John M. Whiteley accepted his award and delivered the keynote address Aug. 8 at The Counseling Psychologist’s 50th anniversary celebration during the American Psychological Association’s annual convention in Chicago.
Professor of social ecology honored for his service as founding editor and publisher of The Counseling Psychologist
By Mimi Ko Cruz
The Society of Counseling Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association, honored John M. Whiteley with its Award of Merit for helping to elevate and spread the counseling psychology profession through his service as founding editor and publisher of The Counseling Psychologist journal from 1969 through 1985.
“You provided the profession with an unprecedented opportunity to explore topics in a unique format and brought the work of counseling psychologists to a worldwide audience. Few counseling psychologists have made such an enduring contribution,” the Society noted in its congratulatory remarks to Whiteley.
An early treatise Whiteley published in The Counseling Psychologist was by Robert W. White, the late psychologist and Harvard professor whose 1948 book “The Abnormal Personality,” became the standard textbook on abnormal psychology.
Whiteley remembers writing to White, inviting him to write a major analysis on the topic of the “healthy personality.”
“I recall vividly my sense of excitement when his reply came by snail mail telling me that I should be warned ahead of time that he would ‘urge our readers to abandon the concept altogether as a block to clear thinking,’ ” Whiteley says, adding that he invited 16 respondents, from many perspectives, to critique White’s treatise and each did so with thought-provoking prose.
It was an exciting time and the journal took off, becoming the “crown jewel” of the Society of Counseling Psychology.
As The Counseling Psychologist marks its 50th anniversary this year, Whiteley is featured in the latest journal with his article “Counseling Psychology: From Defining the Field to Promoting World Peace.” In it, he discusses the foundational and historical resources for psychologists in commemoration of the journal’s 50th anniversary and introduces online resources, including documents that were defining for the field of counseling psychology.
Whiteley, professor of social ecology, breaks down the profession into seven defining historical periods from 1908 to the present. He discusses the clash between citizen expressions of concern by an empowered civil society over environment, health and safety, which come into sharp conflict with the national security imperatives of the U.S. government. He also discusses his “Quest for Peace and Security in the 20th and 21st Century” series of 180 interviews with noted psychologists, peace activists, religious leaders, politicians, and creators of nuclear weapons that now are available on YouTube.
Whiteley’s latest award is not the first time the society has honored him. In 1977, it bestowed a plaque with this inscription: “Deep appreciation to John M. Whiteley, editor, The Counseling Psychologist, for exceptional dedication and outstanding contribution to the profession.”
In 1978, he was elected as a fellow of the society for “outstanding achievement as a psychologist and outstanding contributions in one specialty area.” And, in 1979, he became an APA fellow for “outstanding and unusual contributions to the science and profession of psychology.”
His scholarship was further recognized with an American Personnel and Guidance Association Research Award in 1982, an Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Publication Award in 1983, a National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Literature Award in 1984 and a Contribution to Knowledge Award from the American College Personnel Association in 1988.
Whiteley, the 2019 School of Social Ecology Founders Award recipient, said the Society of Counseling Psychologists honored him by putting all 180 interviews in his Quest for Peace series on its website, and by publishing digital versions of eight books on the history and future of the profession from the Book Series in Counseling Psychology, which he shepherded into creation as editor and publisher of the journal.
Today, the journal he started as an idea in 1968 has more than 13,000 subscribers and nets more than $300,000 annually for the Society.