Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal is defined as extending or going beyond the personal and individual. As described in this entry, transpersonal psychology grew out of humanistic psychology, which emphasized positive psychological health and self-actualization, that is, the realization of human potential. Self-actualization is much more than self-fulfillment. Abraham H. Maslow introduced it as the ideal norm of robust mental health, contrasting it with the norms based on what is average, which he found deficient. He described the characteristics of self-actualizing individuals in rich detail. Among the most salient are the following: problem centering (focusing on problems outside oneself); autonomy and will (independence of culture and environment); the mystic experience and the peak experience; Gemeinshchaftsgefühl (a sense of fellowship with all human beings); democratic character structure (some basic respect for all human beings); discrimination between means and ends (“they do right and they do not do wrong”); resistance to enculturation and the transcendence of any particular culture. The transpersonal component is represented by mystical and peak experiences: uplifting experiences of expanded consciousness of “limitless horizons,” connectedness, loss of self (transcendence), and unity of everything. In other words, these transpersonal experiences go beyond self-actualization, beyond the personal and individual.

Maslow suggested transpersonal psychology as a field that would explore these “far reaches of human nature.” Transpersonal psychology was founded in 1969 with the launching of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. The field is devoted to bringing together Western and Eastern psychologies (especially through the work of Ken Wilber), exploring varieties of spiritual experiences, methods of healing, and meditation techniques.

William James can be said to be the forerunner of transpersonal psychology. From his study of spiritually gifted people, James concluded that the visible world is part of an invisible spiritual universe. Communion with that universe gives zest, infusion of energy and enthusiasm, and a loving attitude toward others. Consequently, although the spiritual universe remains unseen, it nevertheless produces real observable effects. Therefore, if the unseen can produce real effects, it must be real, too.

One of the founders of transpersonal psychology was Roberto Assagioli who developed psychosynthesis in contrast to psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is limited to investigating the subconscious and unconscious layers of the psyche, so Assagioli stressed that the psyche also had a higher, superconscious sphere and within it the individual's higher self as the source of energy and creativity. Assagioli developed techniques for personal and spiritual growth designed to bring about the integration of disparate parts of the psyche expressed as different facets of personality, or to use his word, “subpersonalities.”

Assagioli designed numerous scenarios for guided imagery. His work has been extended by Piero Ferrucci. Psychosynthesis techniques have been also adapted for young children.

Psychosynthesis techniques may work well with gifted children and adolescents who have the capacity for concentration, vivid visualization, and absorption in the imaginal experience. Imaginal experience is visualization with a full spectrum of sensory experience. In other words, the act of imagining oneself riding a horse cantering on a beach creates all the sensations of feeling the horse, smelling its scent and the sea, feeling the water splashed on one, hearing the sound of the horse's hoofs on the sand, the sound of the ocean waves, feeling the warmth of the sun, the wind, and so on.

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