Steve
S. Olweean
Director and Coordinator of Programs
Steve Olweean speaks on a variety of related topics, including conflict
transformation; social
healing; concepts of "The
Other;" dynamics of fear, social paranoia, and fear-based
belief systems; negative stereotypes, prejudice, the creation of enemy
images; psycho-social development and identity; cultural myths and ethos;
intergenerational consequences of inherited trauma; victim-perpetrator
dynamics; cross-cultural, inter-religious, and cross-border engagement
and dialogue; compassion, reconciliation, and forgiveness; public engagement
and empowerment; and local capacity building at both the grass roots
and social institutional level for promoting an authentic world culture
of peace.
Particularly since 9-11 he has spoken and been interviewed frequently
both in and outside the US to increase understanding among the public
of Middle Eastern and Islamic Culture, social/psychological dynamics
of fear and communal paranoia, and to promote direct, cross-cultural
dialogue as an antidote to the toxic energy of fear. He also addresses
activism in Humanistic Psychology through putting humanistic principles
to work in the world improving psycho-social conditions, and has published
writings on the above speaking topics.
He is a therapist with a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology from
Western Michigan University, with over 30 years of experience in community
based mental health treatment and advocacy to underserved populations;
has worked in outpatient, inpatient, day treatment, outreach and crisis
intervention to high risk populations, and private practice settings;
has held positions as clinical director, clinical supervisor, and senior
clinician; and has functioned as graduate field supervisor for departments
of psychology and social work. His principal areas of treatment are
trauma and abuse recovery, victim/perpetrator dynamics, crisis intervention,
dissociative disorders, and healing negative belief systems.
He specializes in local capacity building and empowerment, and in designing
emergency human service training and treatment programs for developing
societies where there is a large population in crisis and where the
service infrastructure is nonexistent, seriously underdeveloped, or
severely compromised by catastrophe and upheaval.
Immediately following the 1st Gulf War he assisted Kuwaiti relief organizations
in linking with professional mental health services, and provided cultural
orientation and consultation to visiting therapists from the US and
Europe traveling to Kuwait to offer trauma victims treatment services
to ensure cultural sensitivity, receptiveness to services, and treatment
effectiveness.
Near the end of the Balkan Wars he developed the integrated Catastrophic
Trauma Recovery (CTR) treatment model for treating large
civilian populations traumatized by war and violence in developing societies
that are regions of conflict and where resources are scarce, as described
in a chapter dedicated to it ["When Society Is The Victim"]
in Dr. Stanley Krippner's landmark book published by Preager/Greenwood
publishers:: "The
Psychological Impact of War Trauma on Civilian Populations."
The CTR model is the basis for the comprehensive Social
Health Care (SHC) training and treatment program he developed
to train hundreds of local graduate students, professionals, and NGO
staff in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria in trauma informed treatment
skills to assist the current large refugee populations in these countries,
and to promote development of the local human service and academic systems
in each country.
For 15 years, beginning in 1990, he was coordinator and developer of
the AHP Soviet-American Professional Exchange, established in the early
1980's as one of the 1st grassroots professional human service exchanges
with the then Soviet Union, promoting bridge building through citizen
diplomacy and providing practical training in human services to Soviet
colleagues.
His current book project is "Engaging The Other,"
an edited compilation of chapters contributed by authors representing
a diversity of cultures and societies around the world examining this
fundamentally subjective phenomenon from their unique cultural eye,
addressing historical and current implications for global relations,
and exploring the unique power when the energy of animosity and opposition
is transformed into healing and collaboration. The book concept was
the impetus for the creation of the Annual
International Conference on "Engaging The Other,"
and is based on a chapter he contributed, titled "Psychological
Concepts of The Other: Embracing the Compass of the Self",
to a book edited by Dr. Chris Stout and published by Preager/Greenwood
publishers on: "The Psychology of Terrorism."
His 2nd book project is: "Transgenerational Trauma: Communal
Wounds and Victim Identities."
He has been an activist in the human rights and peace movement since
the late 1960's, and this commitment and experience continue to inform
his work today.
- Founding Director, Program Developer, and Coordinator of CBI programs
and projects, as described in a chapter devoted to CBI in "The
New Humanitarians," published by Preager/Greenwood
publishers.
- Founding President of the International
Humanistic Psychology Association (IHPA).
- Past President of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP).
- Recipient of the 2011
Charlotte and Karl Bühler Award from the American Psychological
Association for outstanding and lasting contribution to Humanistic Psychology
internationally.
- Fellow of the Center for Social Healing, Meridian University.
- Member of The Board for American Friends of Wahat
Al Salaam/Neve Shalom in Israel
Contact Information:
- Steve Olweean
- CBI Director and Coordinator of Programs
President, International Humanistic Psychology Association (IHPA)
E-mail - SOlweean@aol.com
- Telephone
- 269-665-9393
- FAX
- 269-665-9393
- Postal address
- 12170 South Pine Ayr Drive
Climax, Michigan 49034 USA
