A Transformative Psychology
Transpersonal Psychotherapy is a school of modern psychology that integrates the center of internal cognition with a deeper and more expansive understanding.
The process is one of psychological and spiritual transformation.
Transcendent states
The transcendent state is those aspects of the conscious mind that extend beyond the interior experience of the self and into an expansive state of sensory perception.
Such experiences allow the person to develop beyond conventional psychological conditions leading to what author and humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow calls a life-changing peak experience known as self-actualization.
For those unfamiliar with Abraham Maslow, he is ranked among the ten most-read and influential psychologists of the 20th century.
Peak experiences
Many peak experiencers describe perceiving reality as simultaneously self-manifesting and self-fulfilling. A state in which there is no separation between being, sensing and doing.
A peak experience is described as being radically different from ordinary perception. Experiencers describe the state as a profound shift away from perceiving separate and divided realities.
The most fundamental example of a divided reality is the perception that there exists an exterior realm separate and outside of us and a separate and interior realm within us.
Transcendent and timeless state of infinite unity
In contrast, the actualized experiencer perceives reality as a unified and infinite field of diverse connectedness without separating the inner and outer realms. In this state, the observer and the observed share a singular and simultaneous experience. In India, this type of peak experience is called Kundalini.
It is believed that those on a transcendental level possess an unrelenting appetite to seek the truth, which they believe can be found through self-contemplation and meditation.
The Transpersonal Psychologist’s role is to assist the seeker in understanding the psychodynamic process and its traditional and esoteric roots.
Seekers who experience the transcendent state are often left in what can only be explained in terms of ontological shock. The individual has gone through an emergence, breaking through the conventional limits of their ordinary conscious experience.
Closely related psychology to transpersonal therapy is Jungian psychology. While Transpersonal Therapy is growing, relatively few counseling resources focus on this practice.
To locate such a practitioner, below you will find national and international resources that can direct you to such professionals.
Transpersonal Resources:
Association for Transpersonal Psychology
(ATP) is a membership-supported international coordinating organization for scientific, social, and clinical transpersonal work that serves the world community.
Spiritual Competency Resource Center
The Spiritual Competency Resource Center provides access to online resources that enhance the cultural sensitivity of mental health professionals.
Dr. Orloff links physical health, mental well-being, and spiritual connectedness. She has worked as a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at UCLA and is an internationally known-writer and lecturer.
She is the author of Guide to Intuitive Healing and Second Sight.
Holos Institute is a non-profit organization offering holistically oriented psychotherapy and educational programs.
Their counseling offices are based in Oakland and San Francisco and provide a range of affordable, high-quality psychotherapy services with advanced marriage and family therapist interns participating in the Holos ecopsychology training program.
California Institute of Integral Studies
The California Institute of Integral Studies is an accredited institution of higher learning and research that strives to embody spirit, intellect, and wisdom in service to individuals, communities, and the Earth.
Center for Spirituality & Psychotherapy
The Center for Spirituality and Psychotherapy (CSP) was formed in response to the rapidly growing interest in the relationship between spirituality and psychotherapy.
Bonnie Greenwell is a transpersonal therapist and author of ‘Energies of Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini Process,’ a guide for experiencers and therapists based on her dissertation research.
