- Carroy U. “Cuf” Ferguson and Leland “Chip” Baggett

Welcome to the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP)!

As Co-Presidents, we invite you to take full advantage of all the resources that AHP has to offer and to connect with those who have chosen to pursue a similar path.  Humanity is engaged in an ever-evolving process, and we think that AHP has and will continue to play a significant role in co-creating opportunities and arenas for growth at both individual and collective levels.

Humanistic Psychology is often referred to as a “Third Force” Movement in psychology. It came into being in response to the mechanistic beliefs of behaviorism (the so-called “First Force” Movement) and the biological reductionism and determinism of classical psychoanalysis (the so-called “Second Force” Movement).  Humanistic Psychology, therefore, is a contemporary manifestation on an ongoing historic creative tension in the field of psychology to affirm the inherent value and dignity of human beings.  Some of the luminary founders of Humanistic Psychology and AHP include Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Rollo May, Clark Moustakas, Charlotte Buhler, Gordon Allport, J. F. T. Bugental, Gardner Murphy, Henry Murray, Jacques Barzum, Rene Dubos, and Floyd Matson.  These founders and AHP gave birth to what is called The Human Potential Movement.  The now commonly held notion that we live in an interdependent world is an outgrowth of The Human Potential Movement.

AHP itself thus came into being to give “form” and “voice” to a bold, powerful and new perspective for the field of psychology and to help shape an approach for how we might view the human experience differently at individual and collective levels. At a fundamental level, there was a shift away from asking what is “wrong” with us as human beings to a focus on how best to engage the Whole Human Being in a process of becoming all that we can be as human beings.  The shift also involved engaging the social environment in an interdependent, transformative process.  AHP, therefore, is the “voice of ordinary people with an extraordinary vision for a more conscious and humane global society.”  It is an association for humanistic psychology, not simply an association of humanistic psychology.  Indeed, the founders were clear about the desire to break down socially constructed barriers at individual and collective levels and the desire to engage all of humanity in thinking anew about who we are.

Past Presidents of AHP include eminent humanistic figures in the field such as James F. T. Bugental, Sidney M. Jourad, Charlotte Buhler, Jack R. Gibb, Stanley Krippner, Eleanor Criswell, Jean Houston, George Leonard, Virginia Satir, Lawrence LaShan, John Vasconcellos, Frances Vaughan, Maureen O’Hara, Arthur Warmoth, and J. Bruce Francis.

We are honored therefore to join a long list of prominent thinkers, scholars, authors, and cultural creators who have sought to bring to consciousness the value and dignity of the human being in the field of psychology and beyond.

Thanks for joining AHP and welcome again to a unique human potential journey.