ABSTRACT Drawing on therapeutic alliance research, phenomenological philosophy, and empirical evidence from artificial intelligence (AI) mental health applications, this theoretical paper proceeds in three parts to establish the argument that a genuine therapeutic alliance cannot be formed with current AI chatbots. First, it reviews evidence on AI chatbot use in mental health, including both promises and adverse effects. Second, it analyzes therapeutic alliance measurement tools, including the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) and its digital adaptations. Third, it examines mechanisms such as anthropomorphic projection and sycophancy through which AI may trigger alliance indicators without constituting a genuine relationship. Throughout, the paper applies a phenomenological framework positing that authentic therapeutic relationships require consciousness, embodiment, shared intentionality, and existential commonality. The paper concludes that current AI chatbots cannot fulfill the ontological requirements for an authentic therapeutic alliance. Implications are discussed for future research and guidance on how to incorporate the findings into clinical work.
ABSTRACT Empathy is a core component of effective counseling, influencing both therapeutic relationships and counselor well‐being. The author extends Clark's integral model of empathy by expanding the subjective empathy modality and introduces the mindful empathic engagement (MEE) model as an extension of Clark's conceptualization of empathy. MEE integrates insights from neuroscience and counseling practice to illustrate how empathy operates through cognitive, affective, and somatic processes. The model highlights pathways leading to compassionate engagement or empathic distress, emphasizing the role of mindfulness in maintaining self–other differentiation. Additionally, the concept of “Reflecting Nearby” offers a practical empathic stance, fostering authentic connections while preserving boundaries.
ABSTRACT Though body dissatisfaction is nuanced and pervasive, the magnitude of body dissatisfaction is undercut by essentialist conceptualizations of the body and medicalized metrics of wellness tied to disordered eating. Hence, there is a need for a contextualized and sustaining framework to address and promote healing from body dissatisfaction, particularly among diverse populations. We draw upon a humanistic value system, narrative therapy, and liberation psychology to offer a novel framework, liberation through narration , that provides counselors with an approach to body dissatisfaction that is individualized, disruptive, and restorative.
This cross-sectional study sought to explore hope as a mediator between mindfulness and loneliness and social connectedness by using a structural equation modeling data analysis approach to analyze the relationships. Among a sample of 676 interpersonal trauma experiencers recruited online from a crowdsourcing platform, hope fully mediated the relationship between mindfulness and social connectedness. These results expand understanding of the psychological underpinnings of loneliness and social connectedness, and provide implications for mental health practitioners to intentionally cultivate hopeful cognition through therapeutic and contemplative practices as a way to treat loneliness in interpersonal trauma experiencers. With loneliness on the rise, mental health professionals should consider hope- and mindfulness-based interventions as potentially transformative.
This proof-of-concept study examined whether a brief self-compassion intervention was associated with changes in counselor development and well-being indicators. Using a delayed-treatment control design, 12 counselors-in-training in a CACREP-accredited counseling program were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a delayed-treatment group. Between-group analyses indicated that the intervention group showed greater improvements than controls in self-compassion, grit, impostor phenomenon, emotion regulation difficulties, and anxiety. Within-group analyses across participants showed significant pre-post improvements in self-compassion, belonging, grit, impostor phenomenon, loneliness, and emotion regulation. Findings provide preliminary evidence that brief, experiential self-compassion training may support counselor development and well-being.
Humanistic counselors prioritize social justice, human contact, the therapeutic relationship, and unconditional positive regard for the client that supports the client and the client's identity community. In contrast, counseling using artificial intelligence (AI) is driven by internet information pertaining to the inquiry or command, reflecting the hegemony of the dominant culture and presenting challenges that threaten the integrity and intent of social justice humanistic counseling. AI counseling will ignore the complex identities and communities of persons seeking help and remove the essential human relationship from the counseling process. This ultimately violates the principles of humanistic social justice counseling.
This study examined associations among counselor factors, self-compassion, proximal minority stress, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) clients engaged in mental health counseling. A theory-informed, conceptually organized associational model examined self-compassion and proximal stressors as intervening constructs that may explain associations between counselor factors and PTG. Participants included 226 TGD individuals recruited via crowdsourcing and community outreach. Structural equation modeling evaluated measurement models, latent construct associations, and overall model fit, with bias-corrected bootstrapping used to examine indirect associations. Counselor factors were significantly associated with PTG. Self-compassion was indirectly associated with PTG through proximal stressors but did not explain the association between counselor factors and PTG when examined independently. In contrast, proximal minority stress processes partially explained the association between counselor factors and PTG. Findings underscore the relevance of counselor relational factors, self-compassion, and proximal minority stress as interrelated constructs associated with growth-oriented outcomes among TGD clients.
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its influence on how humans live and what it means to be human are rapidly evolving. These changes are occurring more rapidly than ethicists and practitioners can deliberate on the implications. The fields of psychology and counseling, and more specifically humanistic psychology and counseling, must grapple with the implications of this not just for our field but also their subject matter: human beings. This paper explores how AI is impacting three vital aspects of being human: critical thinking, creativity, and empathy. Excessive use of AI tends to negatively impact critical thinking, creativity, and empathy; however, access to AI, which generally involves more modest use, has a more complex relationship, with a mixture of negative impacts and potentially positive influences.
Guided by an ecological-humanistic and existential-humanistic perspective, we explored EcoWellness as a form of nature-based self-care in counselor education by examining its associations with demographic characteristics, patterns of nature use, and self-reported barriers among 193 students and faculty from CACREP-accredited counseling programs. Using the EcoWellness Inventory (EI-15), the findings revealed positive correlations between nature access, caring for nature, and social connectedness. Qualitative analysis highlights diverse ways individuals engage with nature for self-care, as well as barriers-such as time constraints and the COVID-19 pandemic-that limit access. The findings underscore the importance of integrating EcoWellness into counselor education curricula to foster self-care. Addressing systemic barriers and promoting accessible, meaningful nature-based activities within training programs holds promise for enhancing the holistic wellness of both students and faculty, reinforcing the human-nature connection as a vital component of counselor development.
Nonverbal synchrony supports therapeutic alliance, yet its role in Gestalt psychotherapy remains underexplored. This manuscript presents the RECiPROsody study protocol, designed to investigate how multimodal interpersonal synchrony between therapists and clients relates to embodied attunement and therapeutic outcomes. The study employs a prospective, observational design involving 30 therapist-client dyads undergoing Gestalt therapy. Video/audio recordings of the first three sessions and three additional sessions after 6 months will capture interactional patterns. Synchrony will be assessed across upper-limb movements (via inertial sensors), vocal prosody, and physiological signals (e.g., heart rate variability), alongside self-report questionnaires completed by both clients and therapists. We hypothesize that higher levels of synchrony will relate to stronger therapeutic alliance and improved client well-being. Currently in the recruitment phase, the protocol outlines methodology, data collection procedures, and a statistical analysis plan to ensure replicability. Findings may deepen understanding of embodied processes and inform clinical training and practice in Gestalt psychotherapy.
This article examines the future place of humanistic counseling, assuming the successful mass deployment of artificial intelligence therapy chatbots (AITCs). We systematically identify the limitations of AITCs through the lens of Jean Baudrillard's view on simulacra and hyperreality and identify five collective psychosocial consequences of immersion in the hyperreal. Next, we articulate the positionality of a medical model perspective on AITCs in accord with neoliberal corporate priorities and provide a humanistic, relational-embodied critique. Then, we identify six guiding humanistic priorities that might counter the deleterious psychosocial consequences of hyperreality. Finally, we suggest humanists should come together to build a coherent, collective professional identity that (a) critiques the sociopolitical, neoliberal orthodoxies that support mass AITC deployment, and (b) articulates a shared vision of human-guided counseling priorities such as the value of second-order change, I-Thou relations, embodied awareness, and ecological self.
With an increased need for counselors across the country, there is a corresponding need to recruit and retain quality graduate students in counseling programs. Using bell hooks' framework of beloved community, this conceptual article explores how to develop a sense of belonging in counselor education among students of diverse identities inside the classroom as well as in other aspects of program culture. Practical application strategies for classroom policies and procedures, advising, orientation, and broaching expectations and identities are discussed.
Humanistic supervision is rooted in a commitment to the whole person, yet the supervisee's living body has largely been absent from mainstream supervision practices. This article introduces the Embodied Chairwork Process (ECP), a four-phase method designed for humanistic supervisors from various theoretical backgrounds who want to incorporate embodied self-awareness into clinical supervision. Drawing on humanistic phenomenology and the expanding scholarship on somatic practice in counselor education, the ECP modifies the structural elements of chairwork, using physical positions and spatial movement within a humanistic framework that does not require Gestalt training. A case example demonstrates how the model works in practice. Ethical considerations and implications for culturally responsive supervision are also discussed. The ECP contributes to a growing, interdisciplinary literature on embodied supervision and offers an accessible technique for any humanistic supervisor dedicated to phenomenology and embodied experience as key aspects of professional growth.
In this article, the author examines how humanistic counseling might adapt to artificial intelligence while preserving essential therapeutic values. I argue that humans have always been inseparable from the technologies that shape consciousness and relationships, yet we remain co-determining agents capable of guiding technological development toward human flourishing rather than passively accepting whatever innovations emerge. Drawing from dialogical humanism, I propose that counselors develop an understanding of how AI mediates therapeutic relationships while maintaining relational primacy and client self-determination. Effective humanistic practice demands neither categorical rejection nor uncritical embrace of AI, but contextual judgment about when and how integration serves healing, growth, and authentic encounter.
Rationale, the transparent sharing of a counselor's therapeutic intentions, offers a powerful yet underutilized tool for strengthening client engagement, trust, and autonomy in counseling. In alignment with humanistic counseling, the use of rationale supports the ethical commitment to informed consent and collaborative practice. This paper explores the definition, theoretical foundation, and clinical relevance of rationale as a technique within counseling. Drawing from diverse professional contexts, the author illustrates how rationale has long been used to promote clarity and cooperation, yet remains insufficiently defined in mental health literature. Practical examples are provided across populations, including parents, children, and adolescents, highlighting how rationale can help reduce resistance, foster internal motivation, and strengthen the therapeutic alliance. Implications for counselor training are discussed, emphasizing how rationale can support the development of intentionality and conceptualization skills among counselors-in-training. By integrating rationale, counselors can model transparency, empower clients, and facilitate deeper therapeutic engagement.
Does Black mental health matter? Historically, mental illness in the Black community has been inadequately addressed. Yet Black Americans experience more severe psychological distress than other races, and they are also more likely to experience poor outcomes in counseling. When considering the dehumanizing impact of racism on the mental health of Black Americans, Black critical theory (BlackCrit) is presented as a useful and scarcely utilized exploratory lens. The author provides a brief history of Black mental health, followed by an explanation of the need for and benefits of utilizing this theory to center Blackness when counseling Black clients. Implications for theoretical integration in clinical practice to (re)humanize Blackness in counseling are provided.
This article offers an embodied extension of Clemmens's stages of recovery, providing detailed phenomenological descriptions of how addiction and recovery manifest somatically. Traditional cognitive-behavioral models often overlook the body's role in addiction, perpetuating the disconnection between physical sensation and emotional awareness. Using a Gestalt therapy perspective, this paper explores how addiction disrupts the organism's ability for embodied contact, both internally with one's own sensations and externally with the environment and others. The author describes how therapists can support recovery by focusing on physical patterns that define each developmental stage. The paper offers clinicians detailed somatic interventions tailored to the specific tasks and challenges of early, middle, and late stages of recovery, while considering how cultural context and relational history influence embodied experience. This embodied Gestalt approach provides a framework for understanding and treating substance use disorders that honors the body's role in both addiction and recovery.
The function of intellectual virtues as a foundation for the development of excellence in the humanistic practice of clinical mental health counseling is explored. First, the unique characteristics of intellectual virtues are described. Second, 10 specific intellectual virtues are identified and briefly defined. It is proposed that these function in combination for the acquisition of counseling-related knowledge and skills. Their specific application to basic processes for humanistic counseling is examined: genuineness and congruence; unconditional positive regard; and empathic understanding. Finally, the relevance of intellectual virtues for counseling processes and practice is explored.
This article reframes Gestalt psychotherapy as intrinsically relational: experience and self-emerge from contact at the organism-environment boundary and from the field/situation. We revisit ambiguities in the Perls/Goodman model against a brief historical background and articulate a pragmatic stance grounded in the id of the situation and esthetic relational knowledge (ARK). A brief clinical vignette illustrates how attending to the field's esthetic qualities and to embodied resonance guides participation, timing, and dosage.
