Transpersonal psychology: theoretical and methodological foundations, phenomenology of consciousness, and contemporary perspectives
Христина Михайлівна Хвойницька-Перейма
Academic Visions September 30, 2026 DOI: 10.66556/2786-586x.59.khvoinytskapereima-k (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that transpersonal psychology is not a homogeneous school but comprises divergent models of consciousness, personality, and spiritual experience, and analyzes the tension between perennialist models and H. Ferrer's participatory approach. Contends that the field's most promising direction is investigating self-transformation and the structure of conscious experience while distinguishing empirically studied phenomena from metaphysical interpretations and integrating phenomenological sensitivity, empirical testability, interdisciplinarity, and methodological pluralism. |
Abstract
The article provides a comprehensive philosophical and psychological analysis of transpersonal psychology as an approach to the study of human consciousness, boundary forms of human experience, and the possibilities of personal transformation. The historical prerequisites for the emergence of transpersonal psychology are examined in the context of humanistic psychology, research on altered states of consciousness, the psychology of religion, and phenomenology. The conceptual approaches of A. Maslow, S. Grof, K. Wilber, R. Walsh, F. Vaughan, and representatives of contemporary transpersonal theory are considered. Particular attention is paid to the concepts of peak experiences, self-transcendence, transpersonal experience, altered states of consciousness, and spiritual transformation. It is substantiated that transpersonal psychology is not a homogeneous theoretical school: different models of understanding the nature of consciousness, personality, and spiritual experience have emerged in the course of its development. The tension between perennialist models, which assume the existence of a universal foundation underlying different spiritual traditions, and the participatory approach proposed by H. Ferrer is analyzed. According to the latter, spiritual reality should not be reduced to a single transhistorical experience. The problem of the scientific status of transpersonal psychology and the need to distinguish empirically studied phenomena from metaphysical interpretations are also examined. It is demonstrated that the contemporary development of transpersonal psychology requires the integration of phenomenological sensitivity, empirical testability, interdisciplinarity, and methodological pluralism. It is concluded that the most promising direction is the investigation of the transformation of the self and the structure of conscious experience without prematurely identifying psychological phenomena with a particular metaphysical conception of reality.
Comparable studies
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| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- Rediscovering the Later Version of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Self-Transcendence and Opportunities for Theory, Research, and Unification Review of General Psychology December 1, 2006
- Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for psychiatric and existential distress in patients with life-threatening cancer Journal of Psychopharmacology January 9, 2020
- Transpersonal psychology: Defining the past, divining the future. The Humanistic Psychologist 2007
- Transpersonal Psychology as a Scientific Field International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2002
- The Wiley‐Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology CIIS Digital Commons August 9, 2013
and 2 more in the library