AHP has been going since the sixties.
Its purpose is to educate about Humanistic Psychology.
In fact it has done a lot more than that. We hold events (our next conference is on October 1 2011), and publish a respected journal, Self & Society. We are a meeting place for everyone interested in exploring what it means to be human. Our intention is to reach out world-wide and invite people with humanistic values to join us.
Our 550 members come from a broad variety of professions, spanning psychotherapy and counselling, the health professions, education, management and coaching, social services and politics, as well as others. We encourage an expanding range – humanistic psychology is applicable to all aspects of life.
We don’t accredit professionals – there are other organisations who do a grand job of that. We are there as a forum for people interested in developing Humanistic Psychology in its many fields of activity. Some members just enjoy receiving Self & Society. Some come to events and festivals (our next festival is in July 2012 – a real treat). Some people get more involved by coming on the Board and supporting us in other ways. The more people get involved, the more we can do. But there’s no pressure.
Members receive our journal, Self & Society, pay reduced rates for events, and can attend Board meetings.
AHP is a small organisation with a big heart. We aim to be friendly, approachable and transparent.
Over the years the organisation has waxed and waned, good times and bad, much like humanistic psychology itself. Two years ago AHP had some problems and there’s a brand new Board. We’re coming through the changes with new energy and enthusiasm. We don’t have much money, and we’re having to work hard and welcome more volunteers, but we’re enjoying it.
The administrator and the editor of Self & Society are paid small amounts for their work. All other time contributions are voluntary.
Our Board of Directors is John Rowan (co-chair), Alexandra Chalfont (co-chair), Sue Rowan, Brigitta Mowat, Tracy Jarvis, and Judith Furner. If you think you might be interested in joining us, drop us a line. We are looking for people who believe in humanistic values and want to contribute to helping us grow.
Visit this page again soon to get to know more about each of us and other members.
Board meetings
Meetings are open to members, and if you would like to attend please get in touch with Julian, our administrator.
The next meeting is on Saturday 19 November 2011 in London.
Our AGM is on Saturday 3 September 2011. Go to the events page to find out more.
AHP is a charity (The Association for Humanistic Psychology in Britain) and a limited company: Registered Charity No. 1094979, and Company No 04263707.
How did AHP in Britain come about?
David Jones
For one personal account of the history of AHP, read this article by David Jones. David was involved with AHP(B) and S&S for over twenty years. We celebrated his seventieth birthday in 2004 with a piece he wrote for S&S about his time with AHP(B) with his characteristic honesty, including his work as commissioning editor of Self & Society from 1990 to 1998. His account of this involvement describes changes within and between these humanistic bodies that reflect changes in the wider culture which itself has become more humanistic.
In April 2005 we celebrated him again, with sadness, after his death. Here is the piece he wrote, characteristically entitled …
IN AND OUT OF THE DOG HOUSE
I joined AHP(B) in 1985 when I was a lecturer in psychology at LSE. The previous year I completed an immersion in humanistic psychology offered by the two year diploma course of the Institute for the Development of Human Potential (IDHP) and was seeking ways of extending my commitment to humanistic ideals. The human potential movement, along with the encounter movement, was on the wane but the AHP(B) still showed many of its features – great enthusiasm and confidence that the counter culture would defeat the constraints of ‘society’ leading to unimpeded individualism, greater autonomy and freedom from the oppression of organisations and professionalism – and where the expression of feelings and the needs of the ‘true self’would be more important than competition and forced compliance.
Read the rest of this article here
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