ).…”