2011 Heritage Awards Ceremony
The inaugural Division 32 Heritage Awards Ceremony in recognition of outstanding contributions to Humanistic Psychology was held on August 5, 2011, in Washington, DC.
The First Annual Heritage Award Ceremony
Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to Humanistic Psychology
Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement
James F. T. Bugental, PhD, Saybrook University (Tribute: Kirk Schneider/Orah Krug)
Award Presenter: Susan Gordon, PhD, National University
Charlotte and Karl BühlerAward
Steve S. Olweean, MA, and Common Bond Institute, Climax, MI
Transgenerational Trauma: It's Implications for Intergroup Conflict and
Challenge for a Global Culture of Peace
Award Presenter: Maureen O’Hara, PhD, National University
Abraham Maslow Award
Eugene Taylor, PhD, Saybrook University
Self-Realization as a Legitimate Method in Experimental Psychology
Award Presenter: Susan Gordon, PhD., National University
Carl Rogers Award
Godfrey Barrett-Lennard, PhD, Murdock University, Perth, WA, Australia
Psychopathology or Disturbed Relationship? Rethinking Suffering, Disorder and
Healing
Award Presenter: E. Mark Stern, EdD, Iona College
Carmi Harari Early Career Award
Rhonda Goldman, PhD, Argosy University, Schaumburg
Soothing Vulnerable Emotions: Recent Advances in Emotion-Focused Therapy
Award Presenter: Leslie Greenberg, PhD, York University, Toronto, ON
Sidney M. Jourard Student Paper Award
Sarah R. Kamens, MA, Fordham University
Phenomenological Approaches to Psychiatric Discourse: The DSM-V Controversies
Presenters: Frederick J. Wertz, PhD, Fordham Univ.; Scott D. Churchill, Univ. Dallas
Invited Address and Award Ceremony: Mike Arons and E. Mark Stern Award for Outstanding Lifetime Service to the Society for Humanistic Psychology
Chair: E. Mark Stern, Ph.D., Iona College
Recipient: David N. Elkins, Ph.D., Pepperdine University
Lovingkindness: A Legacy of Mike Arons and Mark Stern
James F. T. Bugental, PhD
A tribute by Kirk J. Schneider and Tom Greening, Saybrook Graduate School
James F. T. Bugental died peacefully at age 92 at his Petaluma, California, home on September 18, 2008. Jim was a leading psychotherapist and a founding father, with Abraham Maslow and others, of humanistic psychology, or the "third force" (in contrast to psychoanalysis and behaviorism). Jim was also the creator, along with Rollo May, of existential-humanistic psychotherapy.
Jim earned his doctorate in 1948 from Ohio State University, where he was influenced by Victor Raimy and George Kelly. His dissertation, "An Investigation of the Relationship of the Conceptual Matrix to the Self-Concept" (1948), expressed his early interest in authenticity and identity. After a brief time on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) faculty in psychology, Jim resigned in 1953 to found the first group practice of psychotherapy, Psychological Service Associates, with Alvin Lasko. The group added Tom Greening in 1958 and Gerard Haigh, Bill Zielonka, Harris Monosoff, and others subsequently. A men's encounter group evolved from this core, which included Jim Clark, Bob Tannenbaum, and Art Shedlin from UCLA, and this group continued meeting for decades until 2006.
The publication of Rollo May's Existence in 1958 was pivotal in Jim's career and influenced him and his colleagues to develop existential psychotherapy further. They brought May to Los Angeles for a training seminar, and Jim's germinal book The Search for Authenticity (Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1965) grew out of these encounters.
With Abraham Maslow and others, Jim was a cofounder of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (JHP) and the Association for Humanistic Psychology in 1961, and his landmark American Psychologist article, "Humanistic Psychology: A New Breakthrough" presented the fundamental assumptions of humanistic psychology to the discipline.
Among Jim's many valuable contributions to psychology and psychotherapy are his other books, Challenges of Humanistic Psychology (1967) and its updated, co-authored version, The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology (2001), The Search for Existential Identity (1976), Psychotherapy and Process (1978), The Art of the Psychotherapist (1987), and Psychotherapy Isn't What You Think (1999). With the advent of The Search for Authenticity, Jim inspired a new generation to consider and apply the existential approach first translated and popularized in America by Rollo May.
While May elaborated existential-humanistic theory and social analysis, Jim stressed their living application to practice. Among Jim's signal contributions are his articulations of therapeutic presence, the various "presses" or valences that optimize therapeutic presence, and the challenge to translate therapeutic presence into an authentic and responsible life.
Presciently, Jim's ideas about therapeutic effectiveness are echoed in recent literature on this subject that emphasizes personal dimensions of therapy over those of technique (e.g., see Wampold’s review of "Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy" in PsycCRITIQUES, February 6, 2008).
Jim met his second wife Elizabeth when giving a lecture in 1965 at Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood. Elizabeth was at the time chairperson of the Theater Arts Department and a member of the Immaculate Heart community. After a brief involvement with a commune-style living arrangement in the 1960s, Jim and Elizabeth settled into the San Francisco Bay area.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Jim facilitated many courses and workshops for his growing student audience. Numerous trainees emerged from these various tutorials, including Myrtle Heery, Kirk Schneider, Orah Krug, and Nader Shabahangi, who went on to co-found, at Jim's instigation, the Existential-Humanistic Institute and the International Institute for Humanistic Studies.
In more recent years, Jim's work has been extended to a new generation with the publication of an edited collection by Kirk Schneider titled Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy (2008) and a forthcoming APA monograph by Kirk Schneider and Orah Krug called "Existential-Humanistic Therapy."
Jim was a great and bold spirit. His many writings and teachings are cherished widely, and the field of psychology is much the richer for his efforts. Jim is survived by his wife Elizabeth, his daughters Karen and Jane, his son James Owen, and his brother Robert.
Steve Olweean, MA
Mr. Olweean is Founding Director of Common Bond Institute (CBI), Program Developer of CBI’s conferences and projects, President of the International Humanistic Psychology Association, Past President of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and serves on a number of international NGO boards. Since establishing Common Bond Institute in 1990, he has created and collaborated on numerous international efforts, including international conferences and professional training programs for local capacity building in human services and civil society, as well as provided consultation, coordination, and networking support to assist emerging human service and civil society organizations in developing societies in regions of conflict. In 1993 he co-founded the Annual International Conference on Conflict Resolution (ICR) in Russia, in 2003, the International Youth Conference on the Ecology of War and Peace (EWP), in 2006, the Annual International Conference on "Engaging The Other:" The Power of Compassion (ETO), in 2009 co-founded the Annual International Conference on Religion, Conflict, and Peace, and in 2011 will establish the Annual International Conference on "The Practice of Peace" in Israel. His publications include contributed book chapters on: "Psychological Concepts of The Other: Embracing the Compass of the Self,""When Society Is The Victim: Catastrophic Trauma Recovery" and "Common Bond Institute: Vision and Journey." His current book project is "Engaging 'The OTHER' " an edited compilation of chapters contributed by authors representing a diversity of cultures and societies.
Eugene I. Taylor, PhD
Dr. Taylor is a native of Philadelphia, ran away from home when he was 17 and worked his way through college as a musician, cafeteria worker, Lab assistant, and assistant curator of the biology collections at Southern Methodist University, where he earned a BA and MA in General/Experimental Psychology and Comparative Asian Studies. Later, he earned a Ph.D in the History and Philosophy of Psychology in the University Professors Program at Boston University under the late Sigmund Koch. He became seriously involved with Existential-Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology in 1969 when the personality-social theorist and parapsychologist, Gardner Murphy, first introduced him to Anthony Sutich, who with Abraham Maslow had just founded the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. He had been attending humanistic psychology conferences up to that time in Texas and thereafter became a presenter at the first Transpersonal Psychology conferences in California. He is presently a Professor of Psychology at Saybrook University, and also has appointments at Harvard Medical School as a Lecturer on Psychiatry and at the Massachusetts General Hospital as a Senior Psychologist on the Psychiatry Service. While he is an internationally known scholar in the life and work of William James, he sees his primary contribution to psychology as the development of a phenomenologically oriented intuitive psychology of spiritual self-realization. His most recent book is The Mystery of Personality: A History of Psychodynamic Theories (Springer, 2009).
Godfrey Barrett-Lennard, PhD
"Goff" is a former student and colleague of Carl Rogers, now with over a half century of contribution pivoting on the study and understanding of relationship in therapy and life system contexts. His home base is in Perth, Western Australia. His overseas travels began in 1954 when he came—with his wife and infant son—to Chicago while Rogers was there and his counseling training and research center was in its heyday. His PhD is from the University of Chicago; he holds an honorary doctorate from Murdoch University in Australia and is a Fellow of APA and of the Australian Psychological Society. He taught for many years in various locations, for example, at Auburn University (after his time in Chicago), and later as Professor in the University of Waterloo, Canada. He has career-long practice experience in psychotherapy and pioneered in the intensive small group field in Australia and elsewhere. Goff’s writings include his classical Psychological Monographs report (1962) stemming from his doctoral research, three books completed in "retirement" and a flow of published articles, chapters, research questionnaires (especially his widely used Relationship Inventory) and conference reports. His current work continues to break new ground in the human relationship domain – reflected in recent articles and a nearly completed further book that carries forward his original blend of experiential and systemic thought, with its implications for the way we see human nature and our discipline. Nowadays Goff is also mentor to the postgraduate Counselor Training Program (named after him) in the School of Psychology at Murdoch University.
Ronda N. Goldman, PhD
Dr. Goldman is currently employed as an Associate Professor at the American School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Schaumburg. She is also an affiliate therapist at the Family Institute at Northwestern University where she sees both individuals and couples. Her research and clinical interests are in the areas of case formulation, couples therapy, emotion, depression, empathy, and change process research. Dr. Goldman has been involved in training EFT therapists for the past 15 years through teaching and supervision. She has published many book chapters and journal articles, including research articles establishing empirical support for the process and outcome of EFT for the treatment of depression. She has co-authored three texts on Emotion-Focused Therapy including Learning Emotion-Focused Therapy, Case Studies in Emotion-Focused Treatment of Depression and most recently, Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy: The Dynamics of Emotion, Love, and Power. She is currently on the editorial review board of two journals: Psychotherapy Research and Person-centered and Experiential Psychotherapies. In her current research she is working on adapting EFT for eating disorders and anxiety.
Sarah R. Kamens, MA
Ms. Kamens is a Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology at Fordham University, where she studies phenomenology and qualitative research methods under Dr. Frederick Wertz. She received an M.A. in Media & Communications from the European Graduate School, an interdisciplinary program with a focus on critical theory and the arts. Her past publications include essays on the intersections between traumatology and linguistic theory, controversial issues for the upcoming DSM-5, and proposed revisions to the sexual and gender identity diagnoses. In addition, she has conducted research on the psychosocial correlates of military violence and the experiences of psychologists working in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Her current research interests include qualitative approaches to diagnostic theory and psychiatric contexts, the investigation of Western mental health models as global exports, and the phenomenological re-framing of psychiatric symptomatology. In her clinical work, she recently completed a year-long externship at Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center and will soon begin a new position as extern at the Addiction Institute of New York.
David N. Elkins, PhD
Dr. Elkins is a licensed clinical psychologist and a Professor Emeritus of Psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) at Pepperdine University where he taught for 25 years. Dr. Elkins has worked in hospital, community mental health, and private practice settings. He was a staff psychologist and Director of Childrens Services at the Northern Wyoming Mental Health Center in Sheridan, WY (1979-1982) and the Director of the Humanistic Psychology Center in Tustin, CA (1987-1999). He is on the Board of Editors of Psychological Reports, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, and The Humanistic Psychologist. He has served as a board member of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP), and, in 1998-1999, was President of Division 32, Society for Humanistic Psychology, of APA. Recently, he was elected once again and will serve as the society's president in 2011-2012. Dr. Elkins has authored numerous journal articles, made many professional presentations, written several book chapters, and published a book on humanistic spirituality titled Beyond Religion (Quest Books, 1998). His most recent book is titled, Humanistic Psychology: A Clinical Manifesto: A Critique of Clinical Psychologyand theNeed for Progressive Alternatives (University of the Rockies Press, 2009). Dr. Elkins has published articles in the popular media including two feature articles for Psychology Today magazine and he has been interviewed on National Public Radio and other stations. In 2001, he retired from Pepperdine University and was awarded the title Professor Emeritus of Psychology. During his career at Pepperdine, Dr. Elkins helped write the proposal for the PsyD program in clinical psychology, designed and taught the Existential-Humanistic (E-H) specialization, and chaired the university committee that achieved APA accreditation for the new PsyD program. In addition, he helped establish the onsite university clinic; and served as the PsyD program's first Director of Clinical Field Training. Dr. Elkins was given the Luckmann Distinguished Teaching Fellow Award, a university-wide award for excellence in classroom teaching. Dr. Elkins is student-centered and believes learning occurs best in a setting where caring, passion, and quality teaching are combined. He is a published poet and has given numerous poetry readings in diverse settings such as Psi Chi meetings, the Division 32 Hospitality Suite, and community organizations. He is an honorary lifetime member of the Psi Chi Honor Society, an honor given to him for his work with the students in the Pepperdine University chapter of the society. He currently lives in California with Sara, his wife of 48 years, and their six-pound Yorkie named "Peanuts." In regard to this award, Dr. Elkins said, "I am deeply honored to receive this award from Division 32 and I am especially touched that the award honors Mark Stern and Mike Arons. In humanistic psychology, we honor the prophets of earlier days, sometimes forgetting that there are prophets among us. Mike and Mark are the prophets of our generation and we owe them both more than words can convey."
Susan Gordon, PhD is Core Adjunct Professor of Psychology at National University, La Jolla, CA, Research Director of Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, CT, and Research Assistant to Eugene Taylor, PhD. She earned a doctorate in the History and Philosophy of Psychology from Saybrook University and completed the basic sciences in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University. Her interdisciplinary research integrates cognitive neuroscience, reproductive endocrinology, and existential phenomenological psychology. Her publications and international lectures have focused on humanizing science, neurophenomenology, Asian and comparative philosophy, and the mind-brain relationship. Dr. Gordon is Awards Chair and Member-at-Large of the Society for Humanistic Psychology. She also holds membership in Divisions 5, 24, and 52, the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy, and the Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs, China. Her publications include "Psycho-Neuro-Intracrinology: The mind-body continuum" in The Healing Power of Nature: The Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine and the Ecology of Healing: Primary Care for the Twenty First Century (Elsevier, in press).
Kirk J. Schneider, PhD is a leading spokesperson for contemporary existential-humanistic psychology. Dr. Schneider is current editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, vice-president of the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI), and adjunct faculty at Saybrook University and the California Institute of Integral Studies. He has published over 100 articles and has authored eight books, including Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy, Existential-Humanistic Therapy (with Orah Krug) and Awakening to Awe. Kirk developed his existential-integrative approach to therapy based largely on his 3 year supervision and internship with Jim and Liz Bugental. He remained very close to them in the ensuing years, and believes their work will form the core of an existential-humanistic renaissance in both society and psychotherapy.
Orah T. Krug, PhD is a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice in Oakland, and Sausalito, CA. She is a Faculty member of Saybrook University, an Editor for the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, and the Clinical Training Director of the Existential-Humanistic Institute of San Francisco, which in partnership with Saybrook is offering a Certificate in E-H Therapy. Most recently, Dr. Krug co-authored a textbook with Dr. Kirk Schneider entitled, Existential-Humanistic Therapy, part of a monograph series for the American Psychological Association. She has produced two videos entitled, Conversations with Jim and "Joe and A Demonstration of the Consultation Process" (with James Bugental and Orah Krug). Her current research focuses on the relationship between existential meaning-making processes and therapeutic change.
Maureen O’ Hara, PhD is Professor of Psychology, National University, La Jolla, CA, President and CEO, International Futures Forum-US, and President Emerita of Saybrook University. Maureen served as board member and president of APA Division 32 and as President of the Association for Humanistic Psychology. She serves on the board of trustees of the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology and the International Association for Humanistic Psychology. Working closely with Carl R. Rogers, she helped develop the Person-Centered Approach to large group process. Her more recent work has focused on group consciousness, the evil in virtue driven organizations, psychological challenges of climate change, cultural leadership role of higher education accreditation, effects of rising cultural incoherence on wellbeing, and the relationship between culture change and consciousness. She is a consultant internationally on new ways of being in a changing world. Honors include: Donald N. Michael Award, Division 32’s Carl Rogers Award, Distinguished Clinician Award (California Association for Marriage and Family Therapy), Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, American Psychological Association, Meridian Institute on Governance, Leadership Learning and the Future, and is founding Fellow of the International Futures Forum in St. Andrews, Scotland. Her publications include: Em Busca Da Vida, Summus, Brasil (1983), Handbook of Person-Centered Psychotherapy, Palgrave (2007), and Ten Things to do in a Conceptual Emergency (2009) co-authored with Graham Leicester.
E. Mark Stern, EdD earned his EdD from Columbia University in 1955 and completed post-doctoral work at the Department of Psychiatry, University of London at The Maudsley Hospital from 1955-1956. In 1958, he earned a certificate in psychoanalysis from the Training Institute of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis in New York City and has been in private practice since 1956. Additionally, Dr. Stern was Chief Psychologist of the New York Clinic for Mental Health from 1960-1964, as well as a consultant in psychology for The George W. Henry Foundation from 1956-1962. From 1964 to the present, he served as Assistant to Full Professor, and now Professor Emeritus of the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Iona College, and formerly Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Seton Hall University and Fordham University. He was also a member of the teaching faculty for the American Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis as well as the Training Institute for Mental Health Practitioners and in 1994 was a Visiting Professor of Psychology at the Catholic University of Australia. Dr. Stern served as Editor of The Journal of Pastoral Counseling from 1967-1976, of VOICES: The Journal of the American Academy of Psychotherapists from 1976-1988, and was the founding Editor of The Psychotherapy Patient Monograph Series from 1988-2003. He has served APA in leadership positions as president of Division 36 and 32. He served four terms on the APA Council of Representatives and was the founding Chair of the Fellows Committee for Division 32. Mark is currently a Fellow of APA Division 12, 29, 32, 36, and 52; Association for Psychological Science; diplomat in clinical psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology.
Leslie Greenberg, PhD is Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University in Toronto, Ontario. He is the Director of the York University Psychotherapy Research Clinic is the primary developer of Emotion-focused therapy. He has been Senior Author on the original texts: Emotion-focused Approaches to Treatment of Individuals and Couples: Facilitating Emotional Change (1993) and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (1988). More recent books include: Handbook of Experiential Psychotherapy (1998), Emotion-focused Therapy: Coaching Clients to Work Through Their Feelings (2002), Emotion-focused therapy of Depression (2006) and Emotion-focused Couple therapy: The Dynamics of Emotion, Love and Power (2008) with Dr. Goldman. He received the 2004 Distinguished Research Career award of the Society for Psychotherapy Research: An International interdisciplinary society. He is a founding member of the Society of the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and a past President of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He has been awarded the Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Program Award for Excellence in Professional Training and the Canadian Psychological Association Professional Award for distinguished contributions to Psychology as a profession as well as Division 32’s Carl Rogers Award. He is on the editorial board of many psychotherapy journals, including the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration and the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. He conducts a private practice for individuals and couples and trains people in Emotion–focused approaches.
Scott D. Churchill, PhD is currently Professor and Graduate Program Director for the Psychology Department at the University of Dallas, where he has been teaching for three decades. His professional focus has been on the development of phenomenological and hermeneutic research methodologies, particularly in regards to understanding various forms of expression, both human and non-human. Currently, he has been developing the notion of second person perceptivity in connection with qualitative research, ethology, and health care. Dr Churchill is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a liaison to its Science Directorate, past President of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, and current Editor-in-Chief for The Humanistic Psychologist (having served as Editor of Methods: A Journal for Human Science from 1989 to 2003). He is a Consulting Editor for Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, Encyclopaideia: Journal of Phenomenology and Education, Qualitative Research in Psychology, Human Studies, The Janus Head, and The Psychotherapy Patient. Dr. Churchill has been a local coordinator for Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots program, and senior film critic for Irving Community Television Network. He has been a frequent host for TalkCinema in Dallas and is currently guest film critic at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.
Frederick J. Wertz, PhD is a Professor of Psychology at Fordham University, PhD from Duquesne University in Phenomenological Psychology. His scholarship focuses on the philosophical foundations, research methodology, qualitative analytic methods, theoretical problems, and the cultural context of psychology. He has conducted phenomenological psychological research and written about psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, psychometrics, humanistic psychology, and qualitative research. He co-edited Advances in Qualitative Research in Psychology: Themes and Variations (1987), edited The Humanistic Movement: Recovering the Person in Psychology (1994), and coauthored Five Ways of Doing Qualitative Analysis: Phenomenological Psychology, Grounded Theory, Discourse Analysis, Narrative Research, and Intuitive Inquiry (2011). He has been the Editor of the Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, The Bulletin of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and Guest Editor of The Humanistic Psychologist. He has served as President of APA’s Society for Humanistic Psychology and Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. He is currently President of the Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists.
In Tribute to Mike Arons and E. Mark Stern
By: Susan Gordon, PhD, Awards Chair
Dr. Mike M. Arons, PhD (1929-2008) beloved teacher, mentor, and friend to generations of students and colleagues was professor emeritus, chair, and founder of the Humanistic Psychology Department at the State University of West Georgia (UWG) from 1968-2000. After graduating from Wayne State University in 1961 with a degree in psychology, he earned a doctorate on the subject of creativity research at the Sorbonne in Paris where he worked with Paul Ricoeur in phenomenology and hermeneutics. He then returned to the US to continue post-graduate studies at Brandeis University with Abraham Maslow, George Kelly, and Jim Klee.
A brilliant psychologist, philosopher, and existentialist, Mike has been recognized nationally and internationally as one of the founders of humanistic psychology. He initiated programs of study abroad in Mexico and France and frequently lectured in Italy, China, France, Japan, and Russia creating more than 250 scholarly works, and publishing and presenting more than 100 papers on creative intuition, the phenomenology of consciousness, research methods, alternative ways of knowing, and the growth-oriented dimension of our humanity.
I fondly remember Dr. Aron’s talk "Anatomy of Creativity" at the 4th International Conference on Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychologies and Psychotherapies in Guangzhou, China, where we lectured together 5 months before his death. Mike spoke on the evolutionary role of embodied creativity in upright posture and the value priorities of balance and harmony.1
Dr. Arons served in national and international leadership positions within APA. He was an active member of Division 24, 32, 49, and 52. He was co-president of Division 32 from 1975-1976 with Stanley Graham and a member-at-large of the executive board of the Society from 1977-1979 and 1986-1989.2 He also served as president of The International Human Science Research Association and the Association for Qualitative Research in Psychology.3
Dr. Mike Arons lives on in our hearts. Chris Aanstoos, professor of psychology at UWG, describes Mike as "Socrates and Zorba, Apollo and Dionysus, an elf and a wizard." Ruth Richards, faculty member of Saybrook Graduate School said, "Mike was huge in the lives of people he touched, a brilliant mind, subtle and complex, yet with a heart that was simple, giant, pure and open."4 At the 2008 APA meeting of a group of psychologists from Divisions 10 and 32, Stan Krippner called Mike "a force of nature" and Maureen O’Hara, quoting from John Donne said, "To the glory of God, here’s a man fully alive!"5 Finally, Chris Aanstoos’s in his tribute in memoriam in The Humanistic Psychologist said:
Anyone who knew him would surely attest, Mike left a huge impact on all he touched…. Ever the organizer/disorganizer, leader anarchist, serious/playful, Mike embraced alterity in all its forms, pre-forms, and wild being. To the extent that one’s eyes are a window to one’s soul, it was easy to see Mike’s soul. His eyes twinkled with sheer delight. He approached the world with the wonder of a child and got in return the benefit of living "full tilt, all-out, all the time."6
Dr. E. Mark Stern, EdD from Columbia University in 1955, completed post-doctoral work at the Department of Psychiatry, University of London at The Maudsley Hospital from 1955-1956. In 1958, Mark earned a certificate in psychoanalysis from the Training Institute of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis in New York City and has been in private practice since 1956. Additionally, Dr. Stern was chief psychologist of the New York Clinic for Mental Health from 1960-1964, as well as a consultant in psychology for The George W. Henry Foundation from 1956-1962.
From 1964 to the present, Mark has served as assistant to full professor, and now professor emeritus of the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Iona College, New Rochelle, New York and formerly adjunct professor of psychology at Seton Hall University and Fordham University. He was also a member of the teaching faculty for the American Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis as well as the Training Institute for Mental Health Practitioners, both in New York, and in 1994 was a visiting professor of psychology at the Catholic University of Australia. Dr. Stern served as editor of The Journal of Pastoral Counseling from 1967-1976, of VOICES: The Journal of the American Academy of Psychotherapists from 1976-1988, and was the founding editor of The Psychotherapy Patient Monograph Series from 1988-2003. Mark has concentrated most of his authorship to books, chapters, articles and projects in the sometimes convergence of religious belief and what is central to the practice of psychotherapy.
Dr. Stern has served APA in leadership positions as president of Division 36 (Psychology of Religion) and 32 (Humanistic Psychology). Additionally, he served four terms on the APA Council of Representatives and was the founding chair (and subsequent member) of the Fellows Chair Committee for Division 32. Mark is currently a fellow of APA Division 12 (Clinical Psychology), 29 (Psychotherapy and Substance Abuse), 32 (Humanistic Psychology), 36 (Psychology of Religion), and 52 (International Psychology); a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science; and a diplomat in clinical psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is also a member of the Dutchess County (NY) Mental Hygiene Board, a past trustee of the Stanford Free Library, and the past finance chair of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee.
Reflecting on his life presently, Mark comments:
Looking back on the years devoted to the field of humanistic psychology, what I treasure most were the wonderment of close contact with some of its pioneers sadly forgotten: Andras Angyal, John Warkentin, Rollo May, Karen Machover, Molly Harrower, and Thomas Hora, and of the lifetime opportunity to have mentored many whose own contributions continue to enrich a new dawn in the art and science of a humanism that continues to be born. A good portion of the time I spend in my study looking over verdant fields and grazing deer, seeing an occasional client, attempting to write memoirs and still plugging at producing professional articles. Most of all, I now rejoice in the opportunities to cherish my three offspring and six grandchildren while being companion, lover, and legislative assistant to my wife (Stamford Town Supervisor) Virginia Fraser Stern.7
Much beloved for his passionate contributions and commitment to Division 32, Dr. E. Mark Stern embodies the letter and spirit of this award through his service and inspiration to all.
1 Arons, M. (2007, September). Anatomy of creativity. Lecture presented at the 4th International Conference on Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychologies and Psychotherapies, Guangzhou, China. See Arons, M. (2007). Standing up for humanity: Upright body, creative instability and spiritual balance. In R. Richards (Ed.), Everyday creativity and new views of human nature: Psychological, social and spiritual perspectives (pp.175-193). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; see also Richards, R., & Whitehouse, H. (2008). Obituary. Subtle mind, open heart: Mike Arons remembered (1929-2008). Psychology of Aesthetic, Creativity, and the Arts, 2 (4) 264-270.
2 S. Jordan (personal communication, February 9, 2009)
3 Richards, R., & Whitehouse, H. (2008). Obituary. Subtle mind, open heart: Mike Arons remembered (1929-2008). Psychology of Aesthetic, Creativity, and the Arts, 2(4) 264-270.
4 Ledbetter, L. (February, 2008). UWG Community Remembers Arons. The Campus Chronicle. Retrieved January 30, 2009 from UWG Community Remembers Aron
5 Richards & Whitehouse, 2008, p. 268.
6 Aanstoos, C. (2008). In memoriam: A tribute to Mike Arons. The Humanistic Psychologist, 36(3-4), p. 375.
7 E. M. Stern (personal communication, February 9, 2009)
Susan Gordon, Ph.D., National University, Awards Chair
Kirk Schneider, Ph.D., Saybrook University
Maureen O’Hara, Ph.D., National University
E. Mark Stern, Ph.D., Iona College
Leslie Greenberg, Ph.D., York University, Toronto, ON
Frederick J. Wertz, Ph.D., Fordham University


