Papers by Gregg Henriques
Single-school approaches dominated the practice of psychotherapy in the 1960s and 1970s. The majo... more Single-school approaches dominated the practice of psychotherapy in the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of therapists identified with a particular school of thought (e.g., psychoanalytic, behavioral, or humanistic), tended to see their model as representing truth, and many engaged in vigorous—sometimes vitriolic—debates with practitioners from other perspectives. The 1980s saw the rise of eclecticism, which is the unsystematic blending of ideas and techniques from the various schools of thought. Eclecticism is noteworthy because it reflected an attitudinal shift from single-school approaches to more openness to looking at complementary aspects of treatment from different angles. In the 1990s and 2000s, psychotherapy integration became a genuine movement.
Journal of Alzheimer's disease & Parkinsonism, Nov 22, 2013
H uman self-consciousness and the rapid evolution of culture remain unexplained phenomena in evol... more H uman self-consciousness and the rapid evolution of culture remain unexplained phenomena in evolutionary biology and there is a concomitant explanatory gap between the natural and social sciences. To fill this gap in understanding, the Justification Hypothesis (JH) has been proposed, which the idea that the evolution of language created the adaptive problem of social justification and this in turn drove the evolution of the human self-consciousness system. Analyzing human selfconsciousness as a reason giving system provides an insight that integrates many different domains. In this presentation, I will articulate the idea and explain how the JH: a) matches the design features of the human self-consciousness system to a unique adaptive problem faced by our hominid ancestors; b) integrates and illuminates a broad range of phenomena in psychology, and c) provides a framework for understanding the rapid evolution of human culture in a way that aligns with a multitude of theoretical and empirical investigations in the social sciences. Stemming from the framework provided by the JH, a new map of human consciousness has been developed, specifically one that divides human consciousness up in three different domains. This map will be shared and the implications of this map for mental health, including conditions like depression, anxiety and autism will be articulated.
What if the field of psychology had a unified theory that virtually all agreed was the correct on... more What if the field of psychology had a unified theory that virtually all agreed was the correct one? What if, as a group, we psychologists could clearly define the discipline, unite the various psychological paradigms into a coherent meta-paradigm, and clarify psychology’s relationship to the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities? It boggles the mind to ponder the implications of such a thing. And yet that is what this book is about. It offers a new unified theory of psychology that attempts to do all of this—and more.
Springer eBooks, 2019
As evidenced by textbook definitions and descriptions, modern academic psychology emphasizes the ... more As evidenced by textbook definitions and descriptions, modern academic psychology emphasizes the empirical side of the field, that is the experimental and data driven analysis that allow one to generate knowledge claims. Although empirical methods and data are central to the scientific enterprise, so too is the broad conceptual system and vocabulary employed to understand the data and draw conclusions from the experimental enterprise. Indeed, a major and longstanding critique of psychology is that it does not have a conceptual system for defining its key terms (i.e., behavior, mind, and consciousness). This chapter advances theoretical psychology by introducing a continuum of analysis that stretches from the empirical through theoretical explanations into the major paradigms and then into meta-theoretical and finally metaphysical systems that provide the foundational concepts and categories. The argument made is that the field of psychology has struggled since its inception because it has lacked an effective metaphysical system to define its subject matter. The Tree of Knowledge System provides a framework that can serve as that metatheoretical system and be used to bridge the science of psychology to the practice of psychotherapy. As such, it offers a “Metaphysical Empirical” vision for the field.
Theory & Psychology, Dec 1, 2008
Springer eBooks, 2011
Sigmund Koch was one of the premier scholars of psychology. He devoted his formidable intellect t... more Sigmund Koch was one of the premier scholars of psychology. He devoted his formidable intellect to analyzing the discipline’s conceptual foundations and through intensive study he came to the conclusion that there simply was no elephant. In Koch’s estimation, psychology was not and could not be a single coherent discipline. Because his professional biography reveals an enormous amount about the deep and profound conceptual problems that underlie psychology, it is worth taking some time to recount here. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Koch was a rising star in psychological science, having authored, among other things, two major articles on the concept of motivation in the prestigious journal Psychological Review in 1941. Clark Hull’s behaviorism was at its apex, and it seemed to Koch and many others at the time that the mathematization of animal behavior was truly at hand. Psychology was finally on the cusp of becoming a true, precise, objective science.
Springer eBooks, 2011
On June 11, 1963, an elderly Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc calmly walked to the center of a... more On June 11, 1963, an elderly Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc calmly walked to the center of a circle of protesters, sat down on a cushion, and meditated in the lotus position as he was doused by his religious brothers in a specially concocted mix of gasoline and diesel fuel. He then proceeded to light a match. Although he reportedly grimaced in agony, he did not move, scream, or cry out as his body was incinerated.
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2004
This is the second of two issues of the Journal of Clinical Psychology focused on the validity an... more This is the second of two issues of the Journal of Clinical Psychology focused on the validity and usefulness of a new theoretical vision for the field (Henriques, 2003). The first two contributions from Rand and Ilardi and Geary both enrich the argument that psychology needs to be effectively connected with biology and physics and that the unified theory (via Behavioral Investment Theory) is highly successful in this way. The authors of the subsequent three articles-Shaffer, Quackenbush, and Shealyshow that the Tree of Knowledge System (through the Justification Hypothesis) is deeply commensurate with the dominant paradigms in the social sciences. Thus, the group of authors of these five articles demonstrates the viability of the unified theory both from bottom-up and top-down viewpoints. In the sixth article, the author addresses some important problems that potentially arise with the development of a clearly defined discipline. In the concluding article I address the concerns about the proposal raised by the contributors to the two special issues and articulate how the unified theory lays the foundation for the development of a useful mass movement in psychology.
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2004
A new form of knowledge technology is used to diagnose psychology's epistemological woes and prov... more A new form of knowledge technology is used to diagnose psychology's epistemological woes and provide a solution to the difficulties. The argument presented is that psychology has traditionally spanned two separate but intimately related problems: (a) the problem of animal behavior and (b) the problem of human behavior. Accordingly, the solution offered divides the field into two broad, logically consistent domains. The first domain is psychological formalism, which is defined as the science of mind, corresponds to animal behavior, and consists of the basic psychological sciences. The second domain is human psychology, which is defined as the science of human behavior at the individual level and is proposed as a hybrid that exists between psychological formalism and the social sciences.
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Papers by Gregg Henriques