Transpersonal psychology

{{pseudosciencenav}}
'''Transpersonal Psychology''' is a [[hypothesis]] of mental health masquerading as legitimate [[pseudopsychology|psychology]]. Transpersonal psychology is based on the notion that trauma in [[Reincarnation|past lives]], [[birth]], gestation and disconnection from [[God]]/[[Subtle energy|energy]]/transcendent/[[soul]]<ref>[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.455.5134&rep=rep1&type=pdf Theoretical and empirical basis of transpersonal psychology and psychotherapy: Observations from LSD research] by Stanislav Grof (1973) ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'' 5(1):15-53.</ref> has left everyone sick. Practitioners attempt to heal this sickness… usually at a large cost, which would not be a problem except they are treating a disease that doesn't exist.

Transpersonal psychology has fundamental problems: it has a multiplicity of definitions from within the field,<ref name=cunningham>"The Challenges, Prospects, and Promise of Transpersonal Psychology" by Paul F. Cunningham (2007) ''International Journal of Transpersonal Studies'' 26(1):41-55. doi:10.24972/ijts.2007.26.1.41.</ref> it is based on [[metaphysics]]<ref name=cunningham/> (which is [[unfalsifiable]]), it was strongly influenced by the [[New Age]] [[Human Potential Movement]]<ref>[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201509/transpersonal-psychology Transpersonal Psychology: Exploring the farther reaches of human nature.] by Steve Taylor (Sep 25, 2015) ''Psychology Today''.</ref> and it is lacking in a [[biological]] basis, peddling a wide range of [[pseudoscientific]] ideas, e.g.: 
<ref>[https://www2.rivier.edu/faculty/pcunningham/Research/A%20Primer%20of%20Transpersonal%20Psychology.pdf Bridging Psychological Science and Transpersonal Spirit: Introduction to Transpersonal Psychology] by Paul F. Cunningham (2011).</ref>{{rp|25-28}}
{{collist|2|
*[[Clairvoyance]]
*[[ESP]]
*[[Faith healing]]
*[[Intuition]]
*[[Levitation]]
*[[Out-of-body experience]]
*[[Parapsychology]]
*[[Precognition]]
*[[Psychokinesis]]
*[[Scrying]]
*[[Spiritualism]]
*[[Telepathy]]
*[[UFOs]] and [[Extraterrestrials]]
}}

[[Stanislav Grof]]<ref>[http://www.transpersonal.lv/index.php/en/pub/pub-3?task=download&tmpl=component&id=24 New Perspectives in  Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychotherapy: Observations from Modern Consciousness Research]by Stanislav Grof</ref> coined the term but it has a long tradition; it has peppered the works of pseudoscience promoters, of all stripes and colours, since the eighteenth century including Jeffrey Sumber, William James, [[Carl Jung]], [[Deepak Chopra]], [[Bruce Greyson]] and [[Ervin Laszlo]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111104042551/http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/11/03/6-facts-about-transpersonal-psychology/ 6 Facts about Transpersonal Psychology] by Margarita Tartakovsky, ''PsychCentral'' (archived from November 4, 2011).</ref>  According to Grof, [[Shaman|shamans]] have something to do with transpersonal psychology and hold the secret for the [[Western world]].<ref>''Psychology of the Future Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research'' by Stanislav Grof (2000)  State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791446220.</ref>

Frameworks used by transpersonal psychologists, such as by Ken Willbur, may lack outside reference points and thus lead to [[Tautology|tautologies]] and [[ambiguity]].<ref>[https://www.newdualism.org/papers/G.Adams/Adams-on-Wilber.htm A Theistic Perspective on Ken Wilber's Transpersonal Psychology] by George Adams (2002) ''Journal of Contemporary Religion'' 17(2).</ref>

Transpersonal psychology may look like this:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160204122022/http://soultransitions.com/intuitive-guidance/ Soul Realignment™] (archived from February 4, 2016).</ref> 
{{quotebox|A Soul Realignment™ session will help you find the clarity you need to make decisions that will serve your higher path and purpose… Soul Profile and Realignment One hour reading plus a 15 minute support call a few weeks after the reading – $197 Buy Now… For those who cannot receive an e-mail recording and wish to have the recording e-mailed on a disc, there is a $10 Shipping and Handling charge. Reading plus $5 shipping and handling – $207 Buy Now.}}

Or this:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180823130748/http://maraliemartin.com/in-person-sessions/energy-realignment/ Energy Realignment] by Maralie Martin (archived from August 23, 2018).</ref>  
{{quotebox|I reach into the many ‘files’ of a client's energy and [[Circular reasoning|follow as I am lead]].{{sic}} There is no one modality I use — and I work completely by instinct. One client may require Tong Ren along with a past life clearing before balancing.  Another may have entities and I will go in to find them another place to live before I'm able to work with the client's physical body.}}

It's best to stay clear of these people.

==Gems of transpersonal psychology==
Abraham Maslow:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160628050737/https://www.rare-leadership.org/Maslow_on_transpersonal_psychology.html Abraham Maslow, Transpersonal Psychology, and self-Transcendence] by Timothy Conway (2008) ''Rare-Leadership.org (archived from June 28, 2016).</ref>
{{quotebox|I find not only self-actualizing people who transcend, but also nonhealthy people, non-self-actualizers who have important transcendent experiences.}} 

William James:<ref>[https://archive.is/h6kbl William James, Theosophist] By Tony Lysy (2013) ''Theosophical Society'' (archived from 11 Feb 2014 22:00:14 UTC).</ref>
{{quotebox|Notwithstanding my own inability to accept either popular [[Christianity]] or scholastic [[theism]], I suppose that my belief — that, in communion with the Ideal, new force comes into the world and new departures are made here below — subjects me to being classed among the [[supernatural]]ists of the piecemeal or crasser type.}}

[[Stanislav Grof]]:<ref>[http://www.transpersonal.lv/index.php/en/pub/pub-3?task=download&tmpl=component&id=24 New Perspectives in Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychotherapy: Observations from Modern Consciousness Research] by  Stanislav Grof (archived from April 15, 2015).</ref>
{{quotebox|Transpersonal psychology is interested in a significant subgroup of these states that have [[heuristic]], [[healing]], transformative and even evolutionary potential. This includes experiences of shamans and their clients, those of initiates in native rites of passage and ancient mysteries of [[death]] and [[Reincarnation|rebirth]], of spiritual practitioners and mystics of all ages, and individuals in psychospiritual crisis (“spiritual emergencies”).}}

[[Carl Jung]]<ref>[http://thesethingsinside.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/carl-jung-says-god-is-reality-itself/ Carl Jung says God is reality itself] (January 7, 2013) ''these things inside, WordPress''.</ref>

{{quotebox|It is only through the psyche that we can establish that [[God]] acts upon us, but we are unable to distinguish whether these actions emanate from God or from the [[unconscious]]. We cannot tell whether God and the unconscious are two different entities. Both are border-line concepts for transcendental contents. But empirically it can be established, with a [[Pseudostatistics|sufficient degree of probability]], that there is in the unconscious an archetype of wholeness. Strictly speaking, the God-image does not coincide with the unconscious as such, but with this special content of it, namely the archetype of the Self. [[Tautology|God is reality itself]].}}

==See also==
*[[Dream interpretation]]
*[[Genetic memory]]
*[[Pseudoscience]]
*[[Pseudopsychology]]
*[[Shamanism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Pseudopsychology]]
[[Category:Woo]]

Categories: Pseudoscience, Pseudopsychology, Woo