The Evidence-Based Foundations of Existential–Humanistic Therapy

This comprehensive volume aligns existential-humanistic therapy (EHT) with the standards of evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP). It provides a solid empirical foundation for EHT as a therapeutic modality, while also demonstrating how it can serve as an integrative approach. The book identifies evidence for primary existential competencies and best practices, as well as multicultural considerations for prioritizing an individual client-s needs. In each chapter, expert psychologists detail a key principle of EHT, including therapeutic presence, empathy, working with emotions, authenticity, therapist self-disclosure, here-and-now work, and the self within the therapeutic context. Integrative strategies including mindfulness, art therapy, experiential therapy, and equine-assisted therapy demonstrate the effectiveness of these foundational elements, when combined into a single approach. Contributors draw on three pillars of EBPP-research evidence, clinical experience, and client characteristics-to demonstrate how EHT can be just as effective as other evidence-based approaches, if not more so in some contexts.

Table of Contents:
Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction: Evidence-Based Psychological Practice in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Louis Hoffman and Veronica Lac Part I. Foundational Research and Competencies in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Chapter 1. Approaching Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy From an Evidence-Based Perspective Louis Hoffman Chapter 2. Existential-Therapeutic Competencies Joel Vos Chapter 3. Research on Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Andrew M. Bland Part II . Evidence-Based Foundations of Existential-Humanistic Stances Chapter 4. Therapeutic Presence in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Orah T. Krug, Chris Bradshaw, Juanita Ratner, and Almudena SÁnchez-Mazarro Chapter 5. Empathy in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Arthur C. Bohart, Jerrold Les Shapiro, and Gayle Byock Chapter . Working With Emotions in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Brittany Varisco and Louis Hoffman Chapter 7. Authenticity, Self-Awareness, and Facing Life Directly in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Drake Spaeth, Joseph Alexander Vanderhoff, Marguerite Pintauro, and Louis Hoffman Chapter 8. Here-and-Now Work in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Justin J. Underwood Chapter 9. Working With Meaning in Life in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Joel Vos Chapter 10. Understanding Acceptance in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Roxanne Christensen and Aviva Vincent Chapter 11. Genuineness and the Real Relationship in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Zenobia Morrill Chapter 12. Therapist Self-Disclosure in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Derrick Sebree, Jr. and Vanessa Brown Chapter 13. The Self in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Anne Y. J. Hsu Part III. Integrative Strategies in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Chapter 14. Integrative Considerations of Mindfulness and Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Donna Rockwell, O'Dell O. Johnson, and Shea Scharding Chapter 15. The Creative and Expressive Arts Therapies and Existential -umanistic Psychotherapy Ilene A. Serlin, Rainbow Tin Hung Ho, Fulya Kurter Musnitsky, and J. Ryan Kennedy Chapter 16. Experiential Techniques in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Trey Cole Chapter 17. An Existential-Humanistic Approach to Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy Aviva Vincent and Veronica Lac Index About the Editors

About the Author :
Louis Hoffman, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice and executive director of the Rocky Mountain Humanistic Counseling and Psychological Association. He has published over 20 books and 100 journal articles and book chapters. His books include the APA Handbook of Humanistic and Existential Psychology, Eros & Psyche: Existential Perspectives on Sexuality, Existential Psychology East-West, and Becoming an Existential-Humanistic Therapist. He has been recognized as a fellow of the American Psychological Association and six of its divisions (1, 10, 32, 36, 48, and 52) and received the Rollo May Award of the Society for Humanistic Psychology.   Veronica Lac, PhD, is founder and executive director of The HERD Institute, offering training and certification in equine facilitated psychotherapy and learning. She works through a decolonized lens with marginalized, neurodivergent clients with eating disorders and relational trauma. She is also a PATH International certified therapeutic riding instructor and a certified equine specialist in mental health and learning. She has served on executive boards of professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association's Division 32 and PATH International, and is a peer reviewer for a number of journals. Dr. Lac received the 2022 APA Division 32 Camri Harari Early Career Award.

Review :
"The Evidence-Based Foundations of Existential-Humanistic Therapy is a milestone in the annals of psychotherapy research. Not since Carl Rogers and colleagues’ landmark studies of client-centered therapy has a treatise more convincingly upheld the centrality of existential–humanistic principles of practice to our profession than this trail-blazing volume. As this volume demonstrates, it is high-time that existential–humanistic researchers speak for themselves about the relevance of their purview for a rapidly diversifying psychotherapeutic discipline. Even a cursory perusal of this volume makes clear that existential–humanistic and existential–integrative therapies are at the frontier of psychotherapy effectiveness research as well as the broader cultural shifts out of which this research emerges. Given the present upheaval of our times, I predict that existential–humanistic and existential–integrative therapies will soon be at the vanguard of a new emphasis in professional training and practice, and this book will be at its hub." - Kirk J. Schneider, PhD, coauthor of The Psychology of Existence; Existential-–Humanistic Therapy; author of Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy; and Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Key to a Sane World "This edited volume is the first of its kind; that is, it is the first systematic attempt to demonstrate the evidence-base for existential–humanistic therapy (EHT) based on the model of evidence-based practice in psychology. The editors have accomplished a challenging task of threading the needle between a conception of evidence-based psychotherapy that is too rigid and narrow to accommodate EHT, on the one hand, and demonstrating that EHT is on solid ground in terms of empirical support, on the other. This is a book that will be of great interest to any practitioners of EHT, as it not only provides evidential support for their practice but also highlights basic skills that require ongoing development as well as important multicultural competencies that are increasingly relevant in our multicultural and increasingly global world. The volume will also be essential reading in graduate courses that train students in existential and humanistic approaches to therapy." - Brent Robbins, PhD, Professor and PsyD program director, Department of Psychology, Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; President, Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 24) "Wow, this is a fantastic book! It offers a solid case for the fact that existential–humanistic (EH) therapy is a valid, scientific, and empirically valid way of doing therapy. This is something we as EH practitioners have known forever, but it is good to see it in this way to support our claims and to be able to use as a touchpoint for those who fail to understand the power of a relational approach." - L. Xochitl Vallejos, PhD, LPC, Board Chair, Rocky Mountain Humanistic and Counseling Association, Colorado Springs, CO, United States "This book describes existential–humanistic therapy (EHT) in an encouraging and hopeful tone for psychologists who seek to defend and understand it. The research presented throughout the manuscript is impeccable. The contributing authors collectively provided high-quality research that reflects both seminal studies that have been foundational to the field and studies that reflect the evolving dialogue of these topics in the literature. When such research was not available, the authors transparently identified the gap and, as is indicated in the guidelines for evidence-based practice in psychology, provided the best available research from closely aligned therapies." - Brian S. Hanna, PsyD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Hanna Psychological Services, Park Ridge, IL, United States "Hoffman and Lac are leaders in the renaissance of contemporary existential–humanistic psychotherapy, which honors the virtues of this rich tradition but extends the concepts and practices to a greater diversity of people. This text shines bright in this same light, combining evidence-based and culturally responsive practices with the perennial wisdom shared across various existential–humanistic therapies." - Matthew Lemberger-Truelove, PhD, LMHC, Professor of Counseling, University of North Texas, Denton, TX; Fellow, American Counseling Association "There is an urgent need to establish the evidential foundations for existential–humanistic therapy. Not only does this text take a first, giant step forward in this endeavour, but it lays the necessary foundations for further development of this evidence base. This is an essential text for those interested in existential–humanistic practice and its evolution." - Mick Cooper, DPhil, Professor of Counselling Psychology, University of Roehampton, London, England