What is transpersonal psychology and why is it cheating

What is transpersonal psychology

Transpersonal psychology is a direction in psychology that studies altered states of the human psyche, such as, for example, spiritual crisis, stress and ecstasy. In fact, this area of knowledge tries to cover such aspects as life and death, the possibilities of human consciousness, connection with the Universe and transcendental Proceeding beyond sensory experience, sober reason. - Approx. the author. experiences.

As can be seen from the definition, the subject matter of this direction is extremely wide. Thus, transpersonal psychologists are interested in:

prenatal experiences;
spiritual development of a person;
the nature of intuition and creativity;
parapsychology;
spiritual and religious practices;
the impact of psychedelics on human consciousness;
breathing and meditation techniques, yoga;
experiences associated with death.

Transpersonal Psychology tries Taylor S. Transpersonal Psychology. Psychology Today combine Western psychology with Eastern spiritual practices to explore the characteristics of altered consciousness. The adherents of the theory argue that there are spiritual experiences and transcendental states common to all mankind, such as altruism, a sense of belonging to society, and craving for creativity.

The transpersonal direction declares the limitations of the normal state and challenges many of the established ideas in classical psychology and psychiatry. For example, the followers of this teaching find connections between the sayings of sages and madmen and consider prayer as an element of therapy for cardiac diseases.

As it is believed in transpersonal psychology, those memories and facts from a person's life that he forgot, or even did not know at all, are stored deep outside of consciousness. This makes the theory similar to the hypothesis of repressed painful memories from the concept of psychoanalysis. Among other things, transpersonal psychologists refer to repressed memories as allegedly stored in the subconscious information about birth and events before it.

The goal of transpersonal psychology is to help a person get rid of "garbage" like negative experiences and complexes, get rid of the burden of the unconscious and change life for the better.

How transpersonal psychology appeared and developed

The theory of the wide possibilities of altered states of the psyche arose in the late 60s of the XX century in the USA, singling out Taylor S. Transpersonal Psychology. Psychology Today from Humanistic One of the main areas of psychology, which studies the human personality. - Approx. the author. psychology. In that era, the development of oriental spiritual practices, the study of psychotropic substances and other forms of influence on consciousness were very popular.

The greatest influence on transpersonal psychology was exerted by the ideas of the Swiss and American psychologists Carl Gustav Jung and William James, as well as the Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank.

From Jung, the transpersonalists borrowed the idea of the Collective unconscious archetypes. Britannica of the collective unconscious. In addition, Carl Gustav himself was interested in paranormal and religious experiences and believed that spiritual experiences cannot be reduced to only rational explanation.

Another forerunner of transpersonal psychology, the aforementioned William James, wrote the book The Diversity of Religious Experience, which was published in 1902. In it, the author gave numerous examples of atypical spiritual experience - mystical visions, personality transformations after conversion to religion, the practice of asceticism and self-abasement - and called for investigating its impact on a person. It was James who coined the term "transpersonal."

Otto Rank, who, like Jung, was a student of Sigmund Freud, was the first to put forward the idea that at birth a person receives Rank O. Birth trauma and its significance for psychoanalysis. M. 2009 the first mental trauma in his life.

The founders of transpersonal psychology are considered Abraham Maslow and Andrew Sutich. They were joined by a number of other psychologists who later began to develop a new direction: Stanislav Grof, James Feydimen, Miles Vich and Sonya Margulis.

Maslow became the founder of the doctrine of self-actualization of the individual - the desire to understand their capabilities and reach their limit. To this end, the psychologist studied peak states of the psyche such as orgasm, sudden insights, ecstasy, expansion of consciousness. Maslow considered humanistic psychology to be a transitional stage on the way to transpersonal, transhumanistic, that is, expanding the boundaries of the possible.

Another important milestone for the development of the transpersonal direction is the development of a model of levels of cognition by Ken Wilber, the creator of integral psychology. According to Wilber, the human mind exists on three levels: prepersonal (unconscious), personal and transpersonal (transpersonal). According to this model, without having dealt with your unconscious, you will not be able to rise to the personal level, and without having worked, in turn, this stage, it is impossible to reach the transpersonal.

The most famous figure in transpersonal psychology is considered to be the Czech-American specialist Stanislav Grof. He put forward Grof S. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. M. 1992 hypothesized that neuroses, psychoses and most other mental disorders are only personal and spiritual crises. The fact that a person cannot cope with them on their own, according to Grof, does not make them diseases.

Already in the 1980s, some researchers called transpersonal psychology a marginal discipline. However, in 1996, the British Psychological Society opened the Transpersonal Psychology Section. The British Psychological Society of transpersonal psychology, a sign of her limited academic recognition.

Today in this area there are many different approaches, such as psychosynthesis, transpersonal therapy, introspection and others. However, at the moment transpersonal psychology is not recognized by most of the scientific community.

What transpersonal psychology is based on

Transpersonal (transpersonal) experience and altered consciousness

Transpersonal psychologists assign a special role to the comprehension of religious and mystical experience. They believe that it manifests itself in an altered state of consciousness when repressed experiences come to the surface. At the same time, personal anxieties can emerge as cultural archetypes, fairy-tale motives, memories from “past lives”.

For example, Stanislav Grof believes that Grof S can get rid of the burden of the past stored in the unconscious. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. M. 1992, only "having experienced" traumatic events anew. He proposes to do this with the help of the Holotropic Breathwork technique created by him.

A feeling of ecstasy from intense experiences, a feeling of oneness with the Universe, a spiritual "journey" through other worlds, the living of "past lives" - all these are states that are of interest to transpersonalists. In their achievement, representatives of the direction see opportunities for getting rid of negative thoughts, stress and mental trauma.

Expansion of consciousness

Transpersonal psychologists argue that human consciousness is unlimited, like the cosmos, and is associated with a kind of universal mind; that there is reason and soul, which make up a single whole and determine the personality of a person.

To study personality, experts conduct Grof S. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. M. 1992 psychophysiological experiments affecting the senses. Among other things, there was also the use of psychedelic drugs. Similar experiments were carried out by Stanislav Grof and his wife Christina, as well as Otto Rank, until the substances they used were banned.

Other methods of expanding consciousness are used:

A sharp change in the object of concentration of attention, when a person focuses on his sensations, then switches to any object, feelings experienced in the past, or unity with the Universe.
Heavy physical activity (up to excessive), coupled with limiting fluid intake.
Exposure to cold and heat, their alternation.
Music.
Long stay alone and / or immobilized.
Intentional sleep deprivation.
Imagination, visualization.
Meditation.
Hypnosis, self-hypnosis.
Analysis of dreams.
Creation.

Breathing practices

Some of the most famous practices for expanding consciousness are breathing, such as holotropic breathing and rebirthing.

Holotropic Breathwork Stanislav Grof Grof S. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. M. 1992 invented as a substitute for the use of LSD, in order to obtain a tool that supposedly helps to remove obstacles to the expansion of consciousness.

Grof believes that holotropic breathing allows you to open your unconscious, "trigger" all the senses and reveal suppressed experiences, including those associated with birth and death. All this, in his opinion, helps to go beyond time and space, to get transpersonal experience.

The technique itself is to take frequent deep breaths. Thanks to this, an energy is supposedly formed that shows a person the "way". On it, the transpersonalist can receive unexpected instructions that must be followed: make a sound, take a certain pose, and so on. Having walked along the "path", a person should get rid of negativity, relax and calm down.

Rebirthing was developed by Carroll R. T. Psychotherapies, New Age. The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions. John Wiley & Sons. 2011 by the American Leonard Orr in the 1970s - a little earlier than Holotropic Breathwork and with approximately the same purpose. The meaning of the practice is stated in its very name: as a result of its application, a person must be "reborn".

According to Orr, from the very birth, people are haunted by events that traumatize the psyche and cause harm to physical health. The very birth is one of them. Despite the fact that these memories and experiences about them are hidden in the unconscious, they, according to Leonard, negatively affect a person's life, manifesting themselves in complexes and fears. "Rebirth" is called upon to overcome them.

The rebirthing technique can be described as follows. First, it is advisable to lie on your back, without crossing your legs, calm down, breathe as usual, until breathing becomes even. Then you need to focus on your sensations, feel a tingling sensation or pain. So, according to rebirthing theory, one of the repressed memories manifests itself. You need to try to feel it, and then think about the negative event with humor. This supposedly will help to experience relief and pleasure from the fact that the pain has passed.

Why transpersonal psychology is not recognized by the scientific community

This trend has been around for over 50 years, but there is still no strong evidence for the theories of transpersonal psychologists. In most cases, their activities are not based on experiments, and the data obtained are subjective and do not carry any scientific value.

The American psychological organization never recognized transpersonal psychology as a separate scientific discipline. She is criticized for mysticism, parascience and authoritarian belief system.

Even one of its founders, Ken Wilber, later disowned transpersonal psychology, which did not prevent transpersonalists from studying his ideas in the future.

Despite the huge number of publications and the high academic status of many transpersonal psychologists, this trend is often called modern shamanic practice.

And yet - they associate with the New Age movement (these are religions of the "new age", in other words, sects). Through trainings, alternative medicine clinics and the sale of topical literature, transpersonal psychologists fund their organizations.

Separately, it should be said about the techniques of rebirthing and holotropic breathing. Increased heart rate, muscle tremors, fatigue and pain that people experience during such practices are considered by transpersonal psychologists to be the result of spiritual liberation. However, scientists say that these are symptoms of hypoxia caused by hyperventilation of the lungs. The fact is that hyperventilation can lead to narrowing of the vessels of the brain due to a decrease in the carbon dioxide content in the blood. Because of this, the supply of oxygen to the brain tissue is reduced and oxygen starvation occurs.

Prolonged hypoxia causes Michiels C. Physiological and pathological responses to hypoxia. The American journal of pathology

hallucinations, fainting, mental disorders due to the destruction of brain tissue, which may be irreversible.

Hyperventilation is contraindicated in pregnant women, patients with epilepsy, hypertension, stroke, suffering from heart ailments. It can also worsen the condition in people with psychosis and panic disorder.

During one of the rebirthing sessions, 10-year-old Candice Newmaker died. Despite the fact that the child suffered at the hands of "psychotherapists" who greatly changed the methods of rebirthing (in fact, Candace was choked with pillows), this practice was banned in the states of Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, California, Utah and New Jersey.