What the Heck is “Transpersonal”?

I thought it might be helpful for those who aren’t familiar with the term, for me to provide some information about the phrase “transpersonal” and the origins of this psychology/psychotherapy practice.

The British Psychological Society acknowledges its central emphasis on spirituality. Transpersonal Psychology might loosely be called the psychology of spirituality and of those areas of the human mind which search for higher meanings in life, and which move beyond the limited boundaries of the ego to access and enhanced capacity for wisdom, creativity, unconditional love and compassion. It honors the existence of transpersonal experiences, and is concerned with their meaning for the individual and with their effect upon behavior.

They also say that “all the major spiritual and mystical traditions of the world include teachings about the nature of mind and promote practices and lifestyles intended to bring about psychological transformation.” To this end, the Transpersonal Psychology deals with the spiritual nature of human beings.”

According to the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP, now named Sofia Institute), Transpersonal Psychology is described as a full spectrum psychology that has a scholarly interest in the imminent and transcendent dimensions of human experience including the nature and meaning of deep religious and mystical experiences, non-ordinary states of consciousness and how we might foster the fulfillment of our highest potentials as human beings.

Ken Wilber writes in the forward of The Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology that transpersonal is “personal plus.” He explains that transpersonal work integrates both personal psychology and psychiatry but then “adds those deeper or higher aspects of human experience that transcend the ordinary and the average – experiences that are, in other words ‘transpersonal’ or ‘more than personal,’ …personal plus.”

ITP states that Transpersonal psychology combines a variety of approaches in psychology, including behaviorism, cognitive psychology and humanistic psychology, along with other disciplines, including Eastern and Western philosophy, mysticism, mindfulness and the world’s religions.

According to ITP, William James, Carl Jung and Abraham Maslow are just a few of the psychologists that played a role in evolving Transpersonal Psychology. It was William James who first used the phrase “transpersonal” in a 1905 lecture, according to The Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology. He is referred to as the founder of modern transpersonal psychology and psychiatry.

According to psychiatrist Stanislof Grof in the article “Brief History of Transpersonal Psychology,” in the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies:

In 1967, a small working group including Abraham Maslow, Anthony Sutich, Stanislof Grof, James Fadiman, Miles Vich, and Sonya Margulies met in Menlo Park, California with a purpose of creating a new psychology that would honor the entire spectrum of human experience, including various non-ordinary states of consciousness. During these discussions, they named the new discipline “transpersonal psychology.” Soon afterwards, they launched the Association of Transpersonal Psychology (ATP), and started the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. It was a few years later in 1975 that Robert Frager founded the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) in Palo Alto, Ca. The International Transpersonal Association was launched in 1978 by Stanislov Grof, Michael Murphy and Richard Price.