John Heron (24 September 1928 – 2022) was a pioneer in the creation of a participatory
research
Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
method in the
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
s, called co-operative inquiry. This was based on his work in 1968–69 on the phenomenology of social encounter, and which has been applied by practitioners in many fields of professional and personal development. He was committed to the process of
co-operative inquiry, in whatever field it is applied, as a basic form of relational and participative
spiritual practice
A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual developme ...
.
Career
Heron was the founder and director of the Human Potential Research Project,
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...
from 1970 to 1977, the first university-based centre for humanistic and
transpersonal psychology
Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is a sub-field or school of psychology that integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience with the framework of modern psychology. The ''transpersonal'' is defined a ...
and education in Europe. He was assistant director of the British Postgraduate Medical Federation at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
from 1977 to 1985, in charge of an innovative programme of personal and professional development for hospital doctors and GPs, including a co-operative inquiry into whole-person medicine, out of which the British Holistic Medical Association was formed. He was the director of the International Centre for Co-operative Inquiry at
Volterra
Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods.
History
Volter ...
,
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, from 1990 to 2000, where radical forms of spiritual inquiry were developed. He was co-director of the South Pacific Centre for Human Inquiry at
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand from 2000 to the present, focussing on long-term co-operative inquiries into charismatic and relational spiritual practices.
Heron was a group facilitator and trainer in the fields of
co-counselling
Co-counselling (spelled co-counseling in American English) is a grassroots method of personal change based on reciprocal peer counselling. It uses simple methods. Time is shared equally and the essential requirement of the person taking their turn ...
(in 1974 he was one of the founders of
Co-Counselling International Co-Counselling International (CCI) is an international peer network of co-counsellors (spelled co-counseling and co-counselors in US English).
History
Co-Counselling International (CCI) was started in 1974 as breakaway from Re-evaluation Counsel ...
after a split from the
Re-evaluation Counseling Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) is an organization that practices a procedure – 'co-counseling' – in which people try to help each other deal with the effects of emotional hurt through catharsis (called "discharge") while also embracing a utopian ...
of
Harvey Jackins
Carl Harvey Jackins (June 28, 1916 – July 12, 1999) was the founder, leader and principal theorist of Re-evaluation Counseling (or RC).
Early life
Jackins was born in Northern Idaho on June 28, 1916.
During the 1930s he was a member of the C ...
), co-operative inquiry and new paradigm research, educational and staff development, group
facilitation and interactive skills, management development, personal and transpersonal development, professional development in medicine, psychotherapy and the helping professions. He was also a researcher and author.
Heron was a group facilitator on UK TV programmes on the following topics: medical
stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
(ITV, 1981),
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
(
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, 1985),
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
(Channel 4, 1987),
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
's ''
The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
'' (BBC2, 1990),
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
(BBC2, 1991), parents and teenagers (
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
, 1994).
One of the founders in the UK of each of the following: Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners, Co-counselling International, Institute for the Development of Human Potential, New Paradigm Research Group, Research Council for Complementary Medicine.
Death
The ''John Heron Human Inquiry Archive'' website reports that Heron died during 2022.
John Heron archive
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Books
*''Feeling and Personhood: Psychology in Another Key'' (London, Sage, 1992)
*''Co-operative Inquiry: Research into the Human Condition'' (London, Sage, 1996)
*''Sacred Science: Person-centred Inquiry into the Spiritual and the Subtle'' (Ross-on-Wye, PCCS Books, 1998)
*''The Complete Facilitator's Handbook'' (London, Kogan Page, 1999).
*''Helping the Client: A Creative Practical Guide'' fifth edition (London, Saqe, 2001)
*''Participatory Spirituality: A Farewell to Authoritarian Religion'' (New Zealand, Lulu Press, 2007)
References
External links
John Heron archive
a comprehensive overview of John Heron's work, with many writings openly available and links to publisher sites; etc
(based on notes that originally appeared in Pluralities/Integration newsletter. An introduction to the concepts of relational spirituality
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heron, John
Transpersonal psychology
Academics of the University of Surrey
1928 births
2022 deaths