Transpersonal Psychotherapy

by Seymour Boorstein (Editor), Michael Washburn (Editor)

Breaches the wall between the psychotherapeutic and the sacred as respected pioneers in the field give their vision of the synergistic potential in these two powerful traditions.

“This is a timely and useful introduction to the new and growing transpersonal orientation in psychotherapy. The diversity of theories, techniques, and issues presented by the contributors underscores the comprehensive nature of the emerging perspective. It will prove to be equally valuable for the professional and non-professional reader.” — Miles A. Vich, Editor, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology

Since its original publication in 1980, this book has become a classic in transpersonal psychotherapy. This new edition contains articles by the major figures in the field, including new contributions by Stanislav Grof, John Nelson, Donald Evans, Charles Tart, Edward Hoffman, Seymour Boorstein, W. Michael Keane and Stephen Cope, Sylvia Boorstein, and Roger J. Woolger. The articles present a spectrum of widely diverse perspectives—from precise behavioristic work with attention training, through creative clinical pharmacology and theory development, to innovative use of chakra energies. The result is a rich and provocative summary of the state of the art in transpersonal psychotherapy.

The editor's focus is on the scientific healing/mysticism alliance, which dates back to the earliest shamans and in modern times has engaged William James, Carl Jung, Roberto Assagioli, and Abraham Maslow. In the book, some of the most respected pioneers in the field give their vision of the synergistic potential of these two powerful traditions. Transpersonal Psychotherapy describes a wide variety of uses of traditional and spiritual approaches for the alleviation of mental suffering and for spiritual development.

“Seymour Boorstein is a very experienced and widely respected psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He has not left this base in clinical practice as he has begun to explore the possibilities for psychological theory in the transpersonal domain. The professional community owes him a debt of gratitude for bringing together representative works on transpersonal psychology in a single anthology.” — Mardi J. Horowitz, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Seymour Boorstein, a psychiatrist in practice since 1959, credits his couples’ work, his own long-lived marriage, and his parenting and grandparenting with shaping the distinctive methodology in Who’s Talking Now? He has been an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California’s School of Medicine, San Francisco, since 1972.