ABSTRACT
Alan Watts’ seminal text Psychotherapy East and West was authored near Humanistic Psychology’s beginnings, also a transformational time for psychotherapy theory and practice. Watts fostered appreciation for Eastern philosophical traditions, particularly in relation to self, identity, and counterculture. In this article, contributions of innovative thinkers cited by Watts, including Gregory Bateson, Erich Fromm, Jay Haley, George Herbert Mead, Rollo May, and Carl Rogers, are highlighted and historically situated toward tracking threads of contemporary influence vis-à-vis social construction, brief therapy, and therapeutic simplicity. The article begins with a brief note on Watts’ countercultural positioning.
Notes on contributor
Colin James Sanders has taught in the Master of Counselling program with City University of Seattle in Vancouver, Canada, since 1998, and is currently Director of the British Columbia Master of Counselling Program. Colin taught with the Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy from 1993 to 2013. He is the author of several book chapters and journal articles on counselling theory and practice, in addition to articles and interviews concerning poetry and poetics. Colin holds a PhD from Taos Institute/Tilberg University, and an MA from the University of Manitoba.