Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center

Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, a San Francisco, California based 'distance learning' institution (originally founded in 1971 as the Humanistic Psychology Institute, and later dubbed Saybrook Institute), is geared to providing a personalized, mentored educational experience for graduate students. Saybrook specializes in the fields of psychology, organizational systems, and Human Science, and offers accredited master's and doctoral degrees, as well as a range of professional certification programs. Accreditation is provided by the Senior Colleges and Universities Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), which is recognized by the United States Department of Education. As of 2007, Saybrook has grown to an enrollment over five hundred full time equivalent students.

Humanistic approach

Saybrook was founded on a fundamental humanistic belief, that human consciousness at an individual and societal level is a work in progress, for which each person is responsible. The concept is the ethical, pedagogical, and disciplinary foundation of the school's programs.

History

Saybrook traces its origins to a 1964 conference at Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The event helped establish humanistic psychology as a movement embraced by scholars from a variety of disciplines, including Rollo May, Clark Moustakas and James Bugental. The humanistic movement in psychology became a response to mainstream psychology's perceived lack of interest or involvement in human centered treatment and therapy, as well as a critique of the standard psychological practices of that time.

In 1969, Dr. Eleanor Criswell, a professor at California State University, Sonoma, proposed that an educational program be established to provide an innovative, learner-centered, and rigorous educational environment devoted to humanistic psychology and research.

Led by Dr. Criswell and pioneer somatics researcher Dr. Thomas Hanna under the name The Humanistic Psychology Institute, the school began by offering graduate courses in humanistic psychology. In 1971, a master's program was added, and a doctoral program in 1972. Based on the humanistic tradition, Saybrook has evolved as a 'learner-centered' educational environment.

In honor of the 1964 Connecticut conference, the school changed its name to Saybrook Institute. Founders who remained with the Institute included Old Saybrook conference participants Rollo May, Clark Moustakas, and James Bugental, all of whom served as members of the Saybrook faculty.

Rollo May Research Center

Saybrook’s Research Center is a community of scholars and practitioners committed to the humanistic tradition and the exploration of its impact on all aspects of human life. Members come from the fields of psychology, politics, international relations, religion, development, business, and health sciences. Currently, the President of Saybrook, who also oversees the Rollo May Research Center, is Lorne M. Buchman, PhD.

Programs

Organizational Systems (OS) is a Ph.D. course of study which "is built around the latest knowledge from both organizational behavior and systems science." OS is about "leading change and of active inquiry as a means of addressing complex organizational challenges. Its multi-disciplinary approach blends elements of graduate study in business, public administration, organizational psychology, systems science, anthropology, and sociology." [http://www.saybrook.edu/academics/concentrations.asp?strContent=Organizational%20Systems]

Noted faculty

All faculty members have doctorates, in most cases earned from leading research universities. Among the many distinguished faculty members at Saybrook is Natalie Rogers, PhD, the daughter of Carl Rogers, the developer of person centered therapy and a leader in the humanistic movement that led to the founding of the school. Some others are:

* Béla H. Bánáthy, PhD (1919-2003) - Distinguished Teaching Faculty,
* Stanley Krippner, PhD - Executive Faculty, who holds the Alan Watts Chair in Consciousness Studies
* Maurice Friedman, PhD, Distinguished Teaching Faculty, Biographer of Martin Buber
* Jeanne Achterberg, PhD, Executive Faculty, Former President of the Association for Transpersonal psychology, scientist in Mind/Body medicine
* Tom Greening, PhD, Executive Faculty, Editor for thirty-six years of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology
* Amedeo Giorgi, PhD, Executive Faculty, Internationally known phenomenologist
* Ruth Richards, MD, PhD, Executive Faculty, author of "Everyday Creativity" (2007)
* Steve Pritzker, PhD, Executive Faculty, co-editor of the two volume "Encyclopedia of Creativity"
* Donald Rothberg, PhD, Executive Faculty, Buddhist adept and teacher of Socially Engaged Spirituality
* John Adams, PhD, Executive Faculty, Systems scientist

External links

* [http://www.saybrook.edu Saybrook.edu] - Official homepage