The Things of Life: A Critical Appreciation of Bernie Neville’s Contribution to Person-Centered Psychology

Abstract

Bernie Neville (1938–2021) was a man of many parts, which, as far as his professional life was concerned, encompassed, in addition to a profound knowledge of person-centered psychology (PCP), cultural psychology, Jungian/analytic psychology and process philosophy. Indeed, his writing on PCP reveals all these influences and, thus, his integral approach to thinking about therapy and life. This article identifies these influences in his contributions to the person-centered literature, as well as five specific areas of his contribution to PCP, that is, regarding groups; PCP and education; the development of two of Rogers’ (1957, 1959) conditions of therapy; PCP and ecopsychology; and, finally, the substantiation of the work of Carl Rogers by the thinking of Alfred North Whitehead. In offering a critical appreciation of Neville’s work, the article suggests that his contributions to PCP were ahead of his time, and still offer challenges to its theory and practice.