Encountering and Addressing the Reality of Evil in Existential Therapy

• Online
• 16th Jun '25 11.00 am – 1.00 pm

In this two-hour workshop/seminar, we will briefly explore the existential phenomenon of evil in general--including both human (e.g., mass shootings, psychopathy, terrorism, genocide, cruelty, etc.) and natural (earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, disease, and death, etc.) evil--both of which can be the source of significant suffering. The primary focus will be on how therapy will meaningfully acknowledge, address, and come to terms with the existential reality or facticity of evil and the immense suffering it tends to cause.

Note: Attendees are encouraged to read Dr. Diamond's book Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic before the seminar, but this is not required.

Dr. Diamond is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist practising in Los Angeles. He is a former pupil of Rollo May and the author of Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity (1996, SUNY Press). He has taught and lectured at various graduate programs, including Pacific Graduate School (now Palo Alto University), John F. Kennedy University, Argosy University, Ryokan College, Loyola Marymount University, the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, the C.G Jung Institute-Zurich, and the Existential Academy in London; published articles in journals such as the San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, PsycCRlTlQUES, the Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, Psychotherapy, Existential Analysis, and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology; and contributed chapters to several books including the bestselling Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature ( 1991), Spirituality and Psychological Health (2005), Forensic Psychiatry: Influences of Evil (2006), the Encyclopaedia of Psychology and Religion (2009), the Encyclopaedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy (2015), Contemporary Theory and Practice in Counseling and Psychotherapy (2016), The Complexity of Psychopathy (2022) and the forthcoming APA Handbook of Humanistic and Existential Psychology (2025). For almost a decade, he wrote a blog titled "Evil Deeds" for Psychology Today. He currently maintains a private psychotherapy practice, is a Consulting Psychologist to a private residential psychiatric treatment facility and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.