Lighting the Candle - by Mark Yang (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Many scholars and practitioners recognize the resonance between the practice of psychotherapy and supervision and the paradoxical principles found throughout Taoism. This is evermore true within the existential-humanistic tradition. Therefore, Lighting the Candle, Taoist Principles in Supervision Conducted from an Existential-Humanistic Perspective introduces readers to the selected writing of the Taoist sages Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi, and considers how their wisdom permeates psychotherapy and supervision practiced from an existential-humanistic perspective. The book takes on a narrative format where the author weaves the following Taoist and existential-humanistic concepts within a number of inspirational stories and supervision case examples gathered across his trainings throughout Southeast Asia. These include wu wei, authenticity, focusing, surrender, trusting the process (trusting the Tao), getting back to the basics, steadiness and the midst of chaos, listening for the unheard, being fully present, humility and awe, bearing witness, following the flow, letting go (of goals, results and techniques), stillness and going nowhere, poetic reflection, and servant leadership. An apprenticeship model of embodied learning is presented in narrative format where the author weaves the above concepts into the supervision process.

Review Quotes

Lighting the Candle is a remarkable book, and only someone with an in-depth knowledge of Eastern and Western psychological wisdom could have written it--namely, Mark Yang. The five chapters combine case studies with a deep understanding of existential-humanistic psychology and its parallel--and the much earlier--writings of Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi. Such topics as psychotherapy, supervision, and client-therapist relationships take on fresh meaning when seen through the Eastern lens, as do the insights of Rollo May and Victor Frankl. Dr. Yang's translations are the work of a master poet, and his evocative accounts of clients and their struggles attest to his skill as a master therapist. Lighting the Candle is bound to become an instant classic.
Stanley Krippner, PhD, California Institute of Integral Studies

Mark Yang brings together wisdom and kindness along with East and West. Science often requires us to know things definitively. But the science of therapy, especially existential therapy, instead requires us to embrace ambiguity: to let go of certainty and dwell instead in faith in our own capacities. This book is for students and masters alike whose practices require an awakening of that faith. Wu Wei is the heart of this practice--effortless action, effortful inaction.
Jason Dias, PsyD, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Pikes Peak Community College and Co-Founder of The International Institute of Existential-Humanistic Psychology

In a profession where supervision seems to have been reduced to checking documentation and reviewing legal risks, Mark Yang's, Lighting the Candle: Taoist Principles in Clinical Supervision Practiced from an Existential-Humanistic Perspective, comes to us as itself a true flame in the darkness, and just at the right time.
Todd Dubose, PhD, Full Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Central to the approach of existential-humanistic psychology are themes of the "big" questions in life: what it means to be human, how to make sense of evil, and the inevitability of death. Before psychology became a modern science, these questions were addressed in philosophy, religion, and the humanities. Mark Yang, in his new book, finds echoes of these questions in Taoist principles, as well as in Western mystical traditions. These questions, in existential-humanistic psychology as well as is ancient philosophies, are addressed most vividly through story. This book is full of such moving and enlightening stories--a wonderful teaching tool.
Ilene Serlin, PhD, Associated Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies