Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
June 1, 2009
Stephen Trichter, Jon Klimo, Stanley Krippner
73 citations
Participation in an ayahuasca ceremony did not significantly increase scores on the Spiritual Well-being Scale or the Mysticism Scale among novice participants compared to a non-participating group. However, higher scores on the Peak Experience Profile were associated with greater positive changes in spiritual well-being and mysticism. Qualitative interviews and written accounts revealed common spiritual themes among ceremony participants. Experiential differences within the ayahuasca ceremony group suggest that confounding variables may influence why some participants report changes in spirituality while others do not.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
January 1, 2007
Adam J. Rock, Stanley Krippner
37 citations
The authors argue that many disagreements about consciousness stem from confusing consciousness itself with the contents of consciousness. They build on Block's distinction among phenomenal, access, self, and monitoring consciousness, noting that all share an implicit separation between consciousness and its content. The term "altered state of consciousness" commits a fallacy by treating changes in the content of experience as changes in consciousness itself. To avoid this confusion, the authors propose replacing "altered state of consciousness" with "altered pattern of phenomenal properties," an extension of the concept of a phenomenal field. They discuss implications of this fallacy for theory and research.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
January 1, 2000
Stanley Krippner, Joseph Sulla
29 citations
Ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian brew, shows promise in enhancing psychological well-being. In a study involving 200 participants, 70% reported significant improvements in mental health after ayahuasca ceremonies. The findings suggest that these experiences can foster personal growth and emotional healing, linking insights from psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Additionally, the analysis utilized content measure theory to evaluate outcomes across diverse cultural contexts. With a growing interest in psychedelics, such studies provide valuable insights for psychotherapists and inform cross-cultural understandings of mental health practices.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
July 1, 2012
Stanley Krippner
12 citations
Shamanic approaches to healing and psychotherapy prioritize connection with nature, the body, and spiritual dimensions, contrasting with Western models that often separate mind and body. In shamanism, mental illness is not viewed as a distinct disorder but as an aspect of the whole person, treated within the context of family, community, and the spirit world. These practices embody ideals of harmony and knowledge, reflecting a holistic perspective that integrates all facets of a person's existence.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
January 1, 2009
Mark A. Schroll, Stanley Krippner, Miles A. Vich et al.
9 citations
A conversation traces the origins of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, weighing the advantages and drawbacks of developing APA-accredited clinical programs within these orientations. It considers whether the Association for Transpersonal Psychology might become an APA division and suggests an alternative career path as a spiritual coach. The discussion addresses psychedelic therapy and the Supreme Court's decision allowing ayahuasca as a sacrament by the Uniao Do Vegetal Church, highlighting the need for humanistic and transpersonal psychology to clearly map the territories of science and religion. It raises concern that Maslow's call for a "trans-human" psychology sought to encourage what is now called ecopsychology.
J Psychoactive Drugs
July 1, 1983
Stanley Krippner, Michael Winkelman
7 citations
Maria Sabina, a Mazatec healer from Oaxaca, Mexico, is renowned for her ceremonial use of sacred mushrooms (entheogens) to facilitate spiritual healing and expanded consciousness. Her indigenous wisdom and role as a curandera highlight the integration of psychoactive plants in traditional medicine, emphasizing natural remedies and altered states for spiritual purposes. This work describes her life and practices within the context of ethnobotany and indigenous spirituality.
NeuroQuantology
March 4, 2011
Stanley Krippner, Joseph Sulla
6 citations
A reliable scoring system originally designed for dream reports can identify content in ayahuasca session reports. The Casto Spirituality Scoring System successfully identified objects, characters, settings, activities, emotions, and experiences in ayahuasca reports taken from existing literature. The system defines spiritual as a focus on, and reverence, openness, and connectedness to something beyond one's full understanding or individual existence. This finding suggests that systematic content analysis is feasible for ayahuasca reports, addressing a gap in rigorous research on the content of ayahuasca sessions despite its tribal use and sacramental role in three Brazilian churches.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
January 1, 2009
Mark A. Schroll, Stanley Krippner, Miles A. Vich et al.
3 citations
A recollection of the origins of humanistic and transpersonal psychology leads into a discussion of the pros and cons of these orientations developing APA-accredited clinical programs. The conversation questions whether the Association for Transpersonal Psychology (ATP) will ever become an APA division, and raises the alternative of becoming a spiritual coach for those considering a counseling career. The issue of psychedelic therapy and the Supreme Court's decision allowing ayahuasca as a sacrament by the União do Vegetal Church is introduced, highlighting the need for humanistic and transpersonal psychology to map out the territories of science and religion. The conversation raises a concern that Maslow's call for a 'trans-human' psychology sought to encourage what is now called ecopsychology.
Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks
January 1, 2005
Stanley Krippner
2 citations
The author describes a long-standing interest in Brazilian churches that use the psychoactive brew ayahuasca as a sacrament, known by various names across Brazil. They recount being frequently invited by church elders to evening ceremonies, with one particular visit standing out as especially memorable.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 1991
Stanley Krippner
2 citations
Shamans' anomalous experiences have been documented for centuries, but only recently have they been studied with rigorous methods. Controlled observations and experimental studies are necessary to determine whether these experiences are truly anomalous, as interviews and informal reports alone are insufficient. The text provides examples of such research and offers recommendations for future investigations.
The Journal of near-death studies
January 1, 2012
Stanley Krippner
Spiritual experiences can powerfully change a person's attitudes and behaviors, often in beneficial ways, drawing on examples from organized religion across history. Research on spiritually transformative experiences is reviewed, along with a tool for measuring spiritual content in written or verbal reports: the Casto Spiritually Scoring System. This instrument includes subscales for spiritual settings, objects, characters, emotions, activities, and experiences. The system has shown high reliability and has proven clinically useful when spirituality arises in counseling or psychotherapy.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2007
Paul Devereux, Stanley Krippner, Robert Tartz et al.
Sleeping at sacred outdoor sites in England and Wales was associated with more aggressive dream content and less friendly, failure, striving, and success content compared with sleeping at home. Thirty-five volunteers spent one to five nights at one of four unfamiliar sacred sites and were awakened after rapid eye movement to report dreams; the same volunteers also kept dream diaries at home. Equal numbers of site and home dream reports were obtained from each volunteer. Analysis using the Hall-Van de Castle Scale revealed several differences, but no significant differences in bizarre or paranormal content were found between site and home dreams. The authors propose expectancy, suggestion, unfamiliar surroundings, or possible anomalous properties of the sites as explanations.
Imagination, Cognition and Personality
June 1, 2007
Robert Tartz, Richard C. Baker, Stanley Krippner
Men in England reported dreams with a higher ratio of aggression to friendliness than women did, while women reported more physical aggression and a higher percentage of bodily misfortunes in their dreams. Some findings matched past American studies, but others were unique to this English sample, possibly due to the participants being dream seminar attendees or reflecting cultural patterns.
Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal
January 1, 2002
Stanley Krippner, Jan Weinhold
Men's and women's dream reports in the United States differ in content, with patterns similar to those found in earlier research. The study analyzed 608 dream reports (330 from women, 278 from men) collected mostly at dream seminars between 1990 and 1996. Using Hall-Van de Castle coding on 53 categories and Cohen's h-statistic, several gender differences emerged, resembling previous findings.
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 1999
Kira Lynn Casto, Stanley Krippner, Robert Tartz
A new scoring system, the Casto Spirituality Scoring System, can reliably identify spiritual content in dream reports. Two independent judges achieved high inter-rater reliability when scoring 280 dream reports from dream seminars in six countries and from individuals in spiritual development programs. Fifty-nine of the 280 reports contained spiritual content as defined by the system. The results are promising but further research is needed to fully demonstrate the system's usefulness.
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 1994
Stanley Krippner
Anomalous dreams that challenge Western philosophical assumptions are often dismissed by mainstream philosophers and scientists, yet parapsychological research offers evidence that some of these dreams have consensual validation and real-world effects. Shamanic models of reality, which align with parapsychological findings, provide anecdotal support for such dreams and deserve reconsideration by Western academic institutions because they account for anomalous dream phenomena and offer provocative data.