Dr. Andrew M. Bland

Education: After growing up in Atlanta, GA, I earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Georgia (2000), a master's degree from the University of West Georgia's humanistic psychology program (2003), and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Indiana State University (2013). 

Courses Instructed: I teach graduate and undergraduate courses in counseling and assessment theories and skills, human development, family dynamics, personality, and psychology of creativity. Further, I instruct Directed Projects in Psychology (an undergraduate capstone field placement experience in applied psychology), and I provide clinical supervision to master's trainees. My teaching emphasizes holistic, systems-oriented, contextually informed/validating, existential, humanistic, and phenomenological approaches in dialogue with conventional natural science psychology and medical model psychotherapies.

Scholarship and Service: My scholarly pursuits (see below for listings of selected presentations and publications) provide both qualitative and quantitative support for the practical application of themes/principles from existential and humanistic psychologies (constructively confronting uncertainty; making meaning of lived experience; cultivating intentionality, authenticity, contextual sensitivity, resilience, and creativity) in relationships, work/careers, psychological suffering, the processes of therapy and education, leadership, and lifespan development. My research has been highlighted in Time and Newsweek magazines.

I am a licensed psychologist with over 20 years' experience providing therapeutic services in numerous settings including community mental health, hospitals, schools and colleges, and corrections. Since 2016, I have practiced at Samaritan Counseling Center in Lancaster. In addition, I provide professional development workshops both at Millersville and in the Lancaster community on topics including existential/humanistic therapies, suicide risk assessment and prevention, working with traumatized and impoverished clients, and Personal Hero Identification (a therapeutic strategy I developed that applies the heroism science literature).

Further, I am an associate editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and an editorial board member or ad hoc reviewer for 11 other journals that include Qualitative Psychology and the Journal of Constructivist Psychology. I am past-president of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology (Section 3 of Division 5 of the American Psychological Association—2020-21) and the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32 of APA—2023-24). For the latter organization, I currently chair two task forces, co-edit its newsletter, and am a review editor for its journal, The Humanistic Psychologist. I also serve on the conference program committee for the Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN) and on the scientific committee for the World Congress of Existential Therapy.

Passions: Listening to and creating music, gardening, traveling, and being with my wife and our two children.

My Curriculum Vitae

My ResearchGate Page

Selected Presentations

Bland, A. M. (2025, August). Outcome research on existential-humanistic psychotherapy. In L. Hoffman (Chair), Understanding the evidence based foundations of existential-humanistic psychotherapy [symposium]. Annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Denver, CO, USA.

Richards, R., Krippner, S., & Bland, A. M. (2025, August). Higher human nature: Maslow's path today [symposium]. Annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Denver, CO, USA. (Invited discussant.)

Bland, A. M. (2025, March). The Division 32 response to APA’s Clinical Practice Guidelines for PTSD [APA-approved CE presentation]. 18th annual conference of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Bland, A. M. (2024, March). Old Saybrook 3: Commemorating the 60^th anniversary of Old Saybrook 1 in the spirit of Old Saybrook 2 [presidential address]. 17th annual conference of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Bland, A. M. (2023, March). A research agenda for existential/humanistic psychologists in the 2020s [APA-approved CE presentation]. 16th annual conference of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Bland, A. M., Schneider, K. J., Granger, N., Pyszczynski, T., Morrill, Z., & Singer, J. (2022, April). Polarization and social healing [invited moderator for conversation roundtable]. Advancing humanistic, existential, and transpersonal psychology and scholarship: Celebrating 10 years of University Professors Press conference, Virtual. 

Bland, A.M., DeRobertis, E. M., & Spaeth, D. (2022, March). Challenges and opportunities for humanistic education in the 2020s [APA-approved CE presentation]. 15^th Annual Conference of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, Virtual.  

Bland, A. M. (2021, June). One psychologist’s questionable research practices are another’s best practices: Appreciating epistemological diversity and working toward pluralism [conversation roundtable]. Annual Conference of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology, Virtual.

Bland, A. M. (2019, June). Ethical conundrums in mental health case studies: A mixed-methods exploration [paper presentation]. 6^th Annual Conference of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology, Boston, MA.

Bland, A. M. (2018, May). Thematic analyses of the relevance of Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning for promoting identity integration and intentionality in emerging adults [paper presentation]. 5th Annual Conference of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology, Pittsburgh, PA.

Bland, A. M. (2017, October). Assessment meets automation: A humanistic psychologist’s response to computerized intellectual testing [paper presentation]. University of West Georgia Psychology 50th Anniversary Reunion and Conference, Carrollton, GA.

SELECTED Publications               

Bland, A. M. (In press). An educational experience to address ageism in the contemporary United States. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Invited contribution to a special feature.

Bland, A. M. (In press). Research on existential-humanistic therapy. In L. Hoffman & V. Lac (Eds.), The evidence-based foundations of existential-humanistic therapy. American Psychological Association. 

Bland, A. M. (In press). Self-actualization and co-actualization. In L. Hoffman (Ed.), APA handbook of humanistic and existential psychology. American Psychological Association.

Bland, A. M. (2025). A 15-year progress report on the presence of humanistic/existential psychology principles in mental health outcome measurement: Thematic discourse and summative content analyses. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 65(1), 6-41.

Bland, A. M. (2024). Fromm-Reichmann’s (1959) real loneliness in the contemporary United States. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Advance online publication. Invited contribution to a special feature.

Bland, A. M. (2024). I-it versus I-thou science and society: Introduction to special feature on Maslow’s (1969) “Toward a humanistic biology.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 64(1), 79-103.

Bland, A. M., & DeRobertis, E. M. (2023). Humanistic psychology. In D. S. Dunn (Ed.), Oxford bibliographies in psychology. Oxford University Press. Invited contribution.

Bland, A. M., & McQueen, K. S. (2021). Unemployment and marital quality in Great Recession America: An exploratory canonical correlation. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 61(4), 516-545.

Bland, A. M. (2021). The existential obituary writing technique for emerging adults: Thematic and content analyses. The Humanistic Psychologist, 49(3), 435-458.

Bland, A. M. (2020). Existential givens in the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 60(5), 710-724.

Bland, A. M., & Arons, S. M. (Eds.). (2020). The new-old: Recollections, reflections, and reconnoiterings of Mike Arons. University Professors Press.

Bland, A. M., & DeRobertis, E. M. (2020). Maslow’s unacknowledged contributions to developmental psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 60(6), 934-958. Invited contribution.

DeRobertis, E. M., & Bland, A. M. (2020). From personal threat to cross-cultural learning: An eidetic investigation. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 51(1), 1-15.

Bland, A. M. (2019). The Personal Hero Technique: A therapeutic strategy that promotes self-transformation and interdependence. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 59(4), 634-657.

Bland, A. M., & DeRobertis, E. M. (2019). The humanistic perspective. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences. Springer. Invited contribution.

Bland, A. M. (2018). Facilitating and assessing personal growth in helper development using Hart’s (2014) Four Virtues. The Humanistic Psychologist, 46(1), 6-29.

Bland, A. M., & McQueen, K. S. (2018). The distribution of Chapman’s Love Languages in couples: An exploratory cluster analysis. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 7(2), 103-126.

Bland, A. M., & Roberts-Pittman, B. J. (2014). Existential and chaos theory: “Calling” for adaptability in career decision-making. Journal of Career Development, 41(5), 382-401.

Bland, A. M. (2014). Corrective experiences in corrections counseling. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology, 6(1), 46-74.

Bland, A. M. (2013). A vision of holistic counseling: Applying humanistic-existential principles in the therapeutic relationship. Journal of Holistic Psychology, 2, 277-282 & 334-337.