BRUCE
WOCHHOLZ

Holistic Web Resources on AHPWEB.ORG

Our wish to use only perfect methods and clear concepts has led to Methodological Behaviorism. Human experience in the phenomenological sense cannot yet be treated with our most reliable methods; and, when dealing with it, we may be forced to form new concepts which, at first, will often be a bit vague. Most experimentalists, therefore, refrain from observing, or even from referring to, the phenomenal scene. And yet, this is the scene on which, so far as the actors are concerned, the drama of ordinary human living is being played all the time. If we never study this scene, but insist on methods and concepts developed in research ?from the outside,? our results are likely to look strange to those who intensely live "inside."

— Wolfgang Kohler (1959 APA Presidential address)

WEB RESOURCES

The 2002 40th Anniversary focus of the previous issue of AHP’s Perspective is continued in this issue and here in WebSights, with an emphasis on Holistic/ Humanistic programs. The following links reflect substantial continental influences on humanistic psychology and its founders.

Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology is grounded in a holistic therapeutic approach and is a system of theory and practice built upon existential and humanistic principles, as described by The Alfred Adler Institute of New York

The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology describes how in 1911, Adler and his followers left the Psychoanalytic Society to form their own group and develop the system of individual psychology, a holistic, humanistic therapeutic approach that views the individual as primarily a social rather than a sexual being and places more emphasis on choices and values than on Freudian psychology. At the center of Adlerian psychology is the individual striving toward perfection and overcoming feelings of inferiority (a concept later popularized—somewhat mistakenly—as the “inferiority complex”).

The June 2002 WebSights column touched upon the influence of Kurt Goldstein’s holistic perspective on Abraham Maslow. Fritz Perls, a student of Goldstein’s, made unique contributions to Gestalt psychology, particularly the concepts of holism or wholeness—the restoration of wholeness being a principle aim of its technique. These insights are included within The Gestalt Therapy Page, a joint project sponsored by The Gestalt Journal and the International Gestalt Therapy Association.

Gestalt theory is perhaps best known through the efforts of Kurt Koffka Wolfgang Kohler and Max Wertheimer (photo) as observed in 1924. The basic thesis of gestalt theory might be formulated thus: There are contexts in which what is happening in the whole cannot be deduced from the characteristics of the separate pieces, but conversely; what happens to a part of the whole is, in clear-cut cases, determined by the laws of the inner structure of its whole. The term gestalt (“figure”) was introduced by the Austrian philosopher Christian Ehrenfels in 1890.

Holism, akin to Gestalt psychology, is another scientific and philosophical field which has made an important contribution to both the central ideas of Gestalt therapy. It is present-centered in the same way as Gestalt psychology, because it is impossible to conceive of the holistic perspective without its present-centered focus.

This is also true of phenomenology. Phenomenology takes as its subject matter the study of the objects and events we perceive and the development of thorough and comprehensive methods for observing and examining them. The philosophical school called existentialism takes as its main concern modern (and present-centered) questions about the nature and meaning of living, death, and personal relations .

See The Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy

The Society for Existential Analysis site is set up for members and nonmembers where particular attention is given to the impact of an existential and phenomenological approach to counseling and psychotherapy. After entering the nonmember section, note the link to ?the existential model?

The existential model seeks to remain with the phenomena as they present themselves, to “open the phenomenon to a less restricted view.” Existential psychotherapy attempts to unfold, and “refocus” conscious awareness. The existential therapist’s attempts to “unfold” the client’s lived experience rest upon a specific form of inquiry, the phenomenological method, which seeks to remain at a descriptive level, focusing upon the “what” and “how” of experience, rather than posit or provide “why-based” explanations. A superb set of links on phenomenology are available within the Center for Advanced Research in Phenomenology .

HOLISTIC/HUMANISTIC PROGRAMS

The following sites exemplify holistic/humanistic approaches from a variety of disciplines. The Centre for Humanistic Psychology and Counseling at Exeter College and Unergi—Unity & Energy, a holistic body psychotherapy method, provide excellent examples of training programs.

The American Holistic Health Association (AHHA) www.ahha.org is a national resource connecting people with vital solutions for reaching a higher level of wellness.

The Holistic Healing Web Page contains a wealth of links representing the spectrum of holistic health programs. The Humanistic Medicine Action Committee strives to explore health care systems that acknowledge the inseparability of the mind, body, and spirit, believing that Western medicine and other healing modalities should be integrated to bring holism to health care.

Humanistic Mathematics is a unique site focusing on Humanism and Mathematics Education..

WebStars: Designing Holistic, Arts-Based Curriculum Using Technology is an education site emphasizing reflective practice and lifelong learning . Humanistic anthropology stands against institutionalized dogma (secular and religious). It does not gauge experiential claims on an empirical scale but seeks an insider’s point of view.

Alfred Adler Institute of San Francisco, Adler’s theory was indeed teleological fictional finalism), but also holistic. In his own words:
"The development of man’s inner life occurs with the help of a presumed teleology, by which a goal is established under pressure of a teleological apperception. Therefore, we will find in all psychological phenomena the characteristic of goalstriving that incorporates all forces, experiences, judgments, desires and fears, deficiencies and abilities. From this we conclude that a true understanding of a psychological phenomenon, or of a person, can be gained only from a teleological concept of the whole."

MEMBERLINKS

http://www.ipopin.com is a recently posted site from Kirsten York Harrell committed to helping individuals create balance in their lives.

At www.gailminogue.com/ Gail Minogue is an architect of personal change, consultant, teacher and speaker. “We are not on anyone else’s timetable. We grow at our own pace and have our own blueprints for our lives.”

www.psychologists.bc.ca/ show_profile. cfm? MemberID=940 Paul Murray describes his role as a participant in the process of enabling human growth, fostering a person‘s ability to find and express their maximum potential. Michael Picucci, theinstitute.org, recommends a holistic addiction treatment center, founded by Eric Clapton, Crossroads Centre at Antiqua www.crossroads antigua.org/main/ home.html, an international nonprofit facility for recovery from alcoholism and other drug dependencies,.

BRUCE WOCHHOLZ, ahpweb Content Developer, is an AHP member who contributes his experience in health education, gerontology, and humanistic psychology and expert knowledge of web content and architecture to AHP publications. In addition to writing this column, he will also be helping AHP to explore "e-learning" and distance education opportunities.

Note: Members are encouraged to submit sites for consideration for Web Resources and AHP Memberlinks to Kathleen Erickson, at EricksonEditorial@att.net or AHP, 1516 Oak St., Suite 320A, Alameda, CA 94501. Your next issue of AHP Perspective will be a Somatics issue, so if you have submissions, please send them in as soon as possible. Sites for review in the Perspective must be primarily educational or informational, and relate closely to AHP’s interests. AHP member submissions for the Memberlinks section may emphasize current members’ services, books, workshops, tapes, or other commercial offerings.