Humanizing psychotherapy

The essence of the humanistic and existential approaches to psychotherapy is a commitment to conceptualizing, and engaging with people in a deeply valuing and respectful way. Hence, within these approaches, there is an emphasis on viewing clients' behaviors as meaningful and freely chosen; and there is also a belief that clients have the capacity to become aware of the reasons for their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Phenomenological exploration is thus a central element of many existential and humanistic psychotherapies, and this requires psychotherapists to put to one side their therapeutic techniques and interpretative assumptions and to listen to clients in an in-depth, non-analytical way. From an existential and humanistic standpoint, however, this valuing of human beings also extends to the psychotherapist's own humanity. Hence, within these approaches, there is an emphasis on the psychotherapists themselves being genuine in the psychotherapeutic encounter, and being willing to meet their clients at a level of "relational depth." Existential and humanistic practices may not be appropriate for all clients and all psychotherapists, but it is concluded that the principles underlying these approaches are of universal relevance to the practice of psychotherapy

Book Review: Humanizing Freud

FREUD: A LIFE FOR OUR TIME Peter Gay, Ph.D. W.W. Norton & Company New York, 1988 651 pages $25.0

Reducing Stigma toward the Transgender Community: An Evaluation of a Humanizing and Perspective-Taking Intervention

Transgender (TG) individuals are an understudied group at high risk of experiencing discrimination and associated adverse mental health outcomes (IOM, 2011). Although many studies demonstrate that contact reduces negative attitudes toward out-groups, few studies have examined the link between contact and attitudes toward the TG community (Hill & Willoughby, 2005; Walchet al., 2012). This study represents one of the first attempts to understand how to effectively reduce stigma toward the TG community. Results indicate that education alone is not enough to change attitudes; in fact, there is some evidence that associating transgenderism with psychopathology may heighten stigma. Consistent with prior research on stigma towards the mentally ill, the current study suggests that both exposure to intimate media depictions of the “other” (Reinke et al., 2004) and perspective-taking (Mann & Himelein, 2008) could strengthen educational campaigns designed to combat stigma

Reducing Stigma toward the Transgender Community: An Evaluation of a Humanizing and Perspective-Taking Intervention

Transgender (TG) individuals, or those whose gender identities, expressions and/or behaviors differ from their biological sex (Kirk & Kulkarni, 2006) feel there is a pervasive pattern of discrimination and prejudice directed toward them (Lombardi et al., 2001). In comparison to their heterosexual peers, LGBT youth and emerging adults are at increased risk for a host of adverse outcomes including: suicide, depression, harassment, and victimization (IOM, 2011). Stigma has been characterized as encompassing several components: labeling, making an association between the label and a negative stereotype, separating those who are different as an “out-group” and discriminating. In a recent analysis of the transgender experience, Hill (2002) described three key constructs that can be used to understand negative emotions and behaviors toward transgender individuals: transphobia – an emotional disgust toward gender non-conforming individuals; genderism – a belief that gender non-conforming individuals are pathological or disordered; gender bashing – assault or harassment of gender non-conforming individuals. Recent work on minority stress posits a distal-proximal model of stress in which a person identifies with and makes proximal, distal social attitudes that can have negative effects on their psychological well-being (Meyer, 2003). Thus, stigmatized attitudes and behaviors not only have the potential to contribute to violence or discriminatory behavior but also have a direct impact on the psychological health of the target individual. Thus, the question of how to change negative attitudes and behaviors toward TG individuals is paramount. Researchers have sought to develop interventions aimed at reducing stigma with three basic strategies identified: protest, education and contact (Corrigan & Penn, 1999). However, to date only two such strategies have garnered empirical support: contact and education. In relation to mental illness, education strategies have received limited support (Holmes et al., 1999; see Luty et al., 2007 for an exception). In contrast, contact-based interventions yield the most dramatic changes in attitudes and behaviors; contact involving media depictions have also been demonstrated to yield positive attitude change. Comparing traditional diagnosis-centered teaching about mental illness to a humanizing approach that required students to write a first-person narrative about suffering from a mental illness, Mann and Himelein (2008) found that attitudes changed only when students were required to adopt the perspective of a mentally ill individual. In their recent meta-analysis, Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) demonstrated that contact reduces prejudice and is particularly effective when it occurs under favorable conditions (e.g., conditions of equality, cooperation, and institutional support). While a wealth of research has supported the contact hypothesis related to changing negative attitudes toward ethnic minorities, the mentally ill, the homeless, gays/lesbians and other stigmatized groups, there have been a limited number of studies evaluating associations between contact and attitudes toward the TG community (Harvey, 2002; Hill & Willoughby, 2005) and no controlled studies to evaluate the efficacy of such methods. The current study extends work evaluating anti-stigma interventions to the TG community and seeks to evaluate whether attitude change will differ between participants receiving basic education about the transgender community and those who are educated about TG through media depictions of TG families and are asked to engage in a perspective-taking task. We hypothesize that participants in the humanizing condition who view a documentary and write a first-person narrative of transgender experiences will show a more significant change in transphobia, genderist attitudes and desire for social distance across time relative to participants in the education-only condition signaling less stigmatized and prejudicial attitudes at post-test. Hodson (2011) recently examined the existing contact literature and found that, consistent with Pettigrew’s (1998) focus on individual differences, intergroup contact was effective (and perhaps even more effective) among individuals who were intolerant and cognitively rigid. Religious fundamentalism has been associated with anti-homosexual sentiment (Fulton et al., 1999). Whether religiosity is similarly associated with negative attitudes toward TG individuals will be explored. Whether religiosity and prior contact with the LGBTQ community will moderate intervention outcomes will also be explored

Penerapan Metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom Dalam Bentuk Moving Class Terhadap Hasil Belajar Siswa Pada Mata Pelajaran Ekonomi Di Sekolah Menengah Atas Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta Tahun Ajaran 2015/2016

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah (1) Untuk mengetahui hal yang melatarbelakangi diterapkannya metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class pada mata pelajaran ekonomi di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta. (2) Untuk mengetahui pelaksanaan metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class pada mata pelajaran ekonomi di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta. (3) Untuk mengetahui kendala yang dihadapi dalam penerapan metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class pada mata pelajaran ekonomi di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta. (4) Untuk mengetahui hasil belajar siswa setelah diterapkan metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class pada mata pelajaran ekonomi di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta. Metode dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif survey. Data yang dikumpulkan berupa hasil wawancara serta dokumen atau laporan hasil belajar. Sumber data dalam penelitian ini yaitu Kepala Sekolah, Waka Kurikulum, Guru Mata Pelajaran Ekonomi dan Siswa SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta. Kesimpulan dalam penelitian ini adalah (1) Latarbelakang diterapkannya metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class pada mata pelajaran ekonomi di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta adalah pemanfaatan ruang kelas yang tersedia secara maksimal serta karakteristik belajar siswa yang bersifat kinestetis. (2) Pelaksanaan metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta sudah berjalan dengan baik khususnya pelaksanaan pada mata pelajaran ekonomi telah menerapkan tema pasar bebas dan tersedianya laboratorium kecil yang diberi nama galileo mini. (3) Kendala yang dihadapi dalam penerapan metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class pada mata pelajaran ekonomi di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta yaitu jenis media pembelajaran yang kurang lengkap dan perlu penambahan serta waktu belajar yang tersita saat berpindah kelas. (4) Hasil belajar siswa mengalami peningkatan dengan diterapkannya metode Edutainment Humanizing The Classroom dalam bentuk Moving Class pada mata pelajaran ekonomi di SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Surakarta karena siswa menjadi lebih paham tentang materi pembelajaran

Ethnographic Advocacy Against the Death Penalty

This article develops the concept of “ethnographic advocacy” to make sense of the humanizing, open‐ended knowledge practices involved in the defense of criminal defendants charged with capital murder. Drawing from anthropological fieldwork with well‐respected figures in the American capital defense bar, as well as my own professional experience as an investigator specializing in death penalty sentencing mitigation, I argue that effective advocacy for life occurs through qualitative knowledge practices that share notable methodological affinities with contemporary anthropological ethnography. The article concludes with a preliminary exploration of what the concept of ethnographic advocacy might reveal about academic anthropology\u27s own advocative engagements

Sounds of the jungle: Re-humanizing the migrant

This article examines the cross-border tensions over migrant settlements dubbed ‘The Jungle’ in Calais. The Jungle, strongly associated with the unauthorized movement of migrants, became a physical entity enmeshed in discourses of illegality and violation of white suburbia. British mainstream media have either rendered the migrant voiceless or faceless, appropriating them into discourses of immigration policy and the violent transgression of borders. Through the case study, Calais Migrant Solidarity (CMS), we highlight how new media spaces can re-humanize the migrant, enabling them to tell their stories through narratives, images and vantage points not shown in the mainstream media. This reconstruction of the migrant is an important device in enabling proximity and reconstituting the migrant as real and human. This sharply contrasts with the distance framing techniques of mainstream media, which dehumanize and silence the migrant, locating the phenomenon of migration as a disruptive contaminant in civilized and ordered societies