Posts Tagged ‘Transpersonal’

Before Freud…

At the Association Transpersonal Psychology conference last weekend I heard a wonderful presentation by Mark Ryan on the work of F.W.H. Meyers, an little known and under appreciated figure in the history of psychology. Meyers was a major influence on both William James and Pierre Janet and laid, according to Ryan, the foundation for what is now known as Transpersonal Psychology.

Ryan proposed the following five seminal contributions of Meyers’ work:

  1. The application of rigorous empirical methods to the study of subjective experience.
  2. The assertion of the reality of spiritual experience and the inadequacy of materialism to address it.
  3. An extensive map of the psyche as a spectrum of consciousness.
  4. A view of the unconscious as an avenue to transcendent experience and higher human potential.
  5. Belief in the evolution of consciousness.

In recent years there has been a rediscovery of Meyers’ work and a deepening appreciation of his contribution to psychology in general, and Transpersonal Psychology specifically. A comprehensive review of his work and integration with current developments in the field can be found in the encyclopedic Irreducible Mind (Kelly et al, 2007). Thanks go to Mark Ryan for presenting this voluminous topic in a clear and accessible manner.

Kelly, E. F., Kelly, E. W., Crabtree, A., Gauld, A., Grosso, M., & Greyson, B. (2007). Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Jamal’s Blog

Welcome to my blog. The intention of this blog is to connect. With whom would I like to connect? Hopefully, my extended community of people with shared interests, such as:

• transpersonal psychotherapy
• presence
• the process of conducting psychotherapy
• spirituality and psychology
• integrative therapy
• psychotherapy theory
• research about effectiveness in therapy
• mind-body approaches
• giftedness
• creativity
• indigenous psychologies

So, who might be interested in this site?
• clients or potential clients
• other therapists
• healers
• friends
• anyone who is interested in my work

The hub of my professional work is “presence,” researching both clinically and academically how it manifests in the process of psychotherapy.

Something of note: I am intentionally not separating this blog into a commercial site (i.e., for clients) and professional site (i.e., for colleagues). I am doing this as an experiment. After all, I claim to be “holistic”, among other things. If the arbitrary separation of the individual into “parts” (e.g., mind, body, spirit) is reductionistic, perhaps separating my community into “consumers” and “practitioners” is as well.

We are all growing. We are all learners. Knowledge is not the exclusive property of any particular interest group. So, I am hoping that this site will be a place where I can express myself transparently, in the context of my work, and engage community from that position.

My purpose or intention for this blog is:
• to connect with my “tribe”, by which I mean a community of shared interests and values
• to express my professional self in a public venue
• to share resources, as I come upon them
• to bring my work, both clinical and academic, into a larger domain
• to invite dialogue
• to elicit co-participation in research
• to provide updates on my professional activities