05 Jul Transpersonal Psychology: Healing
It seems from the research that transpersonal experiences have been seen as healing for millennium, perhaps since the beginning of time, in all cultures except the rational, patriarchal Western ones. Transpersonal experiences were treated with great awe and respect, and the cultures that formed around them provided support.
Contemporary culture offers no such support. If an individual shares their transpersonal experience there is the likelihood they will be discounted and shamed, and perhaps slapped with a psychiatric diagnosis. Many people may be having transpersonal experiences during sex and have no way of knowing that this is more common than we realize. The illegality of psychedelic drugs has made the psychonaut journey go underground until recently, and of course there remains the threat of arrest and incarceration. Groups who meet to encourage transpersonal experiences such as meditators and drum circle participants are marginalized and brushed off as New Age.
There is also the fact that these powerful experiences can be too much for some people, especially if they are fragile and unstable. The New Age, some factions of transpersonal psychology, and the psychedelic community want to perpetuate the idea that “there is no such thing as a bad trip” and that everyone is evolving in a never-ceasing upward ascent. The shadow side of transpersonal experiences is rarely considered or discussed (Daniels, 2021), which is a sign of spiritual bypassing. These powerful experiences can and have led to personality disintegration, death, suicide, psychosis, and otherwise lost lives. Some people do not get better.
Transpersonal experiences always have the potential to be healing but are not always so. It is good to remember Timothy Leary’s (a transpersonal psychologist if there ever was one) famous dictum of “set and setting.” Whether or not transpersonal experiences occur in a safe setting makes a difference, and whether or not the mindset of the participant is stable and ready is crucial. As transpersonal psychologists we can do a lot to promote the safety and wellbeing of people wishing to undergo transpersonal journeys, or are integrating the effects of transpersonal experiences.
© 2023 Catherine Auman
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