Humanistic Psychology at York University: Retrospective: Focus on Clients' Experiencing in Psychotherapy: Emphasis of Radical Reflexivity

A retrospective is given of the contributions by York University psychologists to humanistic psychology as it is expressed in the theory, research and practice of humanistic psychotherapies. These contributions are contextualized in the history and mission of the University. Attention is then turned to the author's qualitative research on the client's experiencing in psychotherapy and the main understanding coming from it, namely that clients are aware of their self-awareness and are agential in terms of this capacity, called radical reflexivity. Implications of radical reflexivity for client-centered/experiential therapists' reduction of the person to an organism and for the psychotherapy practice and research are derived.