We employed a post-intentional phenomenological methodology to explore counselor educators’ exper... more We employed a post-intentional phenomenological methodology to explore counselor educators’ experiences teaching counselors-in-training (CITs) to be present in practicum contexts. Eight participant...
Givens, Joel G. Counselor Educator and Supervisor Experiences of Teaching Counselor Presence: A P... more Givens, Joel G. Counselor Educator and Supervisor Experiences of Teaching Counselor Presence: A Phenomenological Exploration. Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2015. This study explored the experiences of counselor educators and supervisors teaching Counselors-in-training (CITs) to be present in practicum contexts. Eight participants were solicited to engage in two phenomenological interviews. Additionally, participants submitted photographs of practicum sites, photographs of an object representing the instruction of presence, and a written description of an experience of presence. To manage bias and crystallize the data, a process of member checking, a researcher journal, and a peer reviewer were employed. Data analysis entailed a process of open coding, identification of meaning units, and formulation of tentative manifestations using Vagle’s (2014) post-intentional phenomenology. Six themes emerged that borrowed concepts from Aristotle’...
Constructivist and existential psychologies both contain tensions pertaining to self-centric and ... more Constructivist and existential psychologies both contain tensions pertaining to self-centric and social-centric perspectives. The authors explicate these tensions and offer an alternative scheme based on dialogical philosophy. The dialogical alternative presented in this article has implications for counseling and social justice praxis.
Phenomenology has been widely misunderstood since it transitioned from philosophy into counseling... more Phenomenology has been widely misunderstood since it transitioned from philosophy into counseling. Phenomenology is the study of consciousness to achieve knowledge and insight using Edmund Husserl's phenomenological reduction. Transcendental aspects of this method are better understood by comparisons to Asian mindfulness practices. The phenomenological reduction should become a distinct counseling research methodology.
The authors propose Hegel's (1807/1977) dialectic of desire and recognition as an integrative... more The authors propose Hegel's (1807/1977) dialectic of desire and recognition as an integrative model for humanistic counselors. Following a review of relevant literature, the authors address desire, recognition, the master–slave relationship, and alienation in a contemporary context. Implications for the counseling relationship, case conceptualization, practice, and research are considered.
Friedrich Nietzsche's genealogical method offers an investigative tool for exploring value-la... more Friedrich Nietzsche's genealogical method offers an investigative tool for exploring value-laden language in the counseling profession. The genealogical method helps to identify evaluative terms, uncover implicit assumptions, and open possibilities for creative metaphors. The author demonstrates the genealogical method and explores implications for counseling practice and future research.
Influenced by the philosophy of Derrida, the authors present deconstructive humanism as a postmod... more Influenced by the philosophy of Derrida, the authors present deconstructive humanism as a postmodern lens for humanistic counseling. In this article, the authors describe the basic elements of this perspective and offer initial implications for counseling practice. ********** At first blush, humanistic counseling has little to do with postmodernist philosophy. Heidegger's (1947/2008) reproach of humanism, Derrida's (1981) challenge of the self as the locus of meaning, and Foucault's (1994) observation that man is a recent creation and will soon "disappear again" each render the role of human experience untenable. Indeed, postmodern philosophy often entails an antihumanistic posture and a shift toward broader social and cultural contexts. Human feelings, thoughts, and experiences seem lost in the discursive shuffle, swept up in a system of signs and meanings that restrict the range of personal possibilities. Alternatively, postmodern philosophy offers diverse and fragmented stories concerning the nature of the self and the role of human experience. An anti-humanist version of postmodernism, although certainly evident in select philosophical texts (see Foucault, 1994), does not represent the last word on the subject of the self. Indeed, Derrida's (1967/2011) deconstructive philosophy exhibits traces of Husserl's (1913/1999) phenomenological explorations of the self. Despite the prefix "post" designating a break or divergence from the modem emphasis on a human essence, the self does not wholly disappear from the postmodern narrative. Human experience, within specific postmodern writings, remains present, yet opened up to others, social practices, cultural contexts, and the environment. The term postmodern has been used to describe advances in art or architecture, an anything-goes caricature of human subjectivity, or French avant-garde intellectualism. To prevent misunderstandings and to curtail the scope of the current endeavor, we chose to formulate our thesis for a postmodern humanism in the oft-referenced yet sorely misunderstood postmodern philosophy of deconstruction. Deconstruction radically opens up the self to myriad interpretations and experiences as consistent with postmodern thought, but at no time does it completely close or empty out the humanistic conception of self. Using the analogy of cracking a nut, Caputo (1997) wrote, "Wherever deconstruction finds a nutshell--a secure axiom or a pithy maxim--the very idea is to crack it open and disturb this tranquility.... One might even say that cracking nutshells is what deconstruction is" (p. 32, emphasis in original). Delving into the philosophy of deconstruction skips to the end of a lengthy text in the history of philosophy. To do justice to the concept of deconstruction, a comprehensive background in the progression of philosophical ideas is warranted. However, space and time constraints preclude an adequate historical articulation in the current manuscript. Suffice it to say that Derrida's (1981) account of deconstruction unfolds on the heels of Husserl's (1913/1999) meditations overcoming the subject/object dichotomy and Heidegger's (1927/1996) explorations of being-in-the-world, which likewise transcended the dualistic paradigm. When Derrida enters the scene, the Cartesian ego--or the self who masters private thoughts, emotions, and cognitions--is a relic of the past, at least in the philosophical world. Counseling, at least as it is conceived, developed, and practiced in the United States, inherited Cartesian dualism between mind and body, self and world. The self is understood as an isolated individual containing thoughts, feelings, and values that are "locked up" in his or her head, which must be accessed in and through the counseling process. Husserl's (1913/1999) descriptions of the intentional connections that interweave the self and the objects of experience are markedly absent in counseling theory and practice, and Heidegger's (1927/1996) notion of "worldhood" has barely scratched the surface of Cartesian solipsism. …
Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on prec... more Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on preconceived ideas of the phenomenon being studied. In this article, bridling is explained, followed by a model of how to implement bridling, examples of bridling applied to phenomenological research studies involving counselors, and implications for the field.
Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on prec... more Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on preconceived ideas of the phenomenon being studied. In this article, bridling is explained, followed by a model of how to implement bridling, examples of bridling applied to phenomenological research studies involving counselors, and implications for the field.
We employed a post-intentional phenomenological methodology to explore counselor educators’ exper... more We employed a post-intentional phenomenological methodology to explore counselor educators’ experiences teaching counselors-in-training (CITs) to be present in practicum contexts. Eight participant...
Givens, Joel G. Counselor Educator and Supervisor Experiences of Teaching Counselor Presence: A P... more Givens, Joel G. Counselor Educator and Supervisor Experiences of Teaching Counselor Presence: A Phenomenological Exploration. Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2015. This study explored the experiences of counselor educators and supervisors teaching Counselors-in-training (CITs) to be present in practicum contexts. Eight participants were solicited to engage in two phenomenological interviews. Additionally, participants submitted photographs of practicum sites, photographs of an object representing the instruction of presence, and a written description of an experience of presence. To manage bias and crystallize the data, a process of member checking, a researcher journal, and a peer reviewer were employed. Data analysis entailed a process of open coding, identification of meaning units, and formulation of tentative manifestations using Vagle’s (2014) post-intentional phenomenology. Six themes emerged that borrowed concepts from Aristotle’...
Constructivist and existential psychologies both contain tensions pertaining to self-centric and ... more Constructivist and existential psychologies both contain tensions pertaining to self-centric and social-centric perspectives. The authors explicate these tensions and offer an alternative scheme based on dialogical philosophy. The dialogical alternative presented in this article has implications for counseling and social justice praxis.
Phenomenology has been widely misunderstood since it transitioned from philosophy into counseling... more Phenomenology has been widely misunderstood since it transitioned from philosophy into counseling. Phenomenology is the study of consciousness to achieve knowledge and insight using Edmund Husserl's phenomenological reduction. Transcendental aspects of this method are better understood by comparisons to Asian mindfulness practices. The phenomenological reduction should become a distinct counseling research methodology.
The authors propose Hegel's (1807/1977) dialectic of desire and recognition as an integrative... more The authors propose Hegel's (1807/1977) dialectic of desire and recognition as an integrative model for humanistic counselors. Following a review of relevant literature, the authors address desire, recognition, the master–slave relationship, and alienation in a contemporary context. Implications for the counseling relationship, case conceptualization, practice, and research are considered.
Friedrich Nietzsche's genealogical method offers an investigative tool for exploring value-la... more Friedrich Nietzsche's genealogical method offers an investigative tool for exploring value-laden language in the counseling profession. The genealogical method helps to identify evaluative terms, uncover implicit assumptions, and open possibilities for creative metaphors. The author demonstrates the genealogical method and explores implications for counseling practice and future research.
Influenced by the philosophy of Derrida, the authors present deconstructive humanism as a postmod... more Influenced by the philosophy of Derrida, the authors present deconstructive humanism as a postmodern lens for humanistic counseling. In this article, the authors describe the basic elements of this perspective and offer initial implications for counseling practice. ********** At first blush, humanistic counseling has little to do with postmodernist philosophy. Heidegger's (1947/2008) reproach of humanism, Derrida's (1981) challenge of the self as the locus of meaning, and Foucault's (1994) observation that man is a recent creation and will soon "disappear again" each render the role of human experience untenable. Indeed, postmodern philosophy often entails an antihumanistic posture and a shift toward broader social and cultural contexts. Human feelings, thoughts, and experiences seem lost in the discursive shuffle, swept up in a system of signs and meanings that restrict the range of personal possibilities. Alternatively, postmodern philosophy offers diverse and fragmented stories concerning the nature of the self and the role of human experience. An anti-humanist version of postmodernism, although certainly evident in select philosophical texts (see Foucault, 1994), does not represent the last word on the subject of the self. Indeed, Derrida's (1967/2011) deconstructive philosophy exhibits traces of Husserl's (1913/1999) phenomenological explorations of the self. Despite the prefix "post" designating a break or divergence from the modem emphasis on a human essence, the self does not wholly disappear from the postmodern narrative. Human experience, within specific postmodern writings, remains present, yet opened up to others, social practices, cultural contexts, and the environment. The term postmodern has been used to describe advances in art or architecture, an anything-goes caricature of human subjectivity, or French avant-garde intellectualism. To prevent misunderstandings and to curtail the scope of the current endeavor, we chose to formulate our thesis for a postmodern humanism in the oft-referenced yet sorely misunderstood postmodern philosophy of deconstruction. Deconstruction radically opens up the self to myriad interpretations and experiences as consistent with postmodern thought, but at no time does it completely close or empty out the humanistic conception of self. Using the analogy of cracking a nut, Caputo (1997) wrote, "Wherever deconstruction finds a nutshell--a secure axiom or a pithy maxim--the very idea is to crack it open and disturb this tranquility.... One might even say that cracking nutshells is what deconstruction is" (p. 32, emphasis in original). Delving into the philosophy of deconstruction skips to the end of a lengthy text in the history of philosophy. To do justice to the concept of deconstruction, a comprehensive background in the progression of philosophical ideas is warranted. However, space and time constraints preclude an adequate historical articulation in the current manuscript. Suffice it to say that Derrida's (1981) account of deconstruction unfolds on the heels of Husserl's (1913/1999) meditations overcoming the subject/object dichotomy and Heidegger's (1927/1996) explorations of being-in-the-world, which likewise transcended the dualistic paradigm. When Derrida enters the scene, the Cartesian ego--or the self who masters private thoughts, emotions, and cognitions--is a relic of the past, at least in the philosophical world. Counseling, at least as it is conceived, developed, and practiced in the United States, inherited Cartesian dualism between mind and body, self and world. The self is understood as an isolated individual containing thoughts, feelings, and values that are "locked up" in his or her head, which must be accessed in and through the counseling process. Husserl's (1913/1999) descriptions of the intentional connections that interweave the self and the objects of experience are markedly absent in counseling theory and practice, and Heidegger's (1927/1996) notion of "worldhood" has barely scratched the surface of Cartesian solipsism. …
Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on prec... more Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on preconceived ideas of the phenomenon being studied. In this article, bridling is explained, followed by a model of how to implement bridling, examples of bridling applied to phenomenological research studies involving counselors, and implications for the field.
Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on prec... more Bridling is an innovative reflective practice where the researcher intentionally reflects on preconceived ideas of the phenomenon being studied. In this article, bridling is explained, followed by a model of how to implement bridling, examples of bridling applied to phenomenological research studies involving counselors, and implications for the field.
Uploads
Papers
Publications