Portrait of Adrian van Kaam and Humanistic Psychology

Abstract

Father Adrian van Kaam, CSSp, PhD (1920-2007) remains a pioneering force in the development of humanistic psychology. Van Kaam's humanitarian efforts in Nazi occupied Holland during World War II inspired a model for spiritual encounter and a humane science of meaning that was formed by and in turn gave form to the excursions in humanistic psychology that were to follow. When he came to America in 1954, van Kaam knew and collaborated with many key figures in the humanistic movement, which remained an indelible part of his initiation at Duquesne University of “psychology as a human science”—an intellectual lineage that continued to some degree in the Institute of Man, which he founded at the university in 1963. This center evolved by 1979 into the Institute of Formative Spirituality under which he worked to perfect his formative approach to life and world. His efforts reached their crowning phase (1979-2007) under the auspices of the Epiphany Association, an independent center of research, publication, and adult formation cofounded by him and Doctor Susan Muto in 1979. The following reconstruction of van Kaam's contribution will accentuate the humanistic rubric and redress some of the issues surrounding its meaning and place in the annals of psychology.