Contemporary protests movements, which are distinguished from historic movements by relying on decentralized leadership and utilizing social media and technology, have a central role in addressing social justice issues. Black Lives Matter represents one of the most influential and controversial of the contemporary protests movements. Much of the controversy is connected to misunderstanding, distorted portrayals, and attempts to discredit the movement. Through an examination of the history of Black Lives Matter, and consideration of issues such as privilege and polarization, it can be recognized that the Black Lives Matter movement is providing a healthy cultural critique and creative use of pain, anger, and suffering to advocate for human dignity and positive cultural change. Furthermore, the principles of existential–humanistic psychology can be used to deepen the understanding of Black Lives Matter and other protest movements, while also offering important guidance on how to avoid various potential risks to the movement’s success.
RockiesMany educational opportunities are available for students developing into professionals as psychotherapists and psychologists. Textbooks, conferences, and endless lectures provide outlets to research and theory, but they fall short in providing the human factors available through cross-cultural encounters. Trips to China, where students and professionals interacted in dialogue and engagement, have created personal and professional changes in the way we live and practice. Through encountering the body, compassion, and being, the importance of creating culturally sensitive and flexible psychological interactions became prevalent throughout our travels in China, in which we dialogued with many professionals and lay persons that worked in various psychological settings. It became apparent that, to support the existential orientation, we had to also be willing to critique it.This article was drawn from experiences as students at the First International Conference on Existential Psychology in Nanjing, China, April 2010 and the year prior during various trainings and interactions. The article was written, however, after Michael Moats and Trent R. Claypool had graduated with their doctoral degrees.
Louis Hoffman's contributions to the science of psychology are too numerous to list. In addition to his recent election to the office of APA Division 32 president, his growing international renown as an existential psychologist and dozens of publications, many early-career psychologists count Hoffman as a mentor and a profound influence. This paper describes some of his most significant contributions to the science of psychology, to people in general, and to the authors of this paper specifically.
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