Transpersonal Psychology - Contributions To The Academic Field

Contributions To The Academic Field

Transpersonal Psychology has made several contributions to the academic field, and the studies of human development, consciousness and spirituality. Transpersonal Psychology has also made contributions to the field of psychiatry. One of the demarcations in transpersonal theory is between authors who present a fairly linear and hierarchical model of human development, such as Timothy Leary and Ken Wilber, and authors who present non-linear models of human development, such as Michael Washburn and Stanislav Grof. Timothy Leary, who was originally a professional psychologist and a professor of psychology, made a significant contribution to transpersonal psychology with the formulation of his "Eight Circuit Model of Consciousness", outlined in his book Info-Psychology.

Ken Wilber's primary contribution to the field is the theory of a spectrum of consciousness consisting of three broad categories: the prepersonal or pre-egoic, the personal or egoic, and the transpersonal or trans-egoic. A more detailed version of this spectrum theory includes nine different levels of human development, in which levels 1-3 are pre-personal levels, levels 4-6 are personal levels and levels 7-9 are transpersonal levels. Later development of the theory also includes a tenth level. Wilber has portrayed the development of human consciousness as both hierarchical and circular. His model is hierarchical in the way that development progresses from matter to body to mind to spirit. It is circular and uneven in the sense that the various developmental lines (e.g. morality, cognition, emotion, self-sense, etc.) don't always develop in tandem and thus progress can involve circling back to pick up the process. According to this theory different schools of psychology address different levels of the spectrum. Also, each level of organization, or self-development, includes a vulnerability to certain pathologies associated with that particular level. That is, developmental tasks must be properly met or they might lead to developmental arrest.

Wilber also describes a situation called the "pre/trans fallacy". According to Transpersonal theorists western schools of psychology have had a tendency to dismiss or pathologize transpersonal levels, equating them with regressive pathological conditions belonging to a lower level. The pre/trans fallacy describes a lack of differentiation between pre-rational psychiatric problems and valid transpersonal problems.

In contrast to Leary and Wilber, Michael Washburn and Stanislav Grof present models of human development that are not hierarchical or linear. Washburn presents a model that is informed by the Jungian perspective, and brings forth the notion of a U-turn. In other words, he introduces the idea of "integration through regression". That is, regression in the service of transcendence. Central to this model is the idea that the ego initially arose out of a "source" or "ground". Therefore, transpersonal development requires a return to this origins, before it can move on. Or, as formulated by Sharma, Charak and Sharma: ego revisits its nascent pre-ego origins in the unconscious in order to become integrated with its source and thereby transcend.

Grof, on the other hand, operates with a cartography consisting of three kinds of territories: the realm of the sensory barrier and the personal unconscious (described by psychoanalysis), the perinatal or birth-related realm (organizing principles for the psyche), and the transpersonal realm. According to this view proper engagement with the first two realms sets the stage for an ascent to the third, transpersonal, realm. Grof applies regressional modes of therapy (originally with the use of psychedelic substances, later with other methods) in order to seek greater psychological integration. This has led to the confrontation of constructive and deconstructive models of the process leading to genuine mental health: what Wilber sees as a pre/trans fallacy does not exist for Washburn and Grof, for pre-rational states may be genuinely transpersonal, and re-living them may be essential in the process of achieving genuine sanity.

As an alternative to many of the major epistemological and philosophical trends in the field, such as the focus upon experientialism (inner spiritual states) and perennialism (the legacy of the perennial philosophy), Ferrer has suggested a revision of Transpersonal Theory that focuses more upon the great variety, or pluralism, of spiritual insights and spiritual worlds that can be disclosed by transpersonal inquiry. He calls this revision a "participatory turn".

Transpersonal Psychology has also brought clinical attention to the topic of spiritual crisis. A spiritual crisis has to do with a person's relationship to existential issues, or issues that transcend the mundane issues of ordinary life. Many of the psychological difficulties associated with a spiritual crisis are not ordinarily discussed by mainstream psychology. Among these problems are psychiatric complications related to mystical experience, near-death experience, Kundalini awakening, shamanic crisis (also called shamanic illness), psychic opening, intensive meditation, and medical or terminal illness.

The terms "Spiritual Emergence" and "Spiritual Emergency" were coined by Stanislav and Christina Grof in order to describe a spiritual crisis in a person's life (precedents of Grof's approach in this regard are found in Jung, Perry, Dabrowski, Bateson, Laing, Cooper and antipsychiatry in the widest sense of the term). The term "Spiritual emergence" describes a "gradual unfoldment of spiritual potential with no disruption in psychological-social-occupational functioning". In cases where the spiritual unfoldment is intensified beyond the control of the individual it may lead to a state of "Spiritual Emergency". A Spiritual Emergency may cause significant disruption in psychological, social and occupational functioning. Many of the psychological difficulties described above can, according to Transpersonal theory, lead to episodes of spiritual emergency.

Because of the overlap of spiritual crisis and mental health problems, Transpersonal Psychologists made a proposal for a new diagnostic category entitled "Psychoreligious or Psychospiritual Problem" at the beginning of the 1990s. The category was approved by the DSM-IV Task Force in 1993, after changing the title to "Religious or Spiritual Problem". It is included in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). According to Chinen the inclusion marks "increasing professional acceptance of transpersonal issues". Besides signifying a greater sensitivity towards spiritual issues, and spiritually oriented narratives, the new V-Code may also contribute to the greater cultural sensitivity of the manual and could help promote enhanced understanding between the fields of psychiatry and religion/spirituality.