Schneider Humanistic Psychology Psychotherapy

Kirk J. Schneider is a founding member of American Existential Humanistic Institute. He is regarded as the leading spokesperson for contemporary humanistic psychology. The study of his theory can make us understand and hold the new trends and direction of existential psychology in America.The existentialism and Romanism are consistent both in opposing the rationalism and the empiricism, Schneider' s idea that the psychology should return to the Romanism is an enlargement of existential psychology and a response to the over emphasis of positivism. In this view, Schneider argues that psychology should use the method that combines both qualitative and quantitative research, takes people's life world as the subject matter, and pays special attention to the existence and its significance of human being.In addition, Schneider proposed to build an awe-based psychology. He believes it the starting point to show one' s awe in life. The awe-based psychology is not satisfied with the behavioral and cognitive explanation, but requires the exploration of the whole person and the whole matter. Schneider advocated a new concept "the fluid center" , in order to describer the special cognitive mode inside the awe. which embodies an existential status of human beings both confined by one' s own experience (that is. the center) and devoted to the exploration into the unknown (the fluid).Confronting so many psychotherapeutic methods in the world today, Schneider regarded the existence as its core, and tried to integrate perspectives of different schools in psychology and psychotherapy. His integrative model portrays that human experience can be understood in terms of six levels of existence: the physiological; the environmental; the cognitive; the psychosexual; the interpersonal and the experiential. These levels of consciousness, from outer to inner circles, reflect the degrees to which freedom could develop with the ever-deepening of each level. Different level corresponds to different methods of psychotherapy. This integrative idea has provided some theoretical supports for the integration of so many systems and methods of psychotherapy.