ABSTRACT
This chapter explores that the future of humanism is dependent upon the cultivation of the humanities impulse in mental health culture. The dominant medical model, in contrast, purposefully eschews human meaning systems. The humanistic revolution in psychology echoed many of the themes present in Renaissance humanism, which emerged centuries before. The humanities impulse (which emphasizes human meaning systems over techniques) has been an omnipresent force throughout the history of mental health. The general emphasis of postmodernism, then, at least as it has been applied to the helping encounter, has been on the creation of human meaning systems. From this conceptual vantage point, the future of humanism is dependent upon the ability of helping professionals to cultivate the humanities impulse in contemporary mental health culture. In order for humanism to re-emerge as a vital helping orientation, this cultivation must occur in several professional realms such as theoretical, empirical, practice and professional culture.
