The HUMANISTIC APPROACH in Psychology & Psychotherapy, Sociology & Social Work, Pedagogy & Education, Management and Art: Personal Development and Community Development SECOND EDITION


Book Description

The purpose of this book – "THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH IN PSYCHOLOGY & PSYCHOTHERAPY, SOCIOLOGY & SOCIAL WORK, PEDAGOGY & EDUCATION, MANAGEMENT AND ART: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT" (Second Edition) – is to achieve an investigation as exhaustive and comprehensive as possible on the presence of the humanistic approach, with an emphasis on the dual-humanistic valences, in a wide range of social and human fields, thus bringing before the reader – as an alternative to the modular, strictly monodisciplinary approaches – a multidisciplinary and complex approach, thus putting almost all the most important social & human disciplines and practices under a single humanistic/ dual-humanistic ”umbrella”, and presented in a single book. The Chapter 1 highlights the diversity of approaches in the social and human domains, focusing on three great approaches: mystical-spiritual and religious, strictly scientific, and humanistic. In Chapter 2, the sources and models of the humanistic orientation are explored, identifying in this sense, with priority, Humanism and philosophical influences such as criticism, ontology, humanistic philosophy, and same oriental-spiritual practices. This chapter highlights also the contribution of phenomenology, existentialism, personalism, gestaltism, neo-Marxism, the Frankfurt School, secular humanism, the human rights movement, postmodernism, feminism, and complex and emergent systems theories. Chapter 3 focuses on the humanistic/ dual-humanistic approach in psychology and psychotherapy.. The basic principles of the humanistic approach to the human psyche were highlighted, as well as the dual-humanistic approach to personality and behavior. Chapter 4 discusses the humanistic/ dual-humanistic orientation in sociology and social work, highlighting the characteristics of social humanism and their different postures in the field of sociology and social work. Chapter 5 brings to the reader's attention the humanistic approach to pedagogy and education, emphasizing the specificity of child/student center education and the characteristics of the dual-humanistic approach in pedagogy/ education. Chapter 6 addresses the issue of humanistic management, emphasizing how this approach generated a significant change in work organizations, focusing on people, employee development and their well-being. Chapter 7 discusses the humanist approach in art, theater and film, highlighting the characteristics of humanistic aesthetics and humanistic theatrology/ filmology. Chapter 8 brings other disciplines into the discourse, such as medicine, politics, religion, technology & science, ecology and economy, highlighting how the humanistic approach influences these fields and brings a dual perspective between person-centeredness and human/ social solidarity. Chapter 9 presents some of the characteristics of the humanistic/dual-humanistic approach to personal development, focusing on the formation of a strong, humane and complete personality. Chapter 10 discusses the humanistic approach, especially through its dual-humanist valence, in community development, emphasizing how it, as philosophy, culture and politics, can contribute to the formation of a strong and humane/ solidary community, with the inclusion of the goals and values of personal development/fulfillment and the happiness of their members. Regarding the usefulness and addressability of this edition, of this book, the design, content and bibliography are made in such a way as to be useful both to the academic community, to students and to teachers, and to the professional community, to psychotherapists, educators, managers, social workers, artists, medical practitioners, politicians, etc. The work being unique in its way because it brings together under the ”umbrella” of a humanistic approach the most important social & human sciences and practices, it is, of course, also addressed to readers interested in such a perspective.




The Humanistic Approach in Psychology & Psychotherapy, Sociology & Social Work, Pedagogy & Education, Management and Art:


Book Description

In this book is realized a brief presentation of the main orientations and features of the Humanistic Theory and Method in the major socio-human sciences, domains and practices. As construction, structure and content this book cumulates, incorporates, synthesizes and develops in a new, original and unitary work a number of the author’s previous works consecrated to the humanistic approach and method in some socio-human sciences and practices, especially in Psychology and Psychotherapy, Sociology, Social Work, Education and Management, published up to the end of 2012, both in print and electronic format. In the process of realization of this works, including of this book, was taken into consideration and was consulted the universal "social" and "therapeutic" literature of humanistic orientation, with the two main directions – existential/positive and spiritual/ontological/humanitarian, or the one that describes it or refers to it. Essentially, the Existential/Positive Orientations represent and approach, in theory or practice (therapy, education, social work etc.), the Person and Personality through traits (objectives) like high level of personal and social autonomy, free will and high capacity/ ability for self-determination, high level of personal development, high resilience, high capacity to control the emotions, high degree of awareness, self-knowledge, high self-esteem, high level of interpersonal development, adaptability, mature personality, activism and initiative, assertiveness, etc., while the Socio-Human (Micro-)Community is represented through features such as high autonomy, strong organizational culture, high socio-human functionality, high cohesion, unity, solidity, adaptability, resilience, resistance to crisis and challenges, good management, etc. The Ontological/Spiritual Approaches/Theories promote core concepts (and objectives of the intervention) such as spiritual-humane personality and humane/good community, spiritual-humane development of the person and humane-cultural development of the community. These paradigms highlight and promote Personality traits and qualities such as spirituality, virtue, humanness, altruism, empathy, love, faith, etc. Regarding the theoretical representation of the Community these approaches/theories highlight ideas and features as people-centered community, the dominance of the inter-personal relationships of attachment, love, respect, the dominance of the practices and customs of mutual helps, social/group/community solidarity, harmony, unity, inter-personal congruency, socio-human, inter-personal, community functionality, socio-human, moral and cultural integration/ cohesion. *** Regarding the destination of this paper, its design, content and bibliography are made in such a way to be useful both to the academic community, to students and teachers, and also to the professional community, to psychotherapists, educators, managers, social workers, artists, etc.




HUMANISTIC PERSONOLOGY: A HUMANISTIC-ONTOLOGICAL THEORY OF THE PERSON & PERSONALITY. Applications in Therapy, Social Work, Education, Management, and Art (Theater) 2023 PAPERBACK EXPANDED EDITION


Book Description

This Expanded 2023 Edition of the book entitled HUMANISTIC PERSONOLOGY: A HUMANISTIC-ONTOLOGICAL THEORY OF THE PERSON & PERSONALITY. Applications in Therapy, Social Work, Education, Management, and Art (Theater), completes the range of domains brought to attention and represented from the perspective of humanistic-ontological orientation with new domains, namely medicine, politics, technology & science, ecology, and economy – work/project which, as stated in previous editions,presents an ontological-humanistic theory/ model for the formation, development, functioning, education, and therapy/ counseling of the human personality & person, offering a philosophical (ontological) alternative to the prevailing contemporary psychological, biological, and cybernetic models in both literature and practice. To this end, the process of personality/ person formation is described as a successive and simultaneous creation and establishment of internal autonomous "BEINGS"/ onto-formations. These internal beings/ onto-formations, such as the organism, the self, the soul, the ego, the mind, the consciousness, play a dynamic-ontological and functional specific role in the composition and the functioning of the personality/ person. The personal profile, the personality traits, the behavior, the human being as a whole, are depicted as the outcomes of inner dynamic relationships and ontological confrontations among these internal beings, which are energetically and antagonistically charged. Through this daring project and through these innovative elements, the theory/ model presented in an improved form also in this edition can represent a significant contribution, not only to elucidating and explaining the complex processes of personality/ person formation, development, functioning, and therapy, but also to represent these processes – including by invoking the Aristotelian and Platonic concepts of transubstantiation and body-soul (matter-spirit) dualism – in relation to profound philosophical (ontological and metaphysical) categories such as human being, human essence, human nature, and human condition, bringing the discourse, currently located mainly in the sphere of psychology, in the sphere of philosophy, ontology and ethics as well, the formation and development process not leading – from the perspective of the model adopted in the project – only to the formation of personality and adaptive behavior, but also to the formation, in a holistic view, of the person as a whole, of the person as a HUMAN BEING. Some of the most significant fragments/ ideas: ”The essence of the humanistic-ontological conception regarding the person/ the human personality is given by the idea that these are ontological products of some gradual and stadial processes held with the crucial contribution of the concrete/ contextual/ contingent socio-human, cultural and institutional factors where the person grows and lives. Very important are therefore the personal-human factors...” ”In our ontological-humanistic model of formation, beingness and functioning of the person/ personality - of the human being - we will speak, therefore, about characteristics, properties, processes, principles such as onto-formatization, persomization and promergence, emergence and imergence, transmergence and telegence, conmergence and sinmergence, about stages of evolution, formation, development, establishment of the personal ontological-psychological formations, of the person as a whole, such as of contact, of acquisition/ accumulation, of structuration/ centralization, of constitution/ holistization, of establishing/ networking, and finally of ontification/ fulfillment, and about ontological-subjective humane and spiritual experiences/ feelings that represent ”substances", motivational-energetical sources and resorts of forming of the personality/ person’s onto-formations and spheres...”




Humanistic Philosophy


Book Description

In this work the sintagm "Humanistic Philosophy" is approached and represented both as a sub-discipline, branch, issue, topic, domain, section, part of (general) Philosophy, but also as a dimension, goal, ideal, value, sense, meaning, vocation, valence of Philosophy as a whole, speaking, therefore, about Philosophy as a Humanistic discipline of knowledge. As a sub-discipline, part of (general) Philosophy, Humanistic Philosophy is focused on, and brings in attention, especially, the category, the value-concept of Human Being, with the meaning of agency, individuality, subject, the person with the attribute of freedom and self-determination, the respect for the human as individual, as a Person, in opposition to the approaches that represent the individual human being as a simple statistical element into a social structure, system, mechanism, in history and/or society. In the second meaning, crucial concepts, syntagms, and ideas-values that are bring in attention, when we speak, therefore, of (general) philosophy as a humanistic discipline are Anthropo-Centrism and Person-Centered Approach in the general process of philosophical knowledge and investigation. Essentially, philosophy as a humanistic discipline, through all its branches, orientations, schools, and methods, is an ethics of the phenomenon, process and act of knowledge in general, and of the philosophical knowledge in particular, an ethics of the human, of the man, of humanity, and, especially, ultimately, a philosophy of the human as a goal, values, ideal, principle of all the processes, acts of knowledge and action, epistemologically and methodologically speaking. *** Regarding the Destination of this book, its design, content and bibliography are made in such a way that to be useful both to the academic/ scientific community, to students, teachers and researchers, and also to the professional community - artists, educators, managers, social workers, psychotherapists, health professionals, human rights activists, activists in the political sphere, etc.







Philosophy and Social Work


Book Description

In this book it is brought to attention and is analyzed the complex and delicate relationship between philosophy and social work/welfare, between the philosophical system of concepts and ideas and the theory/axiology of social work/welfare, especially from a humanistic perspective, bringing face to face, on the one hand, the great branches or sub-domains of philosophy, respectively ontology, ethics, social philosophy, personology, and, on the other hand, the great sub-domains or issues of social work/welfare, respectively the way of representation of the client and of the social problem (difficult situation, risk situation, vulnerability, resilience, etc.), the system of constitutive values and principles, the way of representation of the professional and the specific practice/methodology, etc. The relation between philosophy and social work is, no doubt, biunivocal. philosophy encompasses, in its purpose and history, the "social" issue/dimension, in its broader human sense, especially with the preoccupations in the sphere of ethics and social philosophy, but also of the existentialist-humanistic and humanistic-personalist philosophies, as the, social work, as general theory and axiology, cannot be conceived without a consistent philosophical representation. Both the system of fundamental values and the mission or methodology of social work/welfare are, most often, stated in the terms of an explicit applied social, ethical and humanistic philosophy, even if not always this aspect it is highlighted in an assumed way. An important observation that must to be done is that the author does not proposes in his book (and nor does it accomplish) an exhaustive, profound and complete approach and exposure of the relation, connection - from a humanistic point of view - between philosophy and social work/welfare, between their sub-domains, but only he brings into attention this subject, this theme, very little approached in the literature in relation to its indisputable importance. Regarding the destination of this paper, its design, content and bibliography are made in such a way that to be useful both to the academic community, to students and teachers in philosophy and social sciences and practices, and also to the professional community, to social workers, psychotherapists, educators, social managers, etc.







The Adult Learner


Book Description

How do you tailor education to the learning needs of adults? Do they learn differently from children? How does their life experience inform their learning processes? These were the questions at the heart of Malcolm Knowles’ pioneering theory of andragogy which transformed education theory in the 1970s. The resulting principles of a self-directed, experiential, problem-centred approach to learning have been hugely influential and are still the basis of the learning practices we use today. Understanding these principles is the cornerstone of increasing motivation and enabling adult learners to achieve. The 9th edition of The Adult Learner has been revised to include: Updates to the book to reflect the very latest advancements in the field. The addition of two new chapters on diversity and inclusion in adult learning, and andragogy and the online adult learner. An updated supporting website. This website for the 9th edition of The Adult Learner will provide basic instructor aids including a PowerPoint presentation for each chapter. Revisions throughout to make it more readable and relevant to your practices. If you are a researcher, practitioner, or student in education, an adult learning practitioner, training manager, or involved in human resource development, this is the definitive book in adult learning you should not be without.







Democracy and Education


Book Description

. Renewal of Life by Transmission. The most notable distinction between living and inanimate things is that the former maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt to react in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow, much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to its own continued action. While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing. As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that it turns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may be said that a living being is one that subjugates and controls for its own continued activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon the environment.