John Heron

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John Heron was one of the leading figures in the Human Potential movement in the UK. He worked with all the great innovators in the early 1970s before setting up the Human Potential Research Project at the University of Surrey.

John was strongly influenced by the peer approach of co-counselling which fitted his temperament and his strong philosophical commitment to the person – something which we have adopted with gratitude.

Before meeting the humanistic approaches of the 1970s, John already had wide experience of a large number of approaches to development including a number of spiritual traditions.

John has had a deep influence upon the valuing of catharsis and the promotion of non-professional approaches to development (see Helping the Client).

He established a wide programme of events at Surrey and was instrumental in founding the IDHP (Institute for the Development of Human Potential) which supported two-year diploma programmes across the UK in the 1980s.

IDHP Diplomas introduced people to the aspects of Humanistic Psychology. The combination of individual development, group process work and social action, along with an openness to transpersonal development, meant these programmes had a lasting impact on all who took part in them.

Many of the building blocks of those programmes influenced the way in which Oasis designed its own longer educational programmes. The emphasis on working with the person, in and with the group and the importance of learning experientially all being linked to the individual’s contribution to the wider world are also at the centre of our work.

John went to Italy in the 1990s and Oasis stayed in contact with him throughout that time. When we began to deepen our interest in Co-operative Inquiry we arranged a visit to work with him on Integrated Practice and Holistic Learning in 1998.

He later moved to New Zealand to found the South Pacific Centre for Human Inquiry and people from Oasis have been to work with him and his colleagues there on several occasions. The inquiries have all centred on transpersonal co-operative inquiry: experiences that have been life changing for many who took part.