Dr. Tom Greening’s illustrious career has spanned generations reaching back through time over 50 years.  Throughout his career Dr. Greening has been a teacher, a supervisor, a mentor, and a friend to many of the great minds of psychology, including Rollo May, Jim Bugental, Abraham Maslow, and more.  At the cutting edge of existential humanistic psychology nascent beginnings, Dr. Greening helped to not only shape this field but continues to be a part of its evolving development and a guiding force.

            Dr. Greening has explored his own early childhood experiences in many different settings.  These include early traumas of an early childhood tonsillectomy, a stolen red ball, a front porch car crash, Pearl Harbor, Stalingrad, and Hiroshima among others.  It is these sudden impactful moments in life that most interest Dr. Greening, However, the interplay of such moments when mixed with the wonder of life, love, and joy when integrated create the whole of the human experience and fertile soil to explore.

            The exploration of Dr. Tom Greening’s early childhood experiences shed light on a new theoretical perspective that embraces the existential jolts and clashes of early childhood traumas.  These experiences helped to shape Dr. Greening’s life view and paved the way for his future in the field of psychology.  Having been honored with many (11) life time achievement awards for his work in the field of humanistic psychology, Tom Greening sheds light on the integration of an individual’s passions, perseverance through tragedy, and Anomalous Existential Disruptions to create a life of meaning and worth.

It is through these experiences that Dr. Greening has forged a new theory of existential humanistic psychology.This theory encompasses the often sudden existential jolts of life that help form who we are as human beings and mold our belief systems and reactions to life.