In general, the goal of my theoretical writing thus far has been to highlight empiricism’s limitations as a method for understanding and improving reality, particularly the realities of something so messy, unsystematic, and complicated to observe as a subjective experience. To this end, I wrote a two-volume book, A Humane Vision of Clinical Psychology, published in Routledge’s Advances in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology book series. I think this much-needed series serves to keep empirical psychology honest by carefully considering and reconsidering the viability of its prevailing assumptions, perhaps even rattling them where possible. In general, the book addresses 1) the need for a broader vision of clinical psychology, including a better model for what exactly human transformation is, and 2) modern culture’s ever-growing misunderstanding of what kind of creatures we are, which contributes to shallow clinical approaches and interpersonal maltreatment in many corners of society.

​

In modern life, where all that is best is best because it is efficient, effective, and productive, and where everyone is meant to acquire evermore status and possessions, it is easy to forget that, in fact, we human beings are not self-contained productivity and consumer algorithms, however contemporary culture encourages us to see ourselves. To the contrary, we are creatures of creativity, depth, interconnectedness, mystery, and unknown potential. Highlighting these perspectives, A Humane Vision spans the meaning of psychotherapeutic change, but along the way also addresses topics like interpersonal ethics, the role of love and compassion in human development and transformation, the meaning of the self and its motivations, and the centrality to human life of that which refuses verbal and cognitive representation.

​

I am working on a second book (Good Grief: A Remedy for Hubris) that I hope to have published in 2025. This text is inspired by my view that contemporary culture misapprehends almost entirely the meaning of suffering. Modern life and its associated clinical methods teach us that human experience is best when extinguished of all that is negatively tinged. This ethos is reflected both in clinical psychology’s “medical model,” which conceptualizes human strife as a component of life to be extracted, and in the modern world’s value for unfettered technological advancement, which will be unfinished until every moment holds every capacity to strike every person with every happiness. The book argues that instead of aiming merely to vanquish our troubles and sufferings, we would do far better to learn from them, which would help us psychologically, ethically, and spiritually.

​

Both books are philosophical in their tone but written with humor and candor (I hope). They are meant for those in clinical psychology and related fields, though they could be of interest to anyone moved by the complexities of being human and the challenges our very natures pose to the tasks of being both healthy and good.

 

Graceffo, R. A. (2022). A Humane Vision of Clinical Psychology: The Theoretical Basis for a Compassionate Psychotherapy, Volume 1. London: Routledge

Graceffo, R. A. (2022). A Humane Vision of Clinical Psychology: Explorations into the Practice of Compassionate Psychotherapy, Volume 2. London: Routledge

Graceffo, R. A. (Forthcoming). Good Grief: A Remedy for Hubris.