James
DuBose
Todd DuBose
- Campus: Chicago, IL
- Department: Humanistic Clinical Psychology
- Institution: The Chicago School
- Address: 325 N Wells Street Chicago, IL 60654
- Office Phone: 312-329-6694
Biography
Todd DuBose an award winning, internationally renowned Distinguished Full Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, where for the past twnety years has facilitated the humanistic-existential orientation for students, as well as taught regularly at Saybrook University, the California Institute of Integral Studies, the Circulo de Estudios en Psicoterapia Existential, in Mexico City, Mexico, the International Institute of Existential-Humanistic Psychology in Beijing, China, Therapy Harley Street International Training Program in Existential Therapy in London, and at the Centre for Existential Practice in Melbourne. He is also in private practice as a licensed psychologist, is a former chaplain (with 11 years at the infamous Bellevue Hospital in NYC), a bereavement and spiritual care coordinator for tow hospices, and has over 35 years of experience in therapeutic care, supervision, teaching, consulting, advising and scholarship. He holds degrees in philosophy (B.A., Georgia State University), religion (M.Div., Union Theological Seminary) and clinical psychology (Ph.D. Duquesne University). He is also the Director and Founder of The Khora Institute, (thekhorainstitute.com), a global, educational, and consulting institute that offers training in existential-hermeneutical-phenomenology and explores who or what is left out when ideologies and practices of standardized care are established by various institutions. He integrates contemporary continental and comparative philosophy of religion and human science psychology (post-humanistic existentialism, radical hermeneutics, and therapeutic phenomenology) in caring for experiences of the impossible (no way out), and boundary or limit situations (the unwanted, unchangeable, irreversible, incurable, unrelenting, unmitigated, invisible, immeasurable, intangible, ungraspable), or extreme experiences such as psychosis, nihilism, suicidal and homicidal ideation, existential crises of meaning, paranormal or anomalous experiences. He sees his task as a "Seelsorge," or carer of soul (lived meaning), attending to "the happening in the happening" (Caputo), one who "keeps watch over absent meaning" (Blanchot) and/or as a guardian and shepherd of the clearing (Heidegger) for the irreducible, the unconditional and the coming of the Other.
His current work in in the integration of later Heideggerian hermeneutical phenomenology of poetics and the inconspicuous, theopoetics and radical hermeneutics of contemporary continental and comparative philosophy or religion, particular the work of John Caputo, and the "theological turn" in contemporary French "new" phenomenology. He is writing a book based on this "braiding" of ways of thinking and being on what he calls "Therapoetics" or "heeding lived meaning", which is the origins of therapeia and is differentiated from deficit-correction, psychoeducation, and computational models of care. His claim is that the professions of care have forgotten this origin of therapeutics and, hence, have forgotten how to listen.
His interprofessional and interdisciplinary experience is as extensive as his international experience. He is well known globally for his teaching and workshops on existential-hermeneutical-phenomenology in such diverse places as Prague, London, Oxford, Paris, Toronto, Budapest, Brussels, Athens, Mexico City, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Johannesburg, and Jerusalem. His research attends to those persons, experiences, situations, and events that are "left out" (e.g., subjugated knowledges and persons that are overlooked, ignored, rejected, pathologized, stigmatized, alienated, unforgiven, uncelebrated, and forgotten), intentionally or unwittingly, when standardized ideologies and practices of care are established, and by way of a commitment to the models of the organic intellectual, public scholar and engaged practitioner. He critiques such ideologies embedded in such standards of care, particularly restrictive definitions of identity, suffering, therapeutics, "the good life", meaning, evidence, empiricism, science, method, outcomes, truth, and reality. He is very active in organizations that advocate for those persons oppressed by medicalized psychiatry and psychology (e.g., participant and on the board with the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry), and with addressing food insecurity and community violence among at-risk youth on Chicago's southside (e.g., participant and board member of a farm to table culinary alternative therapeutic program called The Evolved Network. He is a past President of the American Psychological Association's Division 32: Society for Humanistic Psychology.
He is originally from Atlanta, GA, has lived in eight states, is divorced, has two adult children, and resides in Chicago's South Loop. His avocation is in the culinary arts, particular exploring country-comfort-soul food "lit up". He was born in the sun sign of Virgo, Cancer rising, and with an Aquarius moon, and is an Enneagram 2: The Giver. He also has a great love of animals, enjoys classic rock and smooth jazz, soul inspiring film and theater, weight/powerlifting, football, was a dancer for two weeks in NYC, including one memorable night at the famed Studio 54, before it burned down (and, no, these two events are not connected), has experienced full body apparitions in paranormal encounters, has trained a bit as a clown, scratched a lion on his back, volunteered to be Aerosmith's chaplain, and, yet, is mostly and simply a human being.
Education History
Degree Institution Year B.A. in Philosophy Georgia State University , Atlanta, GA 1984 M.Div. in Religious Studies/Philosophy of Religion/Philosophical Theology Union Theological Seminary (NYC) , New York, NY 1988 Ph.D. in Clinical Existential-Hermeneutical-Phenomenologial Psychology Duquesne University , Pittsburgh, PA 2004 Professional Memberships
Role Organization Past President 2021-2022 APA Div. 32 Society for Humanistic Psychology Member Society for Existential Analysis Member International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry Member Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy Member Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (APA Div. 24) Founder The Khora Institute Member American Daseinsanalytic Institute Presentations
Title Location Date When time hurts: Caring for collisions and mismatches of ontic spatio-temporalities Virtual - Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) 2021 Dum Spiro Spero: On Pandemic Hope. International Conference: Global conversations on existential therapy. Centre for Existential Therapy. Sydney, Australia 2021 Virally masked transcendence: Once again flying too close to the sun. Society for Phenomenology and Religious Experience international conference. (Ir)rationality and religiosity during pandemics: Phenomenological criticism. University of Vienna Department of Philosophy Vienna Austria 2020 Khora-tic Pisteuo: A therapoetic science of the “impossible” as first (and last) foundational principle of “post” inquiries APA National Convention, Div. 24: Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, Chicago, IL 2019 Beyond Deficit-Correction and Interpretive-Understanding: Toward a Therapoetics of Khoratic Hospitality as Therapeutic Care APA National Convention, Div. 32: Society for Humanistic Psychology, Chicago, IL 2019 Keynote Address: Beyond correction and understanding: postmodern therapoetics as Khora-tic Hospitality. International Week – July 25-31, 2018 Circulo de Estudios en Psicoterapia Existencial, Mexico City, Mexico 2018 De-pathologizing love in therapeutic care: Unwitting violence and 8th World Congress for Psychotherapy, Paris, France 2017 Key Note presentation: Weak therapy and quixotism: Postmodern options for the Circulo de Estudios en Psicoterapia Existencial, Mexico City, Mexico 2016 Keynote presentation: Postmodern weak therapy: Echoes from ancient Taoist wisdom. Malaysia’s First Annual Conference on Existential Psychology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Fourth International Conference on Existential Psychology: Authenticity and Human Potential, Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong 2016 Diversifying Empirical Evidence In Research, Assessment And Clinical Practice APA National Convention, Toronto, Canda 2015 On riding an ox, looking for an ox: Meaning and change from an existential perspective 3rd International Existential Psychology Conference, Guangzhou China 2014 Abyss-mal consolation: Soul pain and soul care Conference on the Soul, Oxford University, Oxford, England 2013 Where the crooked are made straight: “Being-with” finitude 8th International World Forum of the International Federation of Daseinsanalysis. Budapest, Hungary 2012 Did we trade our souls at the crossroads? Has psychology become too medicalized? APA Convention, Seatlte, WA 2024 Into the paths where no one goes: Therapoetics iin the extreme, the impossible and the taboo Centre for Existential Practice, Sydney Australia 2024 Turning on the light fast enough to see the dark”: On the urgent (im)possibility of heeding lived meaning American Daseinsanalytic Roundtable Discussion, Virtual European Center for Heidegger Studies/Americna Daseinsanalytic Instutute 2024 Global Existential Summit #4 London, Virtural, Society for Existential Analysis 2024 Advance Supervisory Group - Therapoetics Therapy Harley Center, London, Virtual 2024 Community Involvement
Role Organization Private Practitioner Private practice in therapeutic care, individualized, collaborative therapeutic assessments, supervision, consultation, education and training in the Chicago Founder and Participant/Consultant The Khora Institute International Society for Ethical Psychiatry and Psychology Board Member The Evolved Network Curriculum and Therapeutic Care Consultant Areas of Expertise
Area Expertise Child & Adolescent Development Media Influence Diversity Community Mental Health Cultural Issues Diversity Issues Domestic Violence Child Abuse Elder Abuse Sexual Abuse Spousal/Partner Abuse Ethical & Legal Issues Code of Conduct for Psychologists Marriage & Family Adoption Collaborative Parenting Couples Counseling Divorce Domestic Partnership Rights Family Reunification Family Therapy Foster Care Mediation Parental Rights Parenting Media/Pop Culture Media Psychology Mood Disorders Bipolar Disorder Depression Dysthymia Psychology Subdisciplines - Clinical Psychology Subdisciplines - International Psychology PTSD/Trauma Crisis Intervention Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Research Design/Methodology Qualitative Inquiry Sexuality/Gender Issues HIV/AIDS Therapeutic/Theoretical Orientation Humanistic/Existential Violence Bullying Gangs Murder School Violence Sexual Offenders Terrorism Licenses
Licensed as a Clinical Psychologist # 071.007252 , Illinois Publications
Chapter DuBose, T. (2016). Out, out bright candle? The meaning of meaninglessness.. In Russo-Netzer, P., Schulenberg, S. and Batthyyany, A., Eds. (Ed.) In Clinical perspectives on meaning: Positive and existential psychotherapy. (pp. pp. 283-295). New York: Springer.
DuBose, T. (2016). Engaged understanding for lived meaning.. In Schulenberg, S. (Ed.) In Clarifying and furthering existential psychotherapy. (pp. pp. 41-57.). New York, NY.: Springer..
DuBose, T. (2016). Can you tell a dragon fly about ice? The implications of Zhuangzi's "relative gradations" for contemporary psychology.. In Yang, M., Ed. (Ed.) In The useless tree: Taoist principles of Zhuangzi within existential psychology. (pp. pp. 166-182.). San Francisco, CA.: University of Professor Press..
DuBoae, T. (2024). Súmptōma: From discrimination through destruction to transfiguration. InTheoretical Alternatives to the Psychiatric Model of Mental Disorder Labeling: Contemporary Frameworks, Taxonomies, and Models .. In A. Cantú, E. Maisel, & C. Ruby (Eds.) (Ed.) (pp. (pp. 236–251)). : Ethics International Press..
DuBose, T. (2013). Let the Kierkegaardian comedy resume: Faith-phobia and faithful leaping in evidence-based criteria for therapeutic care.. Existential Analysis, Vol. 24, No. 1. , pp. 70-81..
DuBose, T. (2011). On not knowing what to say in the tragic face of the other: Radical phenomenology as abysmal consolation.. Philosophy Study., Vol. 1, No. 2. , pp. 130-138..
DuBose, T. (2010). On having nothing to lose: Daseins-icide and the lethal and liberating possibilities of "choosing-not-to-be-of-any-value" among children and adolescents.. In Daseinsanalyse: Jahrbuch fur Phanomenologische Anthropology (Daseinsanalysis: Journal for Phenomenological Anthropology and Psychotherapy)., Vol. 26. , pp. 88-99..
Media Exposure
Appearance America in Isolation: Why Is It So Tough for Us? Interviewed for a story on the COVID-19 Pandemic. NBC News Chicago 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtgpvY0DqiQ
Understanding Evil and Perpetration. Sentenced to Life Podcast of Sankofa Psychological Services, Inc., Chicago, IL. Podcast #14, 2019. http://www.sentencedtolifepodcast.com/
Mental illness: A stigma in the airline industry. Interview with CBS News, Chicago, 2015
Does evil exist? Podcast: Existential Coffee/Sankofa Psychological Services, Inc., 2014
The Heaven’s Gate Tragedy. National Geographic Series: The Final Report, 2008
The Evolved Network Way, Podcast, The Evolved Network, 2025
Question and Answer
Please describe your teaching philosophy. My teaching philosophy has been highly influenced by experiential and action/reflection models of education, most particularly critical theory and existential/hermeneutical phenomenology and the experiential and Andragogical character of the clinical pastoral educational tradition. I emphasize learning and attending to one's lived experience and commitments to significance within the web of meanings in one's life world, which may mean going through times of feeling unbalanced and disoriented so new forms of meaning and being-in-the-world can take place. Attending to one's ways of being-in-the-world is primary in any educational experience and, for me, is primary to mere reception, retention and reproduction of data. Finally, I see the teacher and the psychologist alike: as a "physician of the soul." My job is to help students open their worlds towards their own most possibilities within their embraced limitations as they are being-in-the-world.
Please provide a statement or philosophy regarding the practice of psychology. Psychology is "speech of the soul," thus the psychologist is an "iatros tes psyche," or "physician of the soul." I find this most possible for me within the human science tradition of psychology, and most particularly within existential/hermeneutical-phenomenological psychology. Mental health is the experience of meaningful and fulfilling modes of being-in-the-world, where mental illness signifies lived out crises of meaning resulting in constricted possibilities in the world. Therapy is an art that contributes to opening of lived possibilities within one's life world; it is the practice of stewardship of the transcendent within immanence.
Why did you choose to enter the field of psychology? I entered the field of psychology through a desire to deepen my understanding of human meaning-making within extreme lived experiences such as traumatic loss and interpersonal violence. Psychology fit well with my background as a psychiatric and trauma chaplain as I am interested in the mutual influence of these two traditions as they meet in the "religious" (spiritual, sacred) dimension of common human experience.
What advice would you give to a student entering The Chicago School? Having worked either teaching or doing clinical work for 18 years, and having worked at the crossroads of philosophy, theology, and psychology, I would first commend the student for choosing a place that allows for the freedom of finding one's own niche here. My advice would be to attend to the "calling" of their own most possibilities towards professional psychology, and notice the commitments already made towards what they mean by human existence, health, illness, and therapy so as to better situate themselves here at CSOPP. I believe this focus would better help incoming students to find their own home amidst multiple homes.
Professional Skills
Existential-phenomenological approaches to research, assessment, therapeutic care, supervision, education and consultation, Critical review of genealogies and practices of care, particularly in relation to addressing existential pain, Spirituality in everyday existence; Existential-phenomenology as spirituality, Individual, couple, family, group, play therapy across the life span, Extensive experience in trauma, loss, and mourning, particularly regarding "limit," "boundary," or "fated" situations in life that are uncontrollable, uncertain, unknown, inevitable, unexpected, incurable, inescapable, irreversible, and unrelenting