Wiley: The Journal of Humanistic Counseling: Table of Contents

Artificial Intelligence and Being Human: Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Empathy

Louis Hoffman, Lakoda C. E. Hoffman — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:20:59 -0700

ABSTRACT

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its influence on how humans live and what it means to be human are rapidly evolving. These changes are occurring more rapidly than ethicists and practitioners can deliberate on the implications. The fields of psychology and counseling, and more specifically humanistic psychology and counseling, must grapple with the implications of this not just for our field but also their subject matter: human beings. This paper explores how AI is impacting three vital aspects of being human: critical thinking, creativity, and empathy. Excessive use of AI tends to negatively impact critical thinking, creativity, and empathy; however, access to AI, which generally involves more modest use, has a more complex relationship, with a mixture of negative impacts and potentially positive influences.

Bridging Nature and Counselor Education: Utilization and Barriers to EcoWellness

Brett Gleason, Ryan F. Reese, Heather Dahl‐Jacinto, Taylor Milner — Fri, 29 May 2026 06:45:50 -0700

ABSTRACT

Guided by an ecological–humanistic and existential–humanistic perspective, we explored EcoWellness as a form of nature-based self-care in counselor education by examining its associations with demographic characteristics, patterns of nature use, and self-reported barriers among 193 students and faculty from CACREP-accredited counseling programs. Using the EcoWellness Inventory (EI-15), the findings revealed positive correlations between nature access, caring for nature, and social connectedness. Qualitative analysis highlights diverse ways individuals engage with nature for self-care, as well as barriers—such as time constraints and the COVID-19 pandemic—that limit access. The findings underscore the importance of integrating EcoWellness into counselor education curricula to foster self-care. Addressing systemic barriers and promoting accessible, meaningful nature-based activities within training programs holds promise for enhancing the holistic wellness of both students and faculty, reinforcing the human–nature connection as a vital component of counselor development.

Relational Counseling Factors, Self‐Compassion, Minority Stress, and Posttraumatic Growth Among TGD Clients

Aazi Ahmadi, Elizabeth A. Prosek — Fri, 15 May 2026 06:04:12 -0700

ABSTRACT

This study examined associations among counselor factors, self-compassion, proximal minority stress, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) clients engaged in mental health counseling. A theory-informed, conceptually organized associational model examined self-compassion and proximal stressors as intervening constructs that may explain associations between counselor factors and PTG. Participants included 226 TGD individuals recruited via crowdsourcing and community outreach. Structural equation modeling evaluated measurement models, latent construct associations, and overall model fit, with bias-corrected bootstrapping used to examine indirect associations. Counselor factors were significantly associated with PTG. Self-compassion was indirectly associated with PTG through proximal stressors but did not explain the association between counselor factors and PTG when examined independently. In contrast, proximal minority stress processes partially explained the association between counselor factors and PTG. Findings underscore the relevance of counselor relational factors, self-compassion, and proximal minority stress as interrelated constructs associated with growth-oriented outcomes among TGD clients.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Advanced Gestalt Practice

Monique N. Rodríguez — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Volume 65, Issue S1, Page S3-S6, May 2026.

Meisner Repetition Exercises as a Tool for Deliberate Practice in Psychotherapy: A Gestalt Therapy Exploration

Tomáš Andrášik, Barbora Krčmářová — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the application of Sanford Meisner's pedagogical methodology for actors in the professional training of psychotherapists and counselors, with a specific focus on the role of repetition exercises within Meisner's system and their potential to enhance the competencies of gestalt therapists, psychotherapists, and counselors more broadly. By examining the foundational principles of Meisner's technique and gestalt therapy, the article aims to demonstrate how the repetition exercises can significantly contribute to the development of essential transtheoretical competencies and those specific to gestalt therapists, potentially serving as a tool for deliberate practice. This article synthesizes theoretical insights and outlines stages of practical application to provide a comprehensive understanding of the training process.

A Gestalt Therapy Perspective on OCD: A Clinical Case on the “Dance of Reciprocity” Between Therapist and Patient

Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb, Lynne Rigaud, Tomáš Andrášik — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

This article explores obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) through the framework of Gestalt therapy, specifically the “dance of reciprocity” model. It integrates phenomenological, aesthetic, and field-oriented perspectives. Informed by research on attachment styles and emotional processes in OCD, it provides a developmentally and relationally informed perspective on OCD and presents a clinical case to illustrate how the model can be applied to facilitate therapeutic change and alliance.

Integrating the Gestalt Model of Self With Psychedelic‐Assisted Psychotherapy

Travis R. Fox — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

This theoretical integration paper employs a conceptual analysis methodology to synthesize the Gestalt model of self-as-process with Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP). Unlike traditional psychedelic therapy models that defer therapeutic engagement to postsession integration, PSIP emphasizes an active, directive therapeutic approach during the medicine session itself. Through an examination of core Gestalt principles, particularly figure/ground, field theory, creative adjustment, paradoxical theory of change, and the Gestalt model of self-as-process, this paper introduces a novel contribution: the “healing function” of the self, a dynamic role that emerges in response to trauma resolution processes within psychedelic contexts. Findings suggest that Gestalt's process-oriented view of self complements PSIP's interactional and somatically grounded methods, aligning with emerging understandings of the neurobiological mechanisms involved in psychedelic-assisted therapy. A clinical vignette illustrates the application of this model in an outpatient setting. The paper concludes by outlining ethical and clinical implications for psychedelic therapy in an outpatient setting.

In Story Art and Song, Where We Belong: A Primer for Creation and Facilitation of a Gestalt Life Focus Community

Caroline Paltin — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

This primer introduces Gestalt Life Focus Communities, a concept developed by Erving Polster and furthered in the Mindful Life Focus Community. Life Focus Communities use Gestalt-based communal exploration to examine life beyond traditional psychotherapy, differing in both format and goals. The theoretical framework includes phenomenological methods, dialogical relationships, the cycle of awareness, and experiential experiments, all illustrated through vignettes from past gatherings. Embodied Relational Gestalt principles—such as embodiment, attunement, resonance, and articulation—are explained in terms of their application to these communities. Gestalt techniques like attending, amplification, and registration are described and demonstrated. The primer also discusses the design and facilitation of art-infused, culturally inclusive, and trauma-informed Life Focus Communities, detailing the structure of plenary groups, subgrouping, and reconvening. The use of arts, literature, music, dance, and film to guide group processes is highlighted, along with the benefits of belonging and autonomy in a postpandemic society.

The Relational Dimension in Gestalt Psychotherapy: Epistemological and Clinical Aspects

Pietro Andrea Cavaleri, Serena Iacono Isidoro — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

This article reframes Gestalt psychotherapy as intrinsically relational: experience and self-emerge from contact at the organism–environment boundary and from the field/situation. We revisit ambiguities in the Perls/Goodman model against a brief historical background and articulate a pragmatic stance grounded in the id of the situation and esthetic relational knowledge (ARK). A brief clinical vignette illustrates how attending to the field's esthetic qualities and to embodied resonance guides participation, timing, and dosage.

Somatic Dimensions of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment: An Embodied Gestalt Approach

Monique N. Rodríguez — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

This article offers an embodied extension of Clemmens's stages of recovery, providing detailed phenomenological descriptions of how addiction and recovery manifest somatically. Traditional cognitive–behavioral models often overlook the body's role in addiction, perpetuating the disconnection between physical sensation and emotional awareness. Using a Gestalt therapy perspective, this paper explores how addiction disrupts the organism's ability for embodied contact, both internally with one's own sensations and externally with the environment and others. The author describes how therapists can support recovery by focusing on physical patterns that define each developmental stage. The paper offers clinicians detailed somatic interventions tailored to the specific tasks and challenges of early, middle, and late stages of recovery, while considering how cultural context and relational history influence embodied experience. This embodied Gestalt approach provides a framework for understanding and treating substance use disorders that honors the body's role in both addiction and recovery.

Gestalt Therapy and Somatic Symptom Disorder: Clinical Reflections on Embodiment, Contact, and Relational Field

Michele Cannavò, Dario Davì, Brenda Cervellione — Mon, 04 May 2026 05:22:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

This article presents a Gestalt perspective on treating psychosomatic disorders, examining psychosomatics within psychoanalytic development and modern challenges like the postpandemic era, climate crisis, and global conflicts. Gestalt therapy is proposed as a viable treatment approach, emphasizing the interconnection of ground and situational awareness to clarify psychosomatic etiopathogenesis and phenomenology. The article underscores Gestalt's relational and intersubjective body work, focusing on mind–body holism and biopsychosocial integration. The clinical case demonstrates Gestalt's utility in understanding psychosomatic symptoms within relational contexts, fostering safe therapeutic environments through co-regulation, calibrated proximity, and mutual trust. Gestalt theory values the role of embodied presence and movement, advocating for a holistic view that enhances relational and physical awareness in therapy. The conclusion asserts the need to consider all facets of experience—physical, mental, sensory, and emotional—as they collectively foster the client's adaptive functioning and self-integration within relational fields.

A Pedagogy of Belonging: Strategies and Practices for Building Beloved Community in Counselor Education

Ellise Nolan, Madeline Clark — Fri, 01 May 2026 22:19:24 -0700

ABSTRACT

With an increased need for counselors across the country, there is a corresponding need to recruit and retain quality graduate students in counseling programs. Using bell hooks’ framework of beloved community, this conceptual article explores how to develop a sense of belonging in counselor education among students of diverse identities inside the classroom as well as in other aspects of program culture. Practical application strategies for classroom policies and procedures, advising, orientation, and broaching expectations and identities are discussed.

Embodied Chairwork: A Humanistic Approach to Finding the “Living Body” in Counseling Supervision

H. Ray Wooten, Monique N. Rodríguez — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:20:10 -0700

ABSTRACT

Humanistic supervision is rooted in a commitment to the whole person, yet the supervisee's living body has largely been absent from mainstream supervision practices. This article introduces the Embodied Chairwork Process (ECP), a four-phase method designed for humanistic supervisors from various theoretical backgrounds who want to incorporate embodied self-awareness into clinical supervision. Drawing on humanistic phenomenology and the expanding scholarship on somatic practice in counselor education, the ECP modifies the structural elements of chairwork, using physical positions and spatial movement within a humanistic framework that does not require Gestalt training. A case example demonstrates how the model works in practice. Ethical considerations and implications for culturally responsive supervision are also discussed. The ECP contributes to a growing, interdisciplinary literature on embodied supervision and offers an accessible technique for any humanistic supervisor dedicated to phenomenology and embodied experience as key aspects of professional growth.

On Client Agency, Technological Integration, and the Primacy of Relationships for Humanistic Counseling in an AI‐Integrated World

Matthew E. Lemberger‐Truelove — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 23:15:04 -0700

ABSTRACT

In this article, the author examines how humanistic counseling might adapt to artificial intelligence while preserving essential therapeutic values. I argue that humans have always been inseparable from the technologies that shape consciousness and relationships, yet we remain co-determining agents capable of guiding technological development toward human flourishing rather than passively accepting whatever innovations emerge. Drawing from dialogical humanism, I propose that counselors develop an understanding of how AI mediates therapeutic relationships while maintaining relational primacy and client self-determination. Effective humanistic practice demands neither categorical rejection nor uncritical embrace of AI, but contextual judgment about when and how integration serves healing, growth, and authentic encounter.

The Role of Intellectual Virtues in the Practice of Humanistic Mental Health Counseling

Mark S. Gerig — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:13:51 -0800

ABSTRACT

The function of intellectual virtues as a foundation for the development of excellence in the humanistic practice of clinical mental health counseling is explored. First, the unique characteristics of intellectual virtues are described. Second, 10 specific intellectual virtues are identified and briefly defined. It is proposed that these function in combination for the acquisition of counseling-related knowledge and skills. Their specific application to basic processes for humanistic counseling is examined: genuineness and congruence; unconditional positive regard; and empathic understanding. Finally, the relevance of intellectual virtues for counseling processes and practice is explored.

Wiley: The Journal of Humanistic Counseling: Table of Contents

Artificial Intelligence and Being Human: Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Empathy

ABSTRACT

Bridging Nature and Counselor Education: Utilization and Barriers to EcoWellness

ABSTRACT

Relational Counseling Factors, Self‐Compassion, Minority Stress, and Posttraumatic Growth Among TGD Clients

ABSTRACT

Introduction to the Special Issue on Advanced Gestalt Practice

Meisner Repetition Exercises as a Tool for Deliberate Practice in Psychotherapy: A Gestalt Therapy Exploration

ABSTRACT

A Gestalt Therapy Perspective on OCD: A Clinical Case on the “Dance of Reciprocity” Between Therapist and Patient

ABSTRACT

Integrating the Gestalt Model of Self With Psychedelic‐Assisted Psychotherapy

ABSTRACT

In Story Art and Song, Where We Belong: A Primer for Creation and Facilitation of a Gestalt Life Focus Community

ABSTRACT

The Relational Dimension in Gestalt Psychotherapy: Epistemological and Clinical Aspects

ABSTRACT

Somatic Dimensions of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment: An Embodied Gestalt Approach

ABSTRACT

Gestalt Therapy and Somatic Symptom Disorder: Clinical Reflections on Embodiment, Contact, and Relational Field

ABSTRACT

Toc

A Pedagogy of Belonging: Strategies and Practices for Building Beloved Community in Counselor Education

ABSTRACT

Embodied Chairwork: A Humanistic Approach to Finding the “Living Body” in Counseling Supervision

ABSTRACT

On Client Agency, Technological Integration, and the Primacy of Relationships for Humanistic Counseling in an AI‐Integrated World

ABSTRACT

The Role of Intellectual Virtues in the Practice of Humanistic Mental Health Counseling

ABSTRACT