Humanities and Science: A Necessary Unity for the Counseling Profession.

This article is a reply to Hansen's (2012) call for the counseling profession to embrace a purely humanistic ideology for counseling. The authors suggest the relationship between humanities and science set forth by Hansen does not emphasize the both-and aspects of these ideologies. An integrative framework is considered for counseling. ********** In an article in the Journal of Humanistic Counseling (JHC), Hansen (2012) has suggested that the counseling profession is suffering due to an existential conflict between the humanistic and scientific paradigms. Hansen has suggested that the scientific paradigm, which he described as a reductive and dehumanizing force, is an unfitting ideology for the counseling profession. Furthermore, Hansen champions the idea of defining the counseling profession along purely humanistic parameters, and he argues that only a humanistic paradigm addresses the complex and subjective experiences of clients. Hansen contends that although there is value in scientific methods within counseling's humanistic ideology, mixing these ideologies prevents each from reaching their full potential. Accordingly, Hansen has recommended that counseling redefine itself through "a fully articulated vision of a profession grounded in the humanities" (p. 134). We suggest that Hansen's (2012) position regarding the relationship between humanities and science in counseling is too either-or and does not emphasize enough the both-and aspects of these ideologies. Indeed, differences between humanities and science present challenges to counseling as well as other disciplines. We suggest; however, that instead of trying to solve the dialectic between science and humanities through separation, the counseling profession should see itself up to the challenge of developing an integrative framework. Hansen has offered an analogy of mixing two colors to argue for separating humanities and science when he suggests that "because the colors are mixed, the full aesthetic potential of each of the individual colors is lost" (p. 134). Staying with this analogy, we suggest that the visual derived from mixing these two colors is quite appealing and, moreover, provides hues that each of the individual colors does not offer. In this article, we posit that it is not only preferable to integrate science and humanities, it is essential. We see Hansen's (2012) call to redefine counseling from a purely humanistic perspective as being fraught with philosophical problems, namely, logical contradictions and mind-body dualism, that make such a proposition untenable. First, we suggest that humanities and science are complementary elements of each other and attempts at separating the two leads to inevitable contradiction. As we show in due course, science is always required to articulate and evaluate any idea that is taken as knowledge, including ideas set forth in humanistic inquiry. Conversely, science is not value free and always involves subjective elements, such as epistemic and cultural variables that are hallmarks of humanities. Second, we see attempts at separating humanities and science as reflective of a form of mind-body dualism that does not take into account the necessary connection between mind and matter. In recent years, a nexus of scientific disciplines has emerged (e.g., evolutionary theory, neuroscience, and sociobiology) that provides substantial insights for the humanities. Science should not be relegated to a mere tool in the humanities woodshed but rather understood as a necessary part of an integrative framework for the counseling profession. Because humanities and science each play an integral role for the other, the reciprocal influences of these ideologies make up a two-way street. Hansen (2012) has suggested that integrating science and the humanities robs each of their respective strengths. In contrast, we hold that a marriage between these two ideologies is mutually beneficial and results in a potentially harmonious perspective for counseling. …