Journal of Humanistic Psychology
April 28, 2017
Alexander Belser, Gabrielle Agin-Liebes, Thomas Cody Swift et al.
305 citations
In psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for cancer patients with anxiety, participants commonly reported feelings of interconnectedness, emotional range, meaningful visual phenomena, and revised life priorities. Most described exalted joy, bliss, love, and transient distress, while some experienced lasting identity changes, synesthesia, catharsis, improved relationships, and forgiveness. The findings suggest psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy may effectively treat psychological distress in cancer patients.
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
June 14, 2017
Thomas Cody Swift, Alexander Belser, Gabrielle Agin-Liebes et al.
187 citations
In psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for cancer patients with anxiety, participants described reconciling with death, acknowledging cancer's place in life, and emotionally uncoupling from the disease. The immersive and sometimes distressing psilocybin session led to spiritual or religious interpretations, a felt reconnection to life, reclaiming presence, and greater confidence about cancer recurrence. Patients also reported anxiety and trauma related to cancer and a perceived lack of emotional support. The findings suggest psychological mechanisms—such as emotional uncoupling and reconciliation with death—that may underlie large reductions in anxiety and depression observed in recent trials.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
January 1, 2002
Harris L. Friedman
89 citations
The paper argues that transpersonal psychology can and should develop as a science. It counters objections from romanticism, scientism, and constructionism, and distinguishes transpersonal psychology as a science from the broader field of transpersonal studies, which may use nonscientific methods. The author delineates transpersonal phenomena (suitable for scientific study) from transcendent noumena (outside science's purview). Embracing a scientific approach is presented as beneficial compared to epistemological alternatives, potentially providing a unifying paradigm for psychology and helping solve critical world problems. The presentation challenges readers to examine science's role in transpersonal psychology.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
July 1, 2014
Eli Kolp, Harris L. Friedman, Evgeny Krupitsky et al.
53 citations
Ketamine psychedelic psychotherapy (KPP) is a treatment approach that combines the dissociative anesthetic ketamine with psychotherapy. Ketamine produces a range of effects including analgesic, sedative, anxiolytic, antidepressant, and hallucinogenic properties. The paper reviews clinical applications of KPP, offers practical guidance, and examines the pharmacology and phenomenology of ketamine-induced experiences, including their potential for transpersonal healing and risks of misuse. It aims to serve as an authoritative resource for psychiatrists and others interested in understanding and applying KPP.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
January 1, 2007
Eli Kolp, M. Scott Young, Harris L. Friedman et al.
44 citations
Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, has antidepressant effects and can induce transformative transpersonal experiences. Although only approved as an anesthetic in the US, it is prescribed off-label for psychological problems and used similarly in Argentina, Iran, Mexico, Russia, and the UK. The literature on ketamine-enhanced psychotherapy (KEP) is reviewed, and two case studies treating death anxiety in terminally-ill people are reported. The authors emphasize the need for formal research on KEP for end-of-life death anxiety.
The Humanistic Psychologist
January 1, 2006
Harris L. Friedman
38 citations
Medication trials at major U.S. research universities are legally exploring psychedelics' potential for treating physical and psychological problems. Although approved under a medical model viewing psychedelics' effects as primarily biochemical, some studies also address humanistic and transpersonal implications. These studies may challenge a medical model of psychopathology that reduces humans to biology and leads to treatments that constrict, rather than enhance, human potential. Psychedelics offer potential as tools for researching elusive areas within humanistic and transpersonal psychology and for facilitating humanistic and transpersonal growth.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
December 31, 2024
Harris L. Friedman
Transpersonal psychology offers clinical supervisors a framework that emphasizes an interconnected, self-expansive view of the self across time and space, and it provides a secular way to consider spirituality without supernatural assumptions. Transpersonal supervisors can challenge conventional ideas about what and how supervisees know, and even the nature of being a knower, by offering a more inclusive, holistic vantage that is critical of mainstream approaches and surpasses their ability to provide a coherent "super" vision. Background on transpersonal psychology related to the supervisor role is provided, along with discussion on how to conduct transpersonal clinical supervision and cautions about potential pitfalls.
The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology
January 30, 2010
Glenn Hartelius, Harris L. Friedman
Transpersonal psychology emerged in the United States during the 1960s, a period of psychedelic experimentation and rediscovery of mysticism from Eastern and indigenous traditions. It grew from discontent among humanistic psychologists who questioned the limitations of a solely human-based psychology that paid scant attention to consciousness and spirituality. Although it had earlier roots, its formal birth is linked to the debut of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. The lead article in its first issue was written by Abraham Maslow, who had played a key role in developing humanistic psychology and then refocused on a psychology centered on human connections to the cosmos. Other notable founding figures include Stanislav Grof and Charles Tart.