-----------------------

To incorporate transpersonal ideas and technique into the therapist-client relationship is to reach into and make contact with our deeper selves in an effort to facilitate healing. John Rowan feels that psychotherapy, with its roots firmly planted in the physical sciences and the science of experimental psychology, ‘extends like a bridge’ with the other end somewhere in the mist of spirituality. How did psychotherapy develop so that it needed to include an understanding of spirituality in order to be effective? Do we need to become somehow religious or recognize our own spiritual nature so that we can consider ourselves healers and to be able to offer clients what they rightfully deserve? What are ‘transpersonal psychotherapies’ and what implications does it have for the future of counseling and therapists? What does the transpersonal mean in how we view the consciousness of the client? How do we incorporate the transpersonal into our own client centered therapies? These are issues which John Rowan explores in The Transpersonal: Psychotherapy and Counselling.

The term ‘transpersonal’ is often understood in various ways by different therapists and different clients. An exploration of the history and the early contributions to the field is helpful. This avoids confusion when discussing various states of consciousness and types of therapies.

One of the earliest and most important pioneers is William James. He recognized that there are various levels of the self. By studying freedom of the will he came to the conclusion that two steps were important. The first was that our own choices are creative. Only by believing in and creating for ourselves do we continue to exist, if we have no belief in ourselves or creative desire we perish. This first step defines the level of the personal.

The second step is that sometimes we have to surrender our will. When we want to go on in our development beyond this personal area we must have the intention to go onwards but must allow other forces beyond our personal self to pull us forward.

James recognized the existence of a spiritual self and explored it using nitrous oxide. Although he was able to experience a sense of the mystical nature of this aspect he was not able to make it a part of his identity in this way. When he was able to achieve his own unaided mystical experiences he described the self as a collection of several minds that made a ‘continuum of cosmic consciousness.’ One of these several minds he termed the ‘higher self.’ This self he said was beyond the personal yet connected to it and encompassed a greater self which was more.

Carl Jung was the first to have used the word ‘transpersonal,’ but used it in reference to the collective unconscious as a way of differentiating the collective unconscious from the personal unconscious. Jung felt that the collective unconscious represented the sum of human experience. As an individual’s personal unconsciousness became exposed to this knowledge through symbols, dreams or some synchronistic event a conscious awareness developed which led the way for further development of the individual’s psyche. Jung used the term transpersonal to describe an unconscious state that could never be personal or part of the self.

Jung made enormous contributions to the field, especially in the areas of archetypes and symbols that have led the way towards understanding part of our greater selves. Jung spoke of transpersonal experiences and ideas but because of his empirical background he was forced to put this spiritual self into the area of science of psychology and thus limited his model of the psyche.

Roberto Assagioli freed us of this limitation by making a distinction between the transpersonal and the collective unconscious. By examining archetypes and characterizing the archaic archetypes as prepersonal and the superconscious archetypes as transpersonal he clarified issues that would have been harmful in therapy. That therapy he called Psychosynthesis. Assagioli recognized that a broader definition of the human psyche contains the transpersonal self. The transpersonal is both within the collective unconscious and in contact with consciousness. Together these observations define a greater psyche, a ‘more’ as was described by Henry James. In this way the opportunity to develop an understanding of more spiritual experiences developed within the field of therapy. While Jung had been limited in his exploration of spiritual states, Assagioli was freed to explore and examine different kinds of spiritual and mystical experience. While Jung examined the soul, Assagioli freed us to explore the spirit. Assagioli also made an important contribution, by including in his work, experiences which occur in the realm of spirit where there are no symbols, where there is no longer contact with reality, but rather a becoming of reality.

Stanislov Grof has supplemented much of this pioneering work with broad evidence. While working with LSD in psychotherapy, Stanislov Grof, began to study the seemingly mystical experiences of his subjects. He discovered a range of transpersonal experiences. These experiences which range from transcendence of space and time to experience of the Archetypes leads to an interesting conclusion about therapy and the transpersonal. If we do not cover the transpersonal in our work with clients we are robbing them of the opportunity to develop into their full humanity.

While studying self-actualization Abraham Maslow noted that in self-actualized people there were peak experiences that seemed to be a key to the spiritual realms. These experiences lead to transcendence, to plateau experiences and to the actualized mystical self. While Maslow’s reputation is in humanistic psychology, he recognized that there is ‘a more’ and spoke of his own transcendent experiences. He realized that transpersonal psychology is distinguishable from humanistic psychology. It is largely due to his influence that the transpersonal gained recognition as another step in our understanding of ourselves.

Much of the knowledge we have about the transpersonal is culled from experience. This experience has emerged in healing practices, from Jungian modalities to those found in Spiritual Traditions. To identify an experience as transpersonal requires caution, as much caution as has been awarded to the definition of the term transpersonal itself. Not all of the experiences found in the following practices are transpersonal. If the experience or practice increases the awareness of the unconscious and it applies to growth in the spiritual areas there may be value in identifying those elements which are transpersonal.

One practice which demonstrates a method for the unconscious to communicate with the conscious is active imagination. In active imagination a dialogue is created between a particular point, mood, picture or event. This fantasy is then developed so that these images become concrete or even personified. Through conversation the images are given a life of their own and develop according to their own logic.

Active imagination is built around the understanding that there is nothing that is produced by imagination that is not an authentic representation of something in the unconscious. It does not matter how the image may come (it may be visual or non-visual), what matters is that the dialogue be developed so that the message may be revealed. In this dialogue the two persons talking are the imagined (representing an unconscious element) and the consciousness of the client.

In the traditional practice of active imagination the dialogue is carried on in private without a therapist present. In this traditional method a difficulty in developing real dialogue presents itself. The control of the conversation must be maintained by the unconscious element. If the consciousness of the client is allowed to gain control of the direction of the conversation the message may be lost. With a therapist present to insure that a passive dialogue does not develop the real dialogue is more secure.

Real dialogue may be very powerful, especially when the client is confronted with things which seem to be weaknesses, defects or obstructions to a productive life. Some of these images may even come as archetypal images from the collective unconscious and the client may feel she is dealing with something which is more than human. Humility must be developed which allows the client to converse with these images in such a way that she honor their viewpoints as a part of herself.

These interesting experiences can be both practical and real. The practice of active imagination can suggest greater realities. It appears that a new reality can be created through this interaction with the unconscious.

These conversations take place not in the physical world but in a place called the ‘mundus imaginalis’ or imaginal world. This is the space we enter into when we make up stories, see visions, hear internal music and so on. The imaginal world is a place where symbols and images are a language that is richer and has more meaning than words. Yet imagination like imagery can exist as a more primitive faculty - just as when dogs have dreams. We must exhibit caution not to assume that everything that involves imagination be considered transpersonal. The distinction between imaginal and imaginary can be made and the imaginal world can, if entered consciously, make real things happen - demonstrating that it is not "imaginary".

The imaginal world is an in-between place, a mediating place between unconscious and conscious. Of interest here is that if we pay attention to the imaginal world and open ourselves up to it, it becomes possible to share in another person’s imaginal world. Thus it is not a personal world since it is a place where it becomes possible to share with another person.

Is the imaginal world transpersonal? These experiences could demonstrate the transpersonal nature of the unconscious. Distinctions must be made. Confluence as described by Fritz Perls also demonstrates in this way. Certainly confluence experiences can be beneficial and lead to greater understanding. But they are transient and do not affect greater personal awareness. Similarly transference and counter-transference can be confused with experiences with the imaginal world.

There are two elements to this imaginal world. One is that it must be entered consciously and by an act of will, and the second is that control must be abandoned as soon as one enters this world. Exploration, and action are desired but not control. This lack of control or ‘surrender’ is a key element in establishing the transpersonal nature of practice in the imaginal world.

Without the control of ego we become free to explore and act within the imaginal world. Ego control of these experiences tends to destroy the fabric of the imaginal world. By disengaging ego control and allowing unconscious control to demonstrate itself and communicate with our conscious. By choosing to embrace these non-ego centered personalities as part of ourselves we revitalize our own ego by changing our awareness of it. Working in the imaginal world helps to better define ego and soul.

It must be mentioned that as we enter the realm of soul through the imaginal experiences we must give credence to the practice of developing a personal mythology. This idea was first promoted by David Feinstein and Stanley Krippner. Their work is based upon three premises:

Myth making at both individual and collective levels is the primary though unperceived psychological mechanism by which human beings navigate through life.

Now more than before, people are capable of carving out distinctively personal mythologies and reflecting upon them.

By understanding the principles that govern their underlying myths, people become less bound by mythologies of their childhood and of their culture, and they may begin to influence patterns in their lives that once seem predetermined and went unquestioned.

By understanding our personal myths we can counter the disorienting grip of a world in mythic turmoil. It also points the way to the deeper world of the psyche as seen within the imaginal world.

This practice allows us to brush against the mythic and sacred. It is here where we involve the gods, the archetypes and the shaman. Through this practice evolution occurs as we confront the old myths (thesis) develop a counter-myth (antithesis) and create a new myth (synthesis). This old myth describes the way we consciously explain why we are as we are. The counter-myth gained through the practice helps us to develop the new myth, which becomes a new explanation of ourselves. The suggestion is that the development of the counter-myth requires us to develop a greater awareness through transpersonal means.

Guided fantasy, a practice which takes place in the imaginal world originated with Desoille in the 1930’s. Desoille developed a series of scenes for people to imagine. Each scene was designed in such a way that by working through them in sequence the client could be taken into relevant areas of the psyche for self-development. This he termed the "waking dream" method. Using a hierarchical structure ascents are used to take the client towards spirit while descents are designed to evoke the personal unconscious. Archetypes are encountered and even evoked. These archetypes (as defined by Jung) were considered as most important by Desoille. Assiogioli observed that by entering into the world of the collective unconscious the client experiences personal conflicts as having an impersonal and collective background.

Later, Hanscarl Leuner developed a system called Guided Affective Imagery which later became called ‘symboldrama’. The client is asked to first visualize a flower which determines whether they are capable of symboldrama. Then the client is asked to enter a series of well worked out scenes. The client may be asked to enter a meadow and tell about anything that appears. The client is asked to continue describing things as they come along and is interrupted only by the therapist as difficulties are encountered. If for example the client discovers a boulder blocking his path the therapist may suggest a bulldozer remove the boulder so that progress may continue. Of course there are drawbacks if the therapist introduces helpful symbols in this way and interventions should not always be offered.

The therapist always acts as if the situation is real and may ask appropriate questions, such as -what color is it? What does it do next? What else do you see? So the therapist invites himself into the scene and is with the client, not leading but facilitating.

Assiogioli did not discover these methods until the 1960’s but they became part of psychosynthesis. These exercises and others like them became guided fantasy. Guided fantasy as it is now practiced involves the use of sequences of symbols and scenes where the client may explore personality, somatic states, thought content, and psychospiritual development.

Dreams offer an important way for the client to enter the imaginal world. By recreating these dreams and entering them consciously the experience a client may have is intensely real. Pierro Ferruci (1982) points out that when a person has one of these experiences:

It is not an intellectual concept.

It is not a byproduct of the superego.

It is not the result of suggestion.

It is not a parapsychological phenomenon.

It is not a state of lowered awareness.

The practices that developed using scenes and symbols from dreams emphasize staying with the image, respecting the image, not interpreting or reducing the image, and on loving the image for its own sake. The transpersonal approach emphasizes that the image speak for itself. The client is encouraged to be the image instead of thinking about it, or reasoning about it, or intellectually taking it apart. The sense of reality that develops is called the imaginal or even soul.

One additional area of practice for the therapist may be the interpretation of the symbols when a client has limited knowledge of these symbols. The therapist may suggest that since since these messages are coming from a soul level that arechetypal and mythical interpretations be applied. If, for example a client dreams of a powerful woman and the client is inclined to explore this as her animus she might be reminded of the mythic goddess Athena who represented strategy, practicality and tangible results. Care must be exercised here not to falsify or make these symbols into something they are not.

Meditation

Meditation is part of therapeutic practice and in a way it is not. It can be used as preparation, as an adjunct or as a follow-up for therapy. For years the triangle model of Naranjo and Ornstein for meditation has provided the best definition for the therapeutic community. Their model identifies three ways of meditation, the Way of Forms, the Expressive way and the Negative way. Newer work from Ken Wilber and John Southgate indicated a need for expansion of this model to include a fourth type.

Wilber says that during the process of psychospiritual development we have to use two dimensions. Both dimensions in different ways are called eros versus thanatos (love versus death).

In the model the horizontal dimension is called preserve (eros) against release (thanatos). Southgate points out that on this axis eros would involve some kind of desire. A hanging on, to keep, to be near. While at the other end of this dimension, we let go, willing to be separate, willing to be independent, alone, free. This again is representative of desire.

The vertical dimension is labeled ascend (eros) versus descend (thanatos). Ascending is a push towards creativity, love, satisfaction. Southgate points out that these are drives. The opposite pole of the axis represents destruction, hate , violence, depression. This is also representative of drive and as Wilber put it ‘Not a fear of death, but a drive towards it’.

Add in the types of mediation outlined by Naranjo and Ornstein and see where they fit on the model.

The Way of Forms is known as concentrative or absorptive meditiation, is any way of working which involves a definite object which is held to . A mantra, yantra, mudra, bija, symbol or something else is focused on and as the mind drifts away it is brought back to it. This fits into the ascend -preserve quadrant. Often the symbols chosen represent aspiration as in Bhakti yoga.

The Expressive Way is more Dionysian and may include possession by gods, spirits or energies. The Rajneesh dynamic meditation, which involves heavy breathing, fast movement, loud chanting and so on is an example as are some charismatic christian, shamanic and tantric forms of meditation. In this method the distractions become the focus of the meditation. This form fits into the descend-preserve quadrant.

The Negative Way is where we focus on eliminating all forms, all expression. The Yoga of Patanjali and the Zen practice of shikan-taza is representative. The work is done by letting go but in a way which empties the mind. This is a form of deprivation and it is placed in the descend-release quadrant of the model.

This now leaves the Facilitative way, which simply opens awareness to what is there. These are the forms of meditation which are all about witnessing what takes place. Vipassana and other forms of mindfulness meditation are friendly towards whatever comes along and allows fresh movement to take place and thus fits in the ascend-release quadrant.

When we examine meditation in this way it becomes apparent that some forms of mediation are conservative, they tend to hold on to what is. The practioners of these forms follow a guru or other head. Things stay as they are. Other forms such as in The Negative Way result in social impotence. "Because good is no better than bad, because all distinctions ebb away, there is no impulse to do anything in the world". The therapy in meditation can be found in the fourth quadrant of the Facilitative Way.

The Facilitative Way of meditation and the best in therapy are very similar. As David Levin puts it:

Health, radically understood, is simply a question of staying with the situated experiential process just as it presents itself, and letting the spontaneous play of energies flow freely, not separated by conflict into subject and object, inner and outer, myself and others, nor myself(here) and the situation (there). The wholesome flow, or creative interplay of the process is what principally matters.

This was said about Tibetan Buddhist therapy, but can be applied as well to transpersonal therapy as well. In this way meditation when practiced in a facilitative fashion can be adjunctive to therapy.

Meditation and other relaxation exercises can also be used to prepare for therapy. One such exercise is called Open Focus and is used to relax, increase visualization skills, and help the client to focus. The exercise consists of a series of questions about the ability to imagine certain experiences. For example, the question, "Can you imagine the space between your eyes?’ you might naturally experience your eyes and then let you imagination flow to the region between your eyes and then imagine the distance between them. The objective is to experience the region between the eyes and not form an abstraction such as a number of inches. This exercise when practiced daily and at the beginning of therapy has many of the same effects as meditation when combined with therapy.

There are many good texts on how to conduct a case. Transpersonal therapy is not so different from other forms of therapy in how to start with a client, how the relationship continues and how it ends. There are some comparisons that must be made between mainstream humanistic psychotherapy and transpersonal psychotherapy. Transpersonal therapy shifts the humanistic view of working on yourself to one of working with yourself. It affirms the existence of a furthur step beyond self-actualization. That step is of self-transcendence.

The role of the therapist is to help the client to extend the horizons of self by finding the true inner teacher and to help avoid the distractions of false teachers (both inner and outer). Furthur the therapist must help the client through the process of bringing the awareness brought by the inner (transpersonal) self into the life of the person. This is a grounding process and care must be exercised not to clip the clients wings in favor of roots - both must be valued.

Perhaps the most interesting and valuable insight with regard to general practice is that a transpersonal therapist is necessarily on a spiritual path. The therapist does not need to be some sort of superbeing. In addition the observation is made by Jung, Ram Daas and others that a psychotherapist cannot take someone beyond where he/she has been. However it is possible for the therapist and client to break new ground together if both are willing to learn from each other.

The extraordinary work of Ken Wilber in reconciling the worlds of spirituality and psychotherapy has created the groundwork for defining the world of the transpersonal. If we examine mysticism we may well say that the transpersonal is the shallows of mysticism. Mysticism has demonstrated that authentic spiritual experience is only to be had for oneself. It cannot be given by someone else - not a person, book or sermon. To say that something can be an authentic spiritual experience is to say that it is a form of consciousness. Mysticism is, as Evelyn Underhill says, "the science or art of the spiritual life."

Levels of Consciousness

A productive way of looking consciousness is using the notion of levels. Not levels in a domination hierarchical sense which implies force or domination but rather in a sense of actualization hierarchy which describes higher order of functioning. A simple example might be that a person can be thought of in terms of body and mind. This evolves into body, mind, soul and spirit. This gives rise to other models, such as body, emotions, intellect, soul and spirit. All the while we are defining levels by honing our definitions. From here we can move towards the chakra system as a way of defining seven different levels. Ken Wilber’s model describes no less than seventeen distinguishable levels. Wilber’s definitions for consciousness actually reconciles all the established systems of levels. Wilber’s map of consciousness shows that these other models all describe the same thing - it’s just that these different systems leave out different things.

Pleroma

This is the first state of consciousness, but perhaps should not be counted as a state of consciousness at all. Wilber describes this state as ‘Desireless, choiceless, timeless’ It is completely empty - an ignorant emptiness.

Dual Unity

This is a state (usually in the womb) where distinctions start to appear. There starts to be a consciousness of something and an other. Survival urges appear at this stage as do extreme and basic emotions.

Body Ego

This state is representative of a feeling self. Emotions, are still primitive. Fantasy and the ability to distinguish it appears. Thinking occurs in terms of wishes rather than reality. Separation anxiety can be high.

Membership Self

This stage is that of being a family member. A clear sense of time exists and language is easily used. Logical thinking emerges and becomes stronger. The previous stage had the self represented by the body, at this stage the self identifies with the group.

Mental Ego

At this stage the person has a personality and is able to play roles. One gives up family membership and takes up an independent position. Stepping stones to this are the peer group and the couple relationship. Self-control exists and the image of horse (body) and rider (mind) can be used to represent this.

This begins the stages which are considered within society as ‘ordinary consciousness’ and since this is approved it becomes stable and taken for granted - rigid and unquestionable. What is rigid and unquestionable is not mentally healthy. In this way a paradox exists - this condition removes us from a wider reality. Any further development must be done without the approval or support from society. Development occurs only from our own intention and will.

Centaur

Wilber speaks of the total body-mind at this stage of development. The key element is healing the splits of the previous stage. There is a conscious emergence of real self. Autonomy and spontaneity increase. Symbols are used for growth as language falters. This is the highest point in the existential realm. This step breaks the mold of mental ego. The unfinished business of the past must be resolved in order to be authentic.

This is the stage where many adults now find themselves developing. Pain and discomfort prevails as roles become questioned and negation of previous development occurs. A breakthrough is required, which involves letting go of preconceptions and our previous identity.

Much can be said about this area of development and it is where transpersonal therapy, having moved beyond the self imposed limits of humanistic and other schools, plays an important role. Society is unwilling to help and often provides obstacles to development. The therapist (provided they have progressed themselves) can provide assistance to the client to integrate the centaur self.

Lower Subtle

Here we move into the ability to question our strict boundaries - what is within the walls of our skin. Psychic abilities - such as perceiving auras, communicating with the supposedly dead, ESP, out of body experiences, etc., begin to appear. This corresponds to the extrapersonal. Wilber says this means going beyond ‘meaning in my life’, giving up intentionality and self-actualization and self-autonomy. These become more concrete in the higher subtle.

Higher Subtle

This is the stage of the ‘Higher" or "Deeper" self. Surrender becomes more important than assertion. Bliss is common, compassion is of a high degree and widely expressed. This step leads to the experience of the transpersonal self. Expressions of the transpersonal self have defined this as boundless as the boundaries of the centaur disappear, disidentification with the centaur occurs and the notion of the self is defined more as "a whole" rather than "a one."

The Causal Levels

Deity-archetypes condense and dissolve into final-God, the source of all archetypes. Symbols are given up as limiting. Gurus or masters are given up although we may relate to a larger discipline. Compassion is different and deeper than that seen before. The ground or essence of all previous stages is available. True-self transcendence occurs.

The Ultimate

It is Nothing and All things.

The purpose of providing this map is to identify where the transpersonal area of development exits. The transpersonal includes the centaur, the subtle and the causal. When we work in any of these areas we may be working transpersonally.