The renewal of humanism in psychotherapy: a roundtable discussion

This special section highlights the renewal of humanism in psychotherapy. For the purposes of this special section, humanism is defined as a philosophical perspective whose subject matter is the whole human being. In psychotherapy, humanism places special emphasis on the personal, interpersonal, and contextual dimensions of therapy and on clients' reflections on their relationship with self, others, and the larger psychosocial world. The contributors to this special section-Bruce Wampold, David Elkins, Steven Hayes, Robert Stolorow, Jurgen Kriz, Lillian Comas-Diaz, and the authors of this introduction-are each leaders in their respective therapeutic specialties: research and training, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychoanalytic therapy, European therapy, and multicultural therapy. In the manner of a "roundtable," each contributor was asked to provide a short article on the renewal of humanism in his or her respective specialty followed by brief comments on the initial round of articles. The conclusion of these reflections is that the renewal of humanism is a viable and growing phenomenon among the leading specialty areas of psychotherapy. The corollary conclusion is that although many theoretical and practical questions remain, humanism is (1) a foundational element of therapeutic effectiveness; (2) a pivotal (and needed) dimension of therapeutic training; and (3) a critical contributor to societal well-being.