Kirk Schneider

Author Call for Future Research
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.

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.

This article is a lightly edited transcription of an interview conducted by Kirk Schneider, John Galvin, and Ilene Serlin with Rollo May at his retreat home in Holderness, New Hampshire, in the summer of 1987. Drawing from the influence of his forefathers, Freud, Jung, Fromm, ...

ABSTRACT This article proposes an existential vision of self and culture‐"the fluid center.” Drawing on existential philosophical and therapeutic principles, the fluid center is elucidated as a “pivot point,” a pause, between the reductionisms, elitisms, and anarchisms, that beset our age. Stated formally, the fluid center is any sphere of consciousness, which has as its concern the widest possible relations to existence. To help illustrate the fluid center, I draw attention to the historical phenomenon known as “carnival.” Like the fluid center, carnival embraces paradox. It promotes play, elasticity, and diversity; but it also acknowledges limits, vulnerabilities, and thresholds. The implications of the fluid center and carnival for politics, work, and therapeutic practice are explored and elaborated.

This article is an existential-phenomenological ("centaur level")1 response 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.

In recent years, American psychology has conspicuously distanced itself from its romantic roots. Although affective, intuitive, and holistic bases for understanding human behavior have never occupied a mainstream position in the discipline as a whole, in recent years, their very existence has been threatened. This article, which focuses primarily on clinical psychology but also spells out implications for the entire

... An untrusting heart. The Sciences, 24,31-36. Wood, C. (1986, September). The hostile heart.Psychology Today, pp. 10-12. Kirk Schneider received his Ph.D. from Saybrook Institute, and is currently the director of the Center for Existential Therapy in San Francisco. ...

... In an in-depth study of American social values, Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, and Tipton (1985) reported that the kind of symptom ... of psychology (eg, research, bio-logical, administrative) have been affected by managed mental health care, none has been as jarred as therapeutic ...

La distribution d'énergie électrique en présence de production décentralisée (série Génie électrique, EGEM) Cet ouvrage présente l'état de l'art dans le domaine de la distribution de l'énergie électrique. Ce domaine du génie électrique qui a peu évolué au cours des ...

... Horror and the holy : wisdom-teachings of the monster tale / Kirk J. Schneider, p. cm. ... Campbell 4 Bela Lugosi as Dracula 16 Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster 32 Smaller and Smaller, MC Escher 42 Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera 46 Mark Damon as Philip ...

This article reflects my personal concerns about the prevailing view of psychological suffering in both psychiatry and the media. In addition to critiquing this prevailing view, I explore what I perceive to be the subtler and more complex understanding of suffering exemplified by existential psychology, poetry, and intimate experience. The conclusion of this investigation is that clients, mental health professionals, and society at targe would benefit from a view of suffering that acknowledges its potentially liberating as well as debilitating dimensions. Only through such an acknowledgment can human existence be seen in its profundity.

ABSTRACT This reflection elucidates my spiritual philosophy of “enchanted agnosticism” and “awe-based consciousness.” Enchanted agnosticism combines a sense of veneration for the breadth or wholeness of the mystery of existence, with a sense of unknowing and discovery. Awe-based consciousness results from enchanted agnosticism and stresses humility and wonder or sense of adventure toward living. The combination of enchanted agnosticism and awe-based consciousness forms the bedrock of what I call existential-integrative therapy. In this article, I detail the relationships among enchanted agnosticism, awe, and existential-integrative therapy. I conclude that enchanted agnosticism, awe, and existential-integrative therapy provide a seedbed for profound psychospiritual transformation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)

ABSTRACT As I conceive it, existential psychotherapy has deep spiritual roots. Following in the tradition of existential-spiritual philosophy, I describe the nature of these roots, the implications of them for existential-integrative therapy, and a case vignette to illustrate their application. I conclude with a reflection on the importance of contextualizing and integrating existential themes into general therapeutic practice.

ABSTRACT This article is a slightly adapted eulogy I was invited to deliver on behalf of my dear friend and mentor, Mark Stern, who died on March 11, 2014. It was delivered on March 22, 2014, at St. Paul’s of the Apostles Chapel, 415 W. 59th St., New York City.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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