Title: Ketamine Psychedelic Psychotherapy
Presentation: There are many psychedelic medicines that have been shown to facilitate healing and growth-oriented transpersonal experiences, but only ketamine is legal now for treatment when prescribed in the US by a physician. Two of the pioneering psychiatrists who include Ketamine Psychedelic Psychotherapy in their practices will discuss how they use this medicine in real-world applications to help patients now, along with addressing audience questions and comments.
Bios: Moderator - Stanley Krippner, a professor of psychology at Saybrook University, a past president of two APA divisions, is known and respected the world over for his pioneering work in the study of consciousness. He has conducted research in the areas of dreams, hypnosis, alternative treatment of PTSD, human sexuality, shamanism, and dissociation, often from a cross-cultural perspective with an emphasis on anomalous phenomena that seem to question mainstream paradigms. Dr. Krippner may be one of the most celebrated psychologists of the 21st century. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the International Association for the Study of Dreams, an award for Distinguished Contributions to Professional Hypnosis from the APA (Division 30), the Senior Contributor Award from the APA (Division 17), and an award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology from the APA … among many others.
Eli Kolp began researching ketamine psychedelic psychotherapy in 1994, while on staff at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa. He continued his research through 1999, when he separated from the VA Hospital. Afterward, Dr. Kolp has returned to a private practice that is confined exclusively to ketamine psychedelic psychotherapy. Dr. Kolp has also continued his scientific research of ketamine psychedelic psychotherapy and published several articles about the results of his studies.
Phil Wolfson is licensed to practice medicine in California and Washington, DC, and began practicing psychotherapy in 1966 and psychiatry in 1972. He has extensive post-graduate training in family systems theory, group psychotherapy, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and CBT. He is a founding member of the Spiritual Emergency Network and the Heffter Research Institute, and has taught in various graduate schools in psychology, and was formerly Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF. He is the Principle Investigator of the MAPS sponsored MDMA and Life Threatening Illness Study, and has written numerous articles on Buddhism, Psychedelics, Spirituality, Progressive Politics, and Violence.
Glenn Hartelius, PhD and Associate Professor, founded and chairs a PhD in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, CA. He is Main Editor for the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, a peer-reviewed academic journal read in more than 180 countries worldwide, with more than 50,000 downloads per year. He has received the prestigious Carmi Harari Award from the American Psychological Association for his work in whole person approaches to psychology. As CEO of Attention Strategies®, he develops therapeutic applications of novel attention-based tools and interventions for improved mental and relational skills.
Title: The Contribution of Neuroscience to Transpersonal Psychology
Presentation: Over recent years neuroscientific research has contributed increasingly refined understanding of the ways in which brain regions are involved in altered states of consciousness associated with spiritual and transpersonal practices. The question at the core of this panel concerns the meaning and implications of such data for the future of transpersonal psychology. A reductionist stance, implying that states of the brain are the determining factor for spiritual and transpersonal states, conflicts not only with the values of transpersonal psychology, but also with a growing thrust toward non-materialist explanations. In this panel we shall explore non-reductionist models that incorporate neuroscientific research in broader-based holistic perspectives on consciousness and the human relationship to transcendence.
Bios: Moderator - Dr. Dan Gaylinn has a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. He has worked as a clinical psychologist for nearly 15 years, working with a wide range of clinical populations. Dr. Gaylinn teaches Transpersonal Neuroscience at Saybrook University and has served as the Executive Director for the Association for Transpersonal Psychology since 2004. He lives and works in San Francisco.
Brian Les Lancaster is Professor Emeritus of Transpersonal Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, Associated Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, US, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Centre for Jewish Studies at Manchester University, UK. He is currently a Board member of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology, and has previously been Chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society and President of the International Transpersonal Association. Les is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Sacred Science Circle, and a Founding Director of the Alef Trust, which promotes postgraduate studies in transpersonal psychology.
Yakov Shapiro, MD, is a clinical professor of psychiatry and psychotherapy supervisor at the University of Alberta, a scholar with the U of A Integrative Health Institute, and runs Integrated Psychotherapy/Psychopharmacology Service in Edmonton, Canada. He teaches postgraduate seminars on the neurobiology of psychotherapy, evolutionary psychiatry, psychodynamic psychopharmacology, and dynamical systems approaches to psychiatric treatment, and has given courses and workshops on these subjects for Alberta, Canadian, and American Psychiatric Associations, International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration, American Academy of Psychoanalysis, and American and European complex systems conferences. His last chapter in collaboration with Prof. Rowan Scott on complex adaptive systems in psychiatry and psychotherapy was published in the "Handbook of Research Methods in Complexity Science" with the London School of Economics in 2018, with another chapter on “Extraordinary Knowing Within the Framework of Natural Science” coming out with Routledge in 2019. He has a longstanding interest in altered states of consciousness, and his paper, in collaboration with Prof. Pierre Flor-Henry, on “Brain Changes During a Shamanic Trance” was published in Cogent Psychology in 2017. He is co-editor of the forthcoming edited volume titled, "A Fractal Transpersonal Epistemology: Unifying Mind, Body, and Spirit."
Title: Peeling Back the Onion: A Fractal Epistemology for Transpersonal Psychology
Presentation: There is a strong connection between mathematical discovery and stages of human collective consciousness. Fractal geometry, which has only recently been discovered/invented in the 1970s, is widely considered the geometry of Nature, because of its capacity to go beyond simple forms to model that which is discontinuous, irregular, and complex. This panel examines the utility of a fractal epistemology for transpersonal studies by offering a rigorous way to combine quantitative with qualitative analyses and merge subjective with intersubjective and objective levels of observation. Properties of fractal objects that apply well to transpersonal phenomena include: 1) self-similar and scale-invariant, recursive patterns across multiple scales of observation, 2) the concept of interdimensionality—infinite extension between ordinary, finite dimensions, 3) observer-dependent detail, such that what one sees depends upon how one looks. Harris Friedman moderates the panel. Katthe Wolf introduces the panel. Terry Marks-Tarlow opens with a brief visual presentation of fractal concepts and their relevance for a new transpersonal epistemology. She offers metaphors, models, and methods to illuminate open borders and interpenetrating dynamics. Yakov Shapiro follows with potential models for unifying transpersonal, clinical, and parapsychological domains of experience within a natural science framework. Then the panel is opened up for broader audience participation.
Bios: Moderator - Harris Friedman, PhD, is Research Professor of Psychology at University of Florida and Distinguished Consulting Professor of Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies. He will be Visiting Scholar (effective Fall, 2019) at Harvard University. He has over 200 professional publications, and is a frequent author in both mainstream and humanistic-transpersonal psychology journals, and his research is often covered by international media. His most recent books include "Transcultural Competence" (American Psychological Association, 2015), "The Praeger Handbook of Social Justice and Psychology" (3 volumes; 2014), and "The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology" (2013/2015). He serves as Associate Editor of both The Humanistic Psychologist and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, as well as Senior Editor of the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies. He is co-editor of the forthcoming edited volume titled, "A Fractal Transpersonal Epistemology: Unifying Mind, Body, and Spirit."
Yakov Shapiro, MD, is a clinical professor of psychiatry and psychotherapy supervisor at the University of Alberta, a scholar with the U of A Integrative Health Institute, and runs Integrated Psychotherapy/Psychopharmacology Service in Edmonton, Canada. He teaches postgraduate seminars on the neurobiology of psychotherapy, evolutionary psychiatry, psychodynamic psychopharmacology, and dynamical systems approaches to psychiatric treatment, and has given courses and workshops on these subjects for Alberta, Canadian, and American Psychiatric Associations, International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration, American Academy of Psychoanalysis, and American and European complex systems conferences. His last chapter in collaboration with Prof. Rowan Scott on complex adaptive systems in psychiatry and psychotherapy was published in the "Handbook of Research Methods in Complexity Science" with the London School of Economics in 2018, with another chapter on “Extraordinary Knowing Within the Framework of Natural Science” coming out with Routledge in 2019. He has a longstanding interest in altered states of consciousness, and his paper, in collaboration with Prof. Pierre Flor-Henry, on “Brain Changes During a Shamanic Trance” was published in Cogent Psychology in 2017. He is co-editor of the forthcoming edited volume titled, "A Fractal Transpersonal Epistemology: Unifying Mind, Body, and Spirit."
Terry Marks-Tarlow, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Santa Monica, California. Author, editor, and illustrator of numerous books, including "Play and Creativity in Psychotherapy" (Norton, 2018), "Truly Mindful Coloring" (PESI, 2016), "Awakening Clinical Intuition" (Norton, 2014), "Clinical Intuition in Psychotherapy" (Norton, 2012), and "Psyche’s Veil" (Routledge, 2008), Dr. Marks-Tarlow conducts workshops and trainings internationally and nationally. She is teaching faculty at the Insight Center, Los Angeles; visiting professor at the Italian Universita Niccolo Cusano, London; and research associate at the Institute for Fractal Research, Kassel Germany. Dr. Marks-Tarlow sits on the Executive Board of the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, where as community outreach co-chair, she co-founded and curates the yearly exhibition of psychotherapist art, “Mirrors of the Mind: The Psychotherapist as Artist.” She strives to walk her talk by drawing, dancing, skiing, rock climbing, writing librettos, and doing yoga as often as possible. She is co-editor of the forthcoming edited volume titled, "A Fractal Transpersonal Epistemology: Unifying Mind, Body, and Spirit."
Katthe Wolf, MA, is a doctoral student in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies interested in dynamic fractals and psychological well-being. Wolf guest-edited an issue of the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies (in press) focused on fractal epistemology for transpersonal psychology through which she worked intensively with the panelists. Her day job, as co-founder of the non-profit organization, Be Strong Families, is in planning and facilitating transformative conversations to strengthen families and communities.