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TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Transpersonal Psychology is the study of consciousness, spiritual and peak experiences, optimal mental health, and other related phenomenon. It has often been referred to as the Fourth Force in Psychology. The First Force was represented by Freud and Adler who were interested in the internal processes of the psyche and the early relational experiences of the person. The Second Force was represented by the Behaviorists who thought the field of psychology should be focused on the behavior of the person and the environmental influences that determine behavior. The Third Force or Humanistic Psychology was championed by Abraham Maslow who described an intrinsic drive within the person to actualize him/herself, to manifest one’s full potential. It was also Maslow that named Transpersonal Psychology in the late 1960’s as a legitimate inquiry into transcendent experience that is centered in the cosmos rather than in the individual personality.
Transpersonal Psychology shares certain concerns and issues with various religions but is not religious. Transpersonal Psychologists are interested in direct experiences of a higher being and/or of a spiritual reality. The work of Stan Grof with holotropic breathwork and spiritual emergencies, Frances Vaughn and the application of meditation to enhance spiritual experiences, the theoretical work of Ken Wilber’s Spectrum Model of development are a few of the many theorists and practitioners in this growing field. The field of quantum physics and ecopsychology share many of the same questions and approaches to the understanding of human experience as spiritual experience. Most recently, the films What The Bleep Do We Know? and The Secret present some of the explorations of these fields in an educational format for the general public.
Besides the references already mentioned, John Davis, Ph.D. at Naropa University has an informative website with more details of the history of Transpersonal Psychology at the following website:
www.naropa.edu/faculty/johndavis/tp/tpintro7.html.
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