The State University of West Georgia Psychology Department is unique in that our theoretical roots are in the humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology traditions. Our courses move from the expression of such classically humanistic concerns as the centrality of human, subjective experience in psychology, a wholistic approach toward psychological life, toward human growth and development and the extension of human potential all the way to its traspersonal and spiritual horizons, toward the meaning of genuine community and sociality, the coming to know and the acceptance of one's own authentic individuality, and the myriad ways through which growth, development, and self-actualization are shown, are limited, and are transformed. Curriculum You will find many courses that focus on particular existential themes and issues which we all share in our psychological lives, i.e., courses in the nature and structure of consciousness, of perception, of psychological development throughout our life span, of the body in its lived and physical dimensions, of affective life and feeling, of dreaming, of loving, of human gender and sex roles including feminist psychology and women's spirituality, of our marital and family relationships, of sporting relationships, of our social and cultural relations, of spirituality, of transpersonal and paranormal experiences, of disaster and evil, the meanings and forms of psychological disorder, and of the nature and transformative power of psychotherapeutic relationships.
Courses also center on intensive studies of some of the great psychologists.
In the history of this program we have had whole courses on the depth psychological work of Freud, Jung, Sullivan, Horney, Lacan, Kohut, Bowlby, pioneers within the English Object Relations tradition, R.D. Laing, Harold Searles, Fritz Perls, Michael Eigen, and important figures within the marital and family therapy tradition. Finally, the perennial philosophy, spiritual traditions, and fourth-force psychology are explored through the writings of Aldous Huxley, Ken Wilber, Frances Vaughan, Michael Washburn, Krishnamurti, Tarthang Tulku, and the classics of Hinduism and Buddhism. We also believe that to fully appreciate the positive transformations fostered by a truly human psychology, students should be exposed to a critical examination of how traditional psychology approaches psychological life. Historically, humanistic, phenomenological, and transpersonal psychology are reactions to problems in the traditional accounts of the human psychological condition. Knowing what those problems are, by direct examination and explication of them, can enrich your appreciation of the contributions being made through the human science tradition, and show you the sense of its viable alternatives.