Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy(SUNY series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)

Beyond the Brain seriously challenges the existing neurophysiological models of the brain. After three decades of extensive research on those non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by psychedelic drugs and by other means, Grof concludes that our present scientific world view is as inadequate as many of its historical predecessors. In this pioneering work, he proposes a new model of the human psyche that takes account of his findings. Grof includes in his model the recollective level, or the reliving of emotionally relevant memories, a level at which the Freudian framework can be useful. Beyond that is perinatal level in which the human unconscious may be activated to a reliving of biological birth and confrontation with death. How birth experience influences an individual's later development is a central focus of the book. The most serious challenge to contemporary psycho-analytic theory comes from a delineation of the transpersonal level, or the expansion of consciousness beyond the boundaries of time and space. Grof makes a bold argument that understanding of the perinatal and transpersonal levels changes much of how we view both mental illness and mental health. His reinterpretation of some of the most agonizing aspects of human behavior proves thought provoking for both laypersons and professional therapists.

Table of Contents:
Acknowlegments Introduction 1. The Nature of Reality: Dawning of a New Paradigm Philosophy of Science and the Role of Paradigms The Newtonian-Cartesian Spell of Mechanistic Science Conceptual Challenges from Modern Consciousness Research New Understanding of Reality, Existence, and Human Nature The Holonomic Approach: New Principles and New Perspectives 2. Dimensions of the Human Psyche: Cartography of Inner Space The Sensory Barrier and the Individual Unconscious Encounter with Birth and Death: The Dynamics of Perinatal Matrices Beyond the Brain: Realms of Transpersonal Experiences The Spectrum of Consciousness 3. The World of Psychotherapy: Toward an Integration of Approches Sigmund Freud and Classical Psychoanalysis The Famous Renegades: Alfred Adler, Wilhelm Reich, and Otto Rank Existential and Humanistic Psychotherapies Psychotherapies with Transpersonal Orientation 4. The Architecture of Emotional Disorders Varieties of Sexual Experience: Dysfunctions, Deviations, and Transpersonal Forms of Eros Roots of Violence: Biographical, Perinatal, and Transpersonal Sources of Aggression Dynamics of Depressions, Neuroses, and Psychosomatic Disorders The Psychotic Experience: Disease or Transpersonal Crisis 5. Dilemmas and Controversies of Traditional Psychiatry The Medical Model in Psychiatry: Pros and Cons Disagreements about Theory and Therapeutic Measures Criteria of Mental Health and Therapeutic Results Psychiatry and Religion: Role of Spirituality in Human Life 6. A New Understanding of The Psychotherapeutic Process The Nature of Psychogenic Symptoms Effective Mechanisms of Psychotherapy and Personality Transformation Spontaneity and Autonomy of Healing Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development 7. New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Self-Exploration Principles of Psychotherapeutic Assistance Techniques of Psychotherapy and Self-Exploration Goals and Results of Psychotherapy 8. Epilogue: The Current Global Crisis and the Future of Consciousness Evolution Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Stanislav Grof, MD, is a psychiatrist with more than fifty years of experience in research of non-ordinary states of consciousness. He has been Principal Investigator in a psychedelic research program at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia; Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University; and Scholar-in-Residence at the Esalen Institute. He is currently Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, conducts professional training programs in holotropic breathwork, and gives lectures and seminars worldwide. He is one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology and the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA). In 2007, he was granted the prestigious Vision 97 award from the Vaclav and Dagmar Havel Foundation in Prague. He is the author and editor of many books, including The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration; Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science; The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness; Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution; and Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research; all published by SUNY Press.