John Rowan (31 March 1925 – 26 May 2018) was an English author, counsellor, psychotherapist and clinical supervisor, known for being one of the pioneers of humanistic psychology and integrative psychotherapy.
[2][3][4] Rowan was a qualified individual and group psychotherapist (UKAHPP and UKCP), a Chartered counseling psychologist (BPS) and was an accredited counsellor (BACP).
[7] He started his life at the Old Sarum Airfield, Salisbury[1] where his father was a squadron leader in the British Royal Air Force.
[1][9] Rowan spent several years working in various occupations including encyclopedia sales, teaching, telecommunications, accountancy, research, and other office-based jobs.
He lived and worked with Harold Walsby in 1950, and in 1951 joined the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) in order to learn the rudiments of Marxism.
[12] During childhood, Rowan went to a number of different schools as a consequence of his father's career in the British Royal Air Force.
[23] In the 1950s, Rowan gained a London University diploma in sociology, and was awarded a joint honours degree in philosophy and psychology from Birkbeck College.
[8] From 1970–79, Rowan studied with a variety of practitioners including John Adams, James Elliott, Bernard Gunther, Paul Lowe, Elizabeth Mintz, Al and Diane Pesso, John Pierrakos, Will Schutz, Julian Silverman, Jay Stattman, and Denny Yuson.
[26] He was an Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy[25] and was a past member of its governing board, representing the Humanistic and Integrative Section.