The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology: Leading Edges in Theory, Research, and Practice

Kirk J. Schneider, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and leading spokesperson for contemporary existential-humanistic psychology. He is an adjunct faculty member at Saybrook University, Teachers College, Columbia University, and the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, vice president and founding member of the Existential-Humanistic Institute, and the recent past editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Dr. Schneider has published more than one hundred articles and chapters and has authored or edited ten books—seven of which have been, or are soon to be, translated into Chinese. Schneider has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Rollo May Award for “outstanding and independent pursuit of new frontiers in humanistic psychology” from the American Psychological Association, and the Cultural Innovator award from the Living Institute, Toronto, Canada. He was also awarded an honorary diploma by the East European Association of Existential Therapy. In 2010, Schneider delivered the opening keynote address at the first International Existential Psychology Conference in Nanjing, China and is slated as keynote speaker for the first World Congress of Existential Psychotherapy in London, United Kingdom, in 2015.

James T. F. Bugental, PhD (1915-2008), was a professor emeritus and clinical faculty member at Stanford Medical School, and an emeritus and adjunct faculty member at Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center. He was a major spokesperson for the humanistic perspective since its coalescence into an influential movement in the field of psychology more than fifty years ago. Bugental served on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, The Humanistic Psychologist, and the American Journal of Psychotherapy. He authored numerous major publications, including The Search for Authenticity, The Search for Existential Identity, Psychotherapy Isn’t What You Think, The Art of the Psychotherapist, and Psychotherapy and Process: The Fundamentals of an Existential-Humanistic Approach. Bugental also published more than eighty articles in professional and technical journals, and contributed twenty-five original chapters in books edited by others. Translations of his work can be found in French, Finnish, Spanish, German, Dutch, Russian, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese.

J. Fraser Pierson, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, a National Certified Counselor, and a professor of psychology at Southern Oregon University, where she teaches a variety of upper division and graduate courses within the nationally accredited Mental Health Counseling program. Long inspired and informed by the humanistic and existential perspectives, Pierson’s scholarly interests include psychotherapist preparation and training, the transformation of women’s self and world view in relation to participation in adventurous sports, and personal meanings derived from profound experiences in the natural world. She has co-edited or contributed to numerous works, and regularly presents on topics pertaining to mental health counseling from an existential-humanistic perspective. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Dr. Pierson completed her doctoral work at the University of Georgia, and an APA approved internship at Student Counseling Services, Iowa State University. A psychotherapist, educator and clinical supervisor by profession, Pierson is a naturalist and mariner by avocation.