Dr Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D.
Saybrook Graduate School and the California Institute of Integral Studies
San Francisco, California, USA

Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and leading spokesperson for contemporary humanistic psychology. He is current editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, vice-president of the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI), and adjunct faculty at Saybrook Graduate School and the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Schneider has published over 100 articles and chapters and has authored or edited seven books (one more is in preparation), The Paradoxical Self: Toward an Understanding of Our Contradictory Nature (translated into Portuguese and Slovakian), Horror and the Holy: Wisdom-teachings of the Monster Tale, The Psychology of Existence: An Integrative, Clinical Perspective (with Rollo May; currently being translated into Chinese), The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology: Leading Edges in Theory, Research and Practice (with J. Bugental and F. Pierson), Rediscovery of Awe: Splendor, mystery, and the fluid center of life,  and Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy: Guideposts to the Core of Practice (currently being partly translated into Russian).  Dr. Schneider is the 2004 recipient of the Rollo May award for “outstanding and independent pursuit of new frontiers in humanistic psychology” from the Humanistic Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association. Most recently, Dr. Schneider conducted Existential Therapy for an APA video series on psychotherapy (www.apa.org/videos) and with Dr. Ed Mendelowitz, completed the chapter on Existential Psychotherapy for Corsini and Wedding’s Current Psychotherapies (8th ed.).   Dr. Schneider’s most recent book, Existential-Humanistic Therapy (co-authored with Dr. Orah Krug), is in press for the American Psychological Association Monograph series on the major orientations in the field, and his current book in preparation is tentatively titled, Awe-Based Recovery:  Alternatives to Medicine and Dogma. 

Rediscovering a Spiritual Dimension to Therapy: The Power of Awe 
Keynote Address
12:30 - 2:00pm, Friday, July 25th, 2008

This talk will address an underappreciated dimension of therapy-the cultivation of the sense of "awe."  By "awe," I mean the freedom to experience mystery, in all its splendor and unsettlement.  One of the problems with the therapeutic philosophy today is that it tends approach mystery (and its' correlates ambiguity and struggle) in truncated forms-for example, spurning it, as in mainstream symptom focused modalities, or according it an expansive, euphoric character, as in some "positive" and transpersonal approaches, or according it a constrictive, nihilistic quality, as in some psychoanalytic and existential modalities.  Drawing on my own personal experience as well as case literature, I will argue for a "whole bodied," awe-based approach to mystery.  This is an approach that acknowledges the paradoxes of people's experience of mystery, neither over- nor under-emphasizing its complexity.  

Course Objectives: 

1. Participants will gain an understanding of the role of spirituality and "awe" in existential therapy. 
2. Participants will learn about how awe relates to clients' experience of mystery (ambiguity and struggle). 
3. Participants will be able to discuss the role of mystery (ambiguity and struggle) in other therapeutic modalities. 
4. Participants will be able to identify the value of an awe-based approach to therapy.   

Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy:  Latest Developments 
Pre-Conference Workshop
1:30 - 4:30pm, Thursday, July 24th, 2008

In this workshop, I will present an overview of the latest findings about the existential-integrative (EI) approach to therapy. Particularly, I will look at the significance of a recent review of my text Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy (2008), by Bruce Wampold in the APA Review of Books (February 6, 2008), which upholds EI and by implication existential therapy as a prime example of the common or context factors that are integral to effective psychotherapy.  I will especially focus on what I believe is the most cardinal feature of existentially oriented therapy, the art of "being with" both oneself as therapist, and one's client.  I will elaborate on this art, describe its significance for other modalities (e.g., CBT, psychoanalysis), and illustrate its power through live demonstrations. 

Course Objectives: 

1.  Participants will understand the role of the experiential level of contact within the EI model.
2.  Participants will be able to identify the main dimensions of the experiential level of contact.
3.  Participants will be able to discuss how to use the experiential level of contact in the context of their own practice.
4.  Participants will be able to distinguish between experiential and non and semi-experiential approaches to therapy.
5.  Participants will be aware of both the nuances and steps of the experiential level of the EI model.
6.  Participants  will gain an introductory understanding of how to integrate the experiential dimensions into their psychotherapy practice.

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