Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

The first concise overview of transpersonal psychotherapy.

This volume brings together the major developments in the field of transpersonal psychotherapy. It articulates the unifying theoretical framework and explores the centrality of consciousness for both theory and practice. It reviews the major transpersonal models of psychotherapy, including Wilber, Jung, Washburn, Grof, Ali, and existential, psychoanalytic,and body-centered approaches, and assesses the strengths and limitations of each. The book also examines the key clinical issues in the field. It concludes by synthesizing some of the overarching principles of transpersonal psychotherapy as they apply to actual clinical work.

"The field of transpersonal psychotherapy is growing rapidly and needs a competent overview and assessment of perspectives. Psychotherapy and Spirit meets this need. My guess is that it will be widely consulted not only by transpersonal psychotherapists but also by psychotherapists of other orientations who are open to the spiritual dimension of the psychotherapeutic process." --Michael Washburn, author of The Ego and the Dynamic Ground, Transpersonal Psychology in Psychoanalytic Perspective

Cortright brings together the disparate elements of transpersonal psychology in a way that is unique and profound. I know of no other work that so compellingly summarizes the progress and controversies within this groundbreaking discipline." -- John E. Nelson, M.D., author of Healing the Split: Integrating Spirit Into Our Understanding of the Mentally Ill

"This material is central in the training of transpersonal therapists and in the continuing education of more traditionally oriented psychotherapists. Clearly the author's convictions and experience inspire the book, and it will resonate with other clinicians attempting to do transpersonal therapy." -- Arlene Mazak, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology

At the California Institute of Integral Studies, Brant Cortright is Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Integral Counseling Psychology program. He is the author of Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart, also published by SUNY Press.