Psychology of Consciousness Theory Research and Practice
June 12, 2025
Etzel Cardeña, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana, Katja Valli et al.
11 citations
This article presents a taxonomy of altered states of consciousness, primarily based on their central phenomenological features. Following taxonomic principles and a modified Delphi methodology, a multidisciplinary, international group identified eight distinct phenomenological/behavioral states (some with subcategories): proto and transitional, delirium, minimal to no awareness, experiential...
PLoS One
November 7, 2018
Cassandra Vieten, Helané Wahbeh, B Rael Cahn et al.
124 citations
The science of meditation has grown tremendously in the last two decades. Most studies have focused on evaluating the clinical effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions, neural and other physiological correlates of meditation, and individual cognitive and emotional aspects of meditation. Far less research has been conducted on more challenging domains to measure, such as group and...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
October 1, 2006
Roger Walsh, Charles S. Grob
18 citations
In the brief period before it was legally terminated, considerable human subjects research was conducted on psychedelics. More than 1,000 clinical reports documented a wide array of psychological effects and therapeutic possibilities. The findings held major implications for disciplines as diverse as psychology, psychiatry, neuro-science, anthropology, sociology, and religious studies....
American Psychologist
2006
Roger Walsh, Shauna L. Shapiro
686 citations
Meditation is now one of the most enduring, widespread, and researched of all psychotherapeutic methods. However, to date the meeting of the meditative disciplines and Western psychology has been marred by significant misunderstandings and by an assimilative integration in which much of the richness and uniqueness of meditation and its psychologies and philosophies have been overlooked. Also...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
April 1, 2004
Huston Smith, Charles S. Grob, Robert L. Jesse et al.
29 citations
Four decades ago, Huston Smith published one of the mostinfluential articles ever written on psychedelics, titled “Do Drugs HaveReligious Import?” As part of “The Oral History of PsychedelicResearch Project,” he was interviewed and invited to revisit thistopic. The interview covers his personal experiences, as well as the influences of psychedelic experiences on religious traditions...
The Humanistic Psychologist
2003
Shauna L. Shapiro, Roger Walsh
111 citations
Abstract Meditation offers a rich and complex field of study. Over the past 40 years, several hundred research studies have demonstrated numerous significant findings including changes in psychological, physiological, and transpersonal realms. This paper attempts to summarize these findings, and to review more recent meditation research. We then suggest directions for future research,...
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
2003
Roger Walsh
36 citations
Despite 40 years of dialogue, debate still continues over whether psychedelics are capable of inducing genuine mystical experiences. This paper first reviews the arguments against this possibility and shows that all of them contain shortcomings. One reason the debate still continues is that there has been no adequate theory of mystical states and their relationship to the factors which produce...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
July 1, 2001
Roger Walsh
The nature of the experiences induced by shamans has long been a topic of considerable controversy. The experiences occurring during one of the major shamanic techniques, the shamanic journey, have been described in terms of various psychopathologies or as identical to the transcendent experiences of Buddhism and yoga. Despite such claims, careful analysis reveals that shamanic journey...
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
June 1, 1992
Mitchell B. Liester, Charles S. Grob, Gary Bravo et al.
130 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has been at the center of a debate over its potential benefits as an adjunct to psychotherapy versus its capability for neurotoxic effects and is currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). However, as yet, there is very little methodological data on the subjective experience of the MDMA-induced state or its...
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
June 1, 1992
Charles S. Grob, Gary Bravo, Roger Walsh et al.
21 citations
GROB, CHARLES S. M.D.; BRAVO, GARY L. M.D.; WALSH, ROGER N. M.D., Ph.D.; LIESTER, MITCHELL B. M.D. Author Information
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
1992
Roger Walsh
The article outlines reasons why the field of transpersonal psychology arose and some of its current theoretical and experimental frontiers. These frontiers include full-spectrum models of development that encompass transconventional stages, possible integrations among different psychological schools, new understandings of contemplative practices and altered states of consciousness, and...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
1983
Roger Walsh
This article provides an introduction and overview of meditation practice, theory, and research. The models of human nature and consciousness from the meditative traditions are compared with traditional Western psychological models, and the former are suggested to encompass a wider range of states of consciousness and psychological well-being. The various models and mechanisms, psychological...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
July 1, 1982
Roger Walsh
Barriers to research and publication appear to have resulted in a bias toward selective dissemination of predominantly negative information about the effects of psychedelics. However, it appears that significant numbers of people feel that the psychedelics have made positive contributions to their personal psychological growth. This article summarizes the experiences and conclusions of five...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
1980
Roger Walsh, Frances Vaughan
All psychologies posit either explicit or implicit models of the person which shape perception, organize experience, and determine methods of inquiry. A transpersonal model, like a humanistic model, focuses on the human potential for growth, health, and well-being. It goes beyond existing models to include self-transcendence, and it emphasizes the centrality of conscious ness in shaping...