Anthony
"Tony" Sutich
1907-1976
Anthony Sutich was a pioneer in transpersonal psychology because he had the intelligence, vision, interpersonal skills, and the persistence to create the infrastructure for both humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Along with Abraham Maslow and others, he founded the Journal of Humanistic Psychology in 1958, first published in 1961. In 1961 he also established the Association for Humanistic Psychology. In 1968-69, after considerable soul-searching and discussion with Maslow, Stanislov Grof, and others, Sutich founded the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology and the Transpersonal Institute, later to become the Association for Transpersonal Psychology in 1972 (Vich, 1976).
The fundamental difference between humanistic and transpersonal psychology is difficult to define because many of their goals overlap. A perhaps too simplistic explanation is this: humanistic psychology sees its highest goal as understanding and developing the potential of the human being, often in existentialist and phenomenological terms, while transpersonal psychology takes a more universal, even religious, perspective, and seeks to see beyond the individual to a more inclusive, spiritual realm of being that includes altered states of consciousness and much more.
Maslow and his colleagues (including Sutich), who had introduced the idea of humanistic psychology as the ìthird force,î following behaviorism and psychotherapy (forces number one and two), saw transpersonal psychology as the ìfourth forceî that reached beyond the original three into more transcendent experiences and metaphysics.
As editor, Sutich was largely responsible for the following mission statement:
The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology is concerned with the publication of theoretical and applied research, original contributions, empirical papers, articles and studies in meta-needs, ultimate values, unitive consciousness, peak experience, ecstasy, mystical experience, B-values, essence, bliss, awe, wonder, self-actualization, ultimate meaning, transcendence of the self, spirit, sacralization of everyday life, oneness, cosmic awareness, cosmic play, individual and species wide synergy, maximal interpersonal encounter, transcendental phenomena, maximal sensory awareness, responsiveness and expression; and related concepts, experiences and activities (Scotton, Chinen, & Battista, 1996, p.10).
Described as a ìphysically challenged, social activist, ethicist, and psychotherapistî (Taylor, 1999, p. 262), Anthony Sutich was a truly remarkable human being. Hit by a bat during a baseball game at age twelve, he subsequently developed progressive rheumatoid arthritis. At eighteen, he was told he had only a few months to live, but he survived for the next fifty years, although physically limited by being confined to a medical gurney, almost completely incapacitated. According to Taylor, ìHe could tilt his head to the side, talk through clenched teeth, and move one of his hands. All the rest was immobileî (p. 271). He used a special hanging device for his reading and an overhead mirror so that he could see his visitors and clients. Obviously, he was able to travel, since he was part of the infamous event at Esalen in 1966 when Fritz Perls interrupted a private theoretical discussion led by Abraham Maslow. The intellectual and emotional repercussions eventually became part of the split between humanistic and transpersonal psychology.
Sutich learned at an early age that he had a knack for helping people, starting with the nurses during his long hospitalizations who often came to him with their personal problems. He was an avid reader and apparently made a strong impression on those who met him, meeting and befriending many professionals and intellectuals from diverse specialties. He went on to develop a private practice and, although his formal education ended at the ninth grade, he eventually was grandfathered into the American Psychological Association and became a licensed therapist in California.
Part of his professional work, according to his dissertation (1976), was with clients who had used psychedelic substances. Sutich says he himself had mystical experiences, with or without psychedelic substances, since 1935. He was widely read (from 1927) in the field of mysticism, particularly Eastern philosophy, and became acquainted personally with Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, and many other notables in the field. He says he was particularly impressed with Abraham Maslowís knowledge in this area, and it was one of the things that cemented their long relationship, which began in 1949. Sutich was concerned that a therapist needed to be something like the Western equivalent of an Eastern guru, in that he could not help in areas that he had not experienced himself. Perhaps he hoped to see transpersonal psychology at the leading edge of this movement.
In June, 1974, ìwith characteristic energy and foresightî (Vich, p. 3), Anthony Sutich began his Ph.D. dissertation process at the Humanistic Psychology Institute of San Francisco, now Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center. His completed dissertation (1976) is titled, ìThe Founding of Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology: A Personal Account.î He received his doctoral degree April 9, 1976, at his bedside, and died peacefully in his home the following day.
In the spirit of Tony Sutich and transpersonal psychology, the following account by Frances Vaughan (1979, p. 279) seems appropriate here:
About a year ago, a friend recounted having such a [precognitive or telepathic] dream. He dreamed that he was sitting in his study when Anthony Sutich, a mutual friend and founder of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, walked in, looking radiant. This was rather surprising, since Tony had been paralyzed for many years. When he commented on being surprised and glad to see him, Tony replied, ìWell, Iím dead, you know.î The next day he received a telephone call informing him that Tony had indeed died just after midnight the previous night.
Miles Vich, editor of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology for the following 31 years after Sutichís death, summarized his friendís career as follows (1976, p.3):
It is very difficult to adequately characterize or describe this remarkable man. Nevertheless, it is necessary to recognize that thousands of individuals and many institutions have been influenced, directly or indirectly, by the efforts of this unusual human being. Tony Sutichís contribution is, among other things, an example of the value of what is humanistic, personal, and transpersonal in our lives.To Top
References
Scotton, B., Chinen, A., & Battista, J. (Eds.) (1996). Textbook of transpersonal psychiatry and psychology. New York: Basic Books.
Sutich, A. J. (1976). The founding of humanistic and transpersonal psychology: A personal account. Doctoral dissertation,
Humanistic Psychology Institute, San Francisco, California. (Now Saybrook Graduate School & Research Center, San Francisco, CA.)
Taylor, E. (1999). Shadow
culture: Psychology and spirituality in
Vaughn, F. E. (1979). Awakening intuition. New York: Doubleday.
Vich, M. (1976). Anthony J. Sutich: An appreciation. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 8, 2-4.
Anthony J. Sutich: A Bibliography
Proposed improvement in terminology in relation to personal psychological problems. (1941). Psychological Record, 4, 375-87.
Toward a professional code for psychological consultants. (1944). Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 39, 329-50.
The growth-experience and the growth-centered attitude. (1949). Journal of Psychology, 28, 293-301.
Introduction. (1961). Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1, 1, vii-ix; 1965, 5, 2, 115-16.
Editorís preface. (1961). Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1, 2, v-vi.
Articles of Association: American Association for Humanistic Psychology. (1962). Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2, 1, 96-98.
Charlotte Buhler Anniversary Issue: Introduction. (1963). Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 3, 2, 1-2.
Introduction. In Claire Meyer Owens. (1963). Discovery of the self. Boston: Christopher.
Announcement. (1966). Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 6,1; 1968,8, 93-94.
Transpersonal psychology: An emerging force. (1968). Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 8, 77-78.
Readings in humanistic psychology (with M.A. Vich). (1969). New York: Macmillan/Free Press.
Introduction. (1969). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1, 1, iv.
Some considerations regarding transpersonal psychology. (1969). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1, 1, 11-20.
Editorís note. (1969). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1, 2, iv; 1970, 2, 1, iv; 1972, 4, 1, iv; 1972, 4, 2, iv; 1973, 5, 1, iv; 1974, 6, 1, iv; 1974, 6, 2 iv; 1975, 7, 1, iv.
The American Transpersonal Association. (1969). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1, 2, 103-07.
Transpersonal notes. (1971). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 3, 85-87.
Association for Transpersonal Psychology. (1973). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 5, 1, 93-97.
Transpersonal therapy. (1973). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 5, 1, 1-6.
Announcement. (1975), Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 7, 2, iv-v.
Process character of definitions in transpersonal psychology. (1975). Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 15, 3, 39-40.
The founding of humanistic and transpersonal psychology: A personal account. (1976). Doctoral dissertation, Humanistic Psychology Institute, San Francisco, California.
The emergence of the transpersonal orientation: A personal account. (1976). Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 8, 5-19.
Web Sites
Comment: If you do a Google search on Anthony Sutich, you will find many references. However, when you look at them individually, they inevitably include a sentence such as ìAbraham Maslow and Anthony Sutich founded Ö..î and no further reference to Sutich.
Association for Transpersonal Psychology (includes The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology)
Association for Humanistic Psychology (includes The Journal of Humanistic Psychology)
To Top