Memories of Adrian van Kaam, C.S.Sp.
1920-2007

Daniel Burston

The Psychology department greets the recent death of Father Adrian van Kaam with considerable sadness. Born April 9th 1920 in the Hague, he was in seminary when the Nazis invaded. In 1944-1945, he he endured the Nazi inflicted "hunger winter" in western Holland that permanently damaged his health, organizing the delivery of scarce food supplies to Jews and others in hiding. In retrospect, he said, this experience shaped his subsequent development more than any other.

Van Kaam was ordained in 1946, and in 1954, was sent by the Vatican to pursue work in spiritual formation he had undertaken at the request of  Msgr. Giovanni Baptista Montini - later Pope Paul VI. However, shortly after his arrival, Vernon Gallagher, Duquesne's President, asked him to lead the psychology Department at Duquesne University. To that end, he cultivated warm contacts with humanistic psychologists like Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers and with psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, but felt that their approaches were an insufficient counterbalance to the "science of measurement psychology." To foster psychology as a "human science," he drew extensively on Continental thinkers like Max Scheler and Viktor Frankl, and brought Amadeo Giorgi, Charles Maes and Tony Barton here. Being fluent in German, French, Dutch and English, Father van Kaam was also deeply versed in the existential-phenomenological literature, much of which had not yet been translated. Together with Father Henry Koren and Duquesne University Press, he was responsible for bringing many European luminaries here to speak in the 1950's and 1960's, and worked with Rollo May and Henry Elkin in editing The Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry - a lively and remarkable conduit for the dissemination and integration of Continental thought in the English language.

In 1965, Father van Kaam left the Psychology Department, but continued his exploration of the spiritual development at the Institute of Formative Spirituality, and later, the Epiphany Academy, which he founded with Dr. Susan Muto in 1979. In an interview with Shane Chaplin in 2005 that appeared in our student journal Grammata, he gave the following advice to graduate students: "Follow your heart. Be faithful to your unique communal-life calling. Do not let functionalistic pressures of careerism, money-making, or fame and fortune obfuscate your original ideals to make a difference in this world and to make it a better place when you leave it." Then he added:" . . . dream your dreams and with God's help do what you can to shore up your foundation at the highest level of integrity and service to others. Nothing serves humanity so well as the truth. No wonder we read in scripture that it alone can set us free."

Father David Smith


In 1959, I set foot on the Duquesne campus for the first time to begin graduate studies --- in either psychology or philosophy. The choice was left in my hands by the former president of the university, then the provincial superior of the Spiritans, Fr. Vernon Gallagher-who described the campus architecture  at the time, as early American garage...He was also the man responsible for Fr. Adrian's presence in our midst., and for that we thank him to this day. One evening, shortly after my arrival, I was strolling around the campus and met two young Spiritan confreres who would exert a profound influence upon the rest of my life., Frs Adrian van Kaam and Ed Hogan who would remain a dear friend to the present day.

At this first encounter, I was overwhelmed and deeply touched by Fr. Adrian's warmth, friendliness and  vivacity. His light-heartedness, good cheer and humor were contagious. Throughout his life he proved to be a man of a thousand welcomes.  They easily convinced me that I should forget about philosophy and join them in the department of psychology. Though I was at least ten years younger, less experienced and still a student, they treated me as an equal, with graciousness and respect-rare commodities, even today. The day after this initial meeting , Adrian invited me to his room and presented me with the gift of three large boxes of books, and  in his usual gentle style  told me to read them before classes began the following week. That was the beginning of a long , intense, and intellectually stimulating relationship.  Over the next two years he taught me and mentored me  through the two year course requirements of his new and original masters program in existential-phenomenological psychology,  As a result, those three boxes came to symbolize  the totality of  Fr. Adrian's life and work for me.

When I first read Elie Wiesel's “From the kingdom of memory” I thought very much of Fr. Adrian and his life and ministry. In that book, Wiesel wrote, “ If the school is a temple, then  the library is its sanctuary”. Like Fr. Adrian, Elie is a lover of books. When he describes how, as still a young boy, the Germans came to deport his entire village to the Death camps, he pierces our hearts with these few words. “ When I left for that place, I had in my knapsack more books than food.” We may wonder why books should so enchant young  Elie, and we marvel at his response. “I remember my master who opened the gates of Talmud and the gates of Zohar for me. Why has God used words as  instruments of creation?  Because all of creation lies in them. All of creation could be destroyed by them. And redeemed again.” To the words of the Rabbi, Fr. Adrian would have said, AMEN..

When we attend to the words of Job, it is easy to detect the voice of Fr. Adrian. Job has been treated very badly by God and he has done no wrong. His own friends have maligned him and He wants a permanent record  kept against all who do injustice to the innocent. There were some, even some of his own confreres, who severely criticized Fr. Adrian for employing the words and the language of existential-phenomenology to create a new world of justice and redeem the world once more. Some even denounced him to his superiors in Rome. Indeed, he suffered for his teachings, but at that moment in his history he showed the courage of his convictions. Surely, there were moments in his scholarly and academic career when he prayed with Job, “ Oh, would that my words be written down…That with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever…But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.”

In fact, in his long and productive journey home to God, he marched to the beat of the Book of Revelation. “I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes” said the Spirit, “let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them.” Fr. Adrian has surely found rest in the arms of God, for his works accompany him. By the end of his life, he had written more than 40 books. He also served as the first editor of the Journal of existential psychology and psychiatry which he launched in 1960 together with  such renowned humanistic psychologists as Rollo May, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow.

Shortly after he arrived at Duquesne University to join the faculty of the department of psychology in 1953, he began his studies for a Ph. D. in psychology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He commuted back and forth between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, juggling the demands of his doctoral studies with his teaching obligations. By 1959 he was prepared to launch a unique and revolutionary MA program in psychology. This radically original program, --- there has never been another  to equal it,--- evolved  into a doctoral program by 1962, and since then,  hundreds of doctoral graduates and thousands of MA graduates have gone forth to humanize American psychology. It would be almost impossible to locate Fr. Adrian's greatest contribution to humanity at any precise point on the compass, but beyond doubt, the creation of these graduate programs would shine close to the north star.

While traveling around the country conducting workshops on the renewal of religious life, and teaching his own courses, Fr. Adrian was also busily engaged in a major writing campaign. In addition to numerous articles, between 1959 and 1966 he published 5 major books. His first book, published in 1959., was a biography of Father Francis Mary Paul Libermann. In A Light to the Gentiles he wrote, “ Through some false alchemy of the Spirit, those unfamiliar with Saints, would make them not a little less but a little more than the angels...they refuse to believe that humanity and holiness are quite compatible.” And he added“…Libermann's writings in particular are redolent with a warmth and quiet humor.” And we might add, a warmth and humor also manifest in the writings of Fr. Adrian.

I remember one evening driving home on the Parkway East, he hit a wooden crate that had fallen off a truck and  blew out the front tire; he lost control,  headed straight to the stone bank, with the car ending up in the opposite direction. The car was a total write-off, but we did not have even a scratch. All Adrian said was, “ David, take a deep breath.” We had to ride high in the cab of the tow track back to Trinity Hall. Adrian invited me to his room where we rapidly demolished a bottle of Dutch raspberry brandy. “Now, my dear friend, he said, don't you feel better?” At such moments of shared gustatory delights, he also liked to point out that the Latin word “To taste” was sapere and that the Latin word for wisdom, sapientia, is derived from sapere. A wise person is one with discerning taste.

Humanity, Holiness, Humor defined his life , his mission and his ministry. In his second book, Religion and Personality, published in 1964, we detect even more sharply what his life-project was all about. On the very first page , he explains what he means by the word existential. He writes, “ Existence in the etymological sense is derived from ex, meaning out,  and sistere, meaning to stand. Thus existence  in this context means that it is man's nature to stand out into reality”---- So in this sense, we can say that it is essential to our humanity to be with others bodily in the world. We are not self encapsulated, isolated, disembodied spirits. In the first few pages he wrote, “ Any spirituality not based on “… openness to ‘the voice of God in every changing situation' is suspect, for if openness is not present our project of life deteriorates easily into a blueprint or scheme.” In his lectures, and in his life, he harbored a profound antipathy toward every form of rigidity, formalism, and calculation  in the religious and spiritual spheres. He cherished the conviction that human beings  are neither angels nor devils and like St. Iranaeus he believed that “ The glory of God is the human being, fully alive” This pervasive respect for the dignity of the human person did not preclude a wicked sense of humor. He enjoyed repeating the story of Libermann trying to help a disturbed young girl who lacked discretion. When he failed, Libermann remarked, “ Her special virtue, her peculiar grace, lies in being simple as a dove, but she seems to lack the prudence of the serpent.”

In 1966, Fr. Adrian produced three new books. The first, The Art of Existential Counseling became a bestseller and still enjoys a certain popularity to this day. It was a masterful attempt to capture the full humanity of the client in face of B.F. Skinner's scientistic reduction of the individual to a bundle of  conditioned reflexes, and the concurrent psychoanalytic reduction of the person to a bundle of instinctual conflicts and competing psychic “agencies.” For Fr. Van Kaam, the focus of existential counseling,  had to be the full and free humanity of the person. For him, psychotherapy was all about human encounter. He wrote, “ An authentic human encounter always implies that I am, at least for some moments, totally present to a person…for whom I really care.” The Review for Religious described this book as “ Pages of the most meaningful and beautiful spiritual reading that have appeared in recent years.”

His second book, The existential foundations of psychology was his magnum opus,  a magisterial work that critiqued behaviorism and psychoanalysis, for failing to give due honor to the fullness, dignity and freedom of the human being. Dr. Gordon Allport at Harvard University described Fr. Adrian's work . He wrote, “ It is an uncompromising guide to a new line of thought, arguing the case convincingly. Especially in the Anglo-American tradition , the contribution seems startling and novel. It shakes one out of one's smug professional habits of thought.”

His final book of 1966, Fulfillment in the spiritual life,, begins with the message he preached throughout all his life and in all his works to the very end. He wrote, “ In this world I find myself to be an incarnated spirit . . .To be a spirit is for man to be beyond all things, and yet  in the midst of them. The life of the spirit is a life of presence inspired by the sacredness of people, of things and of events in their deepest reality. The person who leads a spiritual life has a profound attitude of reverence; he always tends to be respectful.” His own beautiful words could well serve as a self-portrait.

In 1965, Fr. Adrian left the department of psychology and founded the Institute of Man and its journal Humanitas. In this institute he continued an academic program in Religion and Personality initiated in 1963 in the department under the direction of Fr. Edward Hogan. In time, the Institute morphed into the Institute of Formative Spirituality, with its own journals, Envoy and  Studies in Formative Spirituality. Finally, in 1979, he founded  with Dr. Susan Muto, the Epiphany Association with its own journal,  Epiphany International  Since in 1965 Fr. Adrian would be the first to admit  that none of his great achievements would have been possible without the close collaboration and loyal devotion of Dr. Susan Muto, and his Spiritan brothers thank her  for all these years of collaborative ministry with our brother, Adrian.

Fr. Adrian followed his heart and always  remained  faithful to his own unique life-calling. He never sought fame; he never sought  fortune., but always followed his dream to be of service to others.  Finally,  one week ago today, God's truth set him free unto  life everlasting. May he now rest in the arms of Christ forever, Amen…

Donna Coufal

In the early 1980's,as a doctoral student in the psychology department, I took a course from Father van Kaam in the Institute of Formative Spirituality . I think this was shortly after his heart surgery. I remember one lecture in particular in which he stated that it is relatively easy to be a monk on the mountain, a spiritual person, away from all the hubbub of every day life. He talked about how it is much more difficult to be spiritual living among people. At the time, as a young graduate student who had little to worry about outside myself, this was a novel idea.

He talked about the personal sacrifices of being a parent, about living in the midst of noise and distraction. As a parent of teenagers, I often think of this lecture, and his appreciation that a spiritual life is not necessarily a quiet, peaceful one. Father van Kaam's good nature and enjoyment of life despite its complexities and disappointments has served as an inspiration for me.

Constance T. Fischer

Father van Kaam began gathering like-minded psychologists to Duquesne's psychology department during the early 1960s. We variously identified ourselves as having humanistic, existential, and phenomenological interests; later we would identify the department under the umbrella of human-science psychology, in concert with Andy Giorgi's book. When I joined the department in 1966, Fr. van Kaam had moved on to direct what was initially called the Institute of Man, later named the Institute of Formative Spirituality. His book, Existential Foundations of Psychology, inspired me to try to write as directly and clearly as I could, in his bridge-building manner. Many of van Kaam's fellow philosophers from Holland also wrote in this style. I also took heart from the success of his dissertation on the experience of being really understood, the first qualitative psychological study that I know of, and bravely undertaken at the time.         

In all my direct encounters with Father van Kaam over the years, I always was struck by his warm, calm, yet energetic presence. He spoke with good humor whether in one-to-one conversations or in his charismatic lectures. His smiling photographs on book jackets always elicited my own smile. He left us quite a legacy.

George Kunz

Robert Romanyshyn

I first encountered Adrian van Kaam when I arrived at Duquesne in September 1964.  As part of my stipend I was made his graduate assistant for one year and in that time I attended his undergraduate classes, typed letters he would dictate to me, and did library research for the Journal Humanitas, which he founded. Of, course I also took a graduate class with him. I think back on those days, now more than 40 years ago, with much fondness and a deep appreciation for the education I received.  Adrian along with Chuck Maes, David Smilee, Andy Giorgi, Tony Barton, and Alice Wagstaff, along with some later additions like Rolf von Eckatrsberg, Bill and Connie Fischer and a host of European visiting professors including J.H. van den Berg as well as the classes in philosophy-required every semester at that time-gave me a vocation that has sustained my professional and writing life. The spirit of that time lingers with me in my teaching and my writing to this day. 

Adrian was certainly at the core of all this with his dedication to existential-phenomenology and his passion  and enthusiasm for the life of teaching and writing. Beyond these obvious gifts, I remember his wit.  Often, when dictating letters to me to Gordon Allport, Rollo May, or Abraham Maslow, he would punctuate his remarks with brief but lucid characterizations of these people who were for me at 21 only names. He made them real and human. Also, there were occasions when he would tell me some stories  about his time in the Dutch resistance, some quite funny and others quite somber.

Adrian made his mark in the world of psychology and his contributions to existential-phenomenology are not forgotten. That he was instrumental in the founding of the Psychology Department at Duquesne is a lasting legacy. My participation in what he built changed my life    

Ellen (Benswanger) Sucov

I was a graduate student at Duquesne from 1965-75, when I received the Ph.D. in Psychology.  I was fortunate to study with many of the scholars he brought to Duquesne.  I studied Heidegger with Father van Kaam, and had many lively discussions with him.  He was, as you say, a dedicated teacher and a splendid person.  As one of the few Jewish students in the Department, I never experienced any expression of anti-Semitism, and  I think that Father van Kaam's attitudes contributed significantly to the atmosphere of tolerance and fairness in the Department.  May his memory be for a blessing.               

Lawrence Wetzler, Ph.D.

Although we only met a few times, I found my years at Duquesne (1971-1982) profoundly impacted by Adrian Van Kaam and his Institute for Formative Spirituality. Much of the pulse of his impact came indirectly through the time I spent with Chuck Maes in and out of class. I can remember his speaking of the timelessness inherent in giving oneself over to a useless presence, this thought appearing in one of his small books on leisure...opening oneself up to an unfocused immersion in the moment.  I am currently a psychoanalyst in New York City in full time practice as well as on the faculty of two psychoanalytic institutes where I teach, supervise and do training analyses. This past summer I spoke at the ISPS  conference in Vevey, Switzerland on the interface of music and psychoanalysis, demonstrating how I have used the music of Mozart, Schubert, and Mendelssohn to enable analysands to move into dimensions of experiencing beyond words...opening onto a timelessness beyond, yet encompassing, their anxiety ridden concerns such that a sense of hope could shine through the darkness enveloping their lives. Something of Adrian Van Kaam's openness to that timeless presence was shining through for me.