<p> This study examines the manifestations of the integration of somatic, transpersonal, and Western psychology in the context of actual psychotherapeutic process. Two main research questions were explored: &ldquo;What are the characteristics of the integration of somatic, transpersonal, and Western psychotherapeutic processes?&rdquo; and &ldquo;Do the lived experiences of the participating therapists reveal an overarching theory that may describe the integration of somatic, transpersonal and Western psychology in the context of the process of psychotherapy?&rdquo;. Data was collected from interviews with 8 licensed psychotherapists trained in somatic and transpersonal work who integrate these areas of expertise in their clinical work. The data was analyzed using a grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006) method, guided by principles of integral inquiry (Braud, 1998). The integration of these frameworks allowed the data to include applications of different research designs as well as participants&rsquo; alternative ways of knowing. This study resulted in a model that describes a possible integration of somatic, transpersonal, and Western psychotherapeutic processes as well as the characteristics of that integration. The model is based on four coexisting components. The first component describes two ways in which integration was identified: a mindful awareness of the multidimensional nature of inner experience, and therapeutic exploration of content relating to somatic, transpersonal, and Western psychologies. The second describes the therapist's personal and professional psycho&ndash;spiritual&ndash;somatic journey, as well as the attitude she holds toward the client. The third describes the process that allows integration to occur, and the fourth describes the outcomes of this work. These four components expand and deepen the existing literature on somatic, transpersonal, and Western psychotherapies, and are the foundation for a suggested working model concerning the actual practice of integrative psychotherapy.</p>

<p> Attachment to God has been shown to serve as a protective factor against certain eating disorder risk factors such as negative body image and sociocultural pressure. The current project sought to further that research by examining the possible moderating effects of attachment to God on specific disordered eating symptoms. Data from questionnaires that were distributed through Amazon&rsquo;s Mechanical Turk were analyzed. The sample consisted of 102 women ranging in age from 19-57. The women varied in their religious affiliations and beliefs. They were given four questionnaires measuring perceived sociocultural pressures, eating disorder symptoms, emotional eating, and attachment to God. Attachment to God was hypothesized to moderate the effect of sociocultural pressures on disordered eating symptoms. It was predicted that the women who perceive more sociocultural pressure and had an insecure-avoidant attachment to God would score higher on anorexia symptoms in the eating disorder questionnaire, while women who perceived more sociocultural pressure and had an insecure-anxious attachment would score higher on bulimia symptoms. Additionally, significant correlations between anxious attachment to God and emotional eating factors were predicted. Results indicate a significant correlation between bulimia symptoms and anxious attachment, as well as significant correlations between bulimia symptoms and each factor of the Emotional Eating Scale (EES; anger/frustration, anxiety, &amp; depression). Furthermore, insecure-anxious attachment to God was found to significantly moderate the effect of sociocultural pressure on bulimia symptoms.</p>

<p> Situated at the interface of the fields of trauma, psychology, and spirituality, this dissertation develops an integral approach to understanding and healing of trauma. Contemporary trauma research suggests that Western psychological models lack adequate understanding of the role of spirituality in trauma. This dissertation should be considered a search for such an epistemology. Sri Aurobindo&rsquo;s integral psychology provides a theoretical framework within which the indivisible existential and transcendental aspects of trauma may be understood in a body&ndash;mind&ndash;psyche&ndash;spirit continuum. By adopting an integrative hermeneutic methodological approach this dissertation will seek to overcome the limitations of the way trauma is understood in mainstream psychology and psychiatry. This dissertation offers a preliminary framework towards the formulation of a whole-person approach to trauma uniquely positioned to address the multidimensionality of trauma, the diversity of responses to traumatic events and uniqueness of individuals&rsquo; healing and self-integration process. This dissertation proposes that two important aspects of integral psychology, the psychic being (evolving soul) and psychic transformation are the keys to this healing process toward wholeness.</p><p>

<p> Holotropic Breathwork (HB) is a method of self-exploration developed by Stanislav and Christina Grof in the mid-1970s. Research has only just begun to investigate the effects of HB, while the possible influence of the context and other features of HB within the experience and its impact have not been studied in depth. This qualitative study investigated the perceived impact of HB on 6 women and 6 men (ages 25&ndash;67) in Chile, using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), an emergent method developed specifically to work with these types of subjective issues. Results revealed 10 major themes involving both intrapsychic and relational features: (a) healing purpose; (b) interest in self-exploration; (c) the psyche as an inner source of knowledge; (d) increased self-awareness; (e) resolution/closure; (f) perceived changes within the self; (g) increased awareness of self and others; (h) integration as a process; (i) influence of the HB setting; and (j) the facilitator&rsquo;s role. Results provide support for some elements of the existing theory and practice of HB, but, given the influence of preparation, the reasons for seeking HB, and the integration of experiences on the perceived impact of HB, revision of some HB procedures may provide better support for workshop attendees.</p><p>

<p> How are ancient mythological figures like Sisyphus, who rolls his rock ceaselessly up a mountain, and Kali, the fierce Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, relevant for students today who suffer from trauma caused by the unexpected death of a loved one? Mythological stories rise above history and look beyond the &ldquo;turbulent flux of random events to uncover what is enduring in human experience and glimpse the core of reality&rdquo; (Armstrong, 2005, p. 7). According to Jung (1955, 2009), touching upon the mythic and archetypal level of the unconscious has the power to bring forth tremendous energy into one&rsquo;s life. This qualitative study explores student stories about loss and grief, using a post-Jungian mythopoeic lens to construct meaning and discover purpose. </p><p> Most of the research to date on loss and grief has focused on the classical task and phase models of bereavement centered on emotional expression; however, few studies (e.g., Bocchino, 2008; Trammell, 1999) have examined the bereavement experiences of students at an urban community college. For this inquiry, key concepts that prohibit students from mourning, such as complicated grief and disenfranchised grief, are presented and a critical review of several paradigmatic perspectives on grief theory shed light on where we are today. </p><p> Four students were invited to tell their story about the loss of a loved one. This study demonstrates that a Jungian psychological perspective offers a road map to better understand how a student&rsquo;s mourning process can be interpreted as a potentially transformative event.</p><p>

<p> This thesis explores the spiritual-bypass phenomenon identified by John Welwood and how it can be a defense against wholeness as defined in Jungian psychology. Using hermeneutic and heuristic methodologies, and drawing on depth psychological theories, the author discusses the various forms of spiritual bypass and the underlying shadow dynamics, such as emotional repression. The author examines the nature of psychological and spiritual development through states and stages of consciousness development, healthy transcendence versus unhealthy transcendence, and the Jungian process of individuation toward wholeness. The research also explores contributing factors to spiritual bypass including the effect of early childhood attachment style and demonstrates the significance of integrating psychological development in a spiritual path. Finally, the author provides suggestions for therapists working with clients who may be in spiritual bypass.</p>

<p> Religious persecution is a part of daily life for most of the world&rsquo;s population. Religious freedom is elusive for many and the effect of violent religious persecution is potentially debilitating and traumatic. Despite research in the areas of refugee trauma and genocide studies, there is a lack of best practice methodology for psychosocial interventions on behalf of survivors of political and religious persecution. A literature review reveals both a lack of research in terms of best practice for this sub-group and a potential for consensus-based and participatory action research for best practice and staff team empowerment. A participatory action research framework was developed to enable our diverse, international staff trauma team and partners to work toward an inclusive, participative, consensus process leading to a collective narrative and action planning. The data collection and analysis included a consensus process, individual interviews, a focus group, field notes and document review. The joint analysis and narratives were presented as a written narrative with emerging themes that included: narrative and story, community and culture and identity and reconnection. The process allowed previously marginalized staff, voices from the Global South, to emerge along with staff of Western countries. Finally, action planning proposed organizational and community of practice change based on the emerging practice consensus and illuminative narratives.</p>

<p> Standards for integration of spirituality and religion within mental health training continue to be ambiguous. Although increased attention has incorporated such diversity into multiculturalism, proficiency remains inadequate among non-religiously affiliated individuals and institutions. This study examined competence levels utilizing the Revised Spiritual Competence Scale II (SCS-R-II) and the Spiritual and Religious Competency Assessment (SARCA). Participants were 125 students attending accredited counseling, psychology, and social work schools in the United States. Counselor trainees scored highest on both measures as did students with very strong personal religious affiliation and attendees of Christian affiliated schools. Implications and future recommendations are discussed.</p>

<p> This dissertation seeks to formulate an integral psychology framework to better understand the nature and unfoldment of postformal, or postconventional, characterizations of individual consciousness evolution. To this end, an extensive critical evaluation and problematization of the disparate theoretical literatures indicated that while the egocentric and cosmocentric dimensions have been taken into account by various models, the psychocentric, or more specifically, the evolutionary soul dimension and its role in postconventional development has been largely overlooked. </p><p> With this background, there appeared to be hardly any substantial signs of agreement in the extensive and rapidly expanding literatures on human development. Such division has resulted in increasingly heated disagreements and debates concerning controversies of shape, goals, and, particularly, direction (e.g., structural-hierarchical versus spiral-dynamic models). Further, it was found that egocentric and cosmocentric biases bring to the fore a related set of problems that, in present-day formulation, can be summarized as the issue of epiphenomenalism along with the problem of identifying a facilitative agent (an ontological reference point that might help explain the how and why of stage change), which has apparently all but escaped developmental psychologists. </p><p> As a dialogue partner, the study adopts Sri Aurobindo and the Mother&rsquo;s rich integral acumen concerning the psychic being as an alternative assumption ground to both reveal and challenge some of the taken-for-granted assumptions found to underlie much of the ongoing theoretical debate. The guiding purpose of this dissertation, then, has been to advance the fields of both Western and integral yoga psychologies by contributing new and unique pathways to postconventional development&mdash;an integral psychology framework that places the deeper inmost source of evolution at the very center of a comprehensive whole person vision of human growth and development.</p>

<p> Despite the availability of various substance abuse treatments, substance misuse and the negative consequences associated with it remain a serious problem in our society. Various types of meditation have been evaluated for treatment of substance use disorders, but the research has not drawn any specific conclusions. This may be due to lack of both an equivalent control group and spiritual emphasis. Therefore, the current study included a spiritual emphasis (12-steps) and inner eye concentrative meditation (n=15), a progressive relaxation group (n=10), and a treatment-as-usual control (TAU) group (n=21). Subjects at an intensive outpatient treatment center for substance use disorder were offered either progressive muscle relaxation, raja yoga meditation, or TAU, depending on which branch of the treatment center they were receiving treatment. The meditation technique was a simple meditation technique where the attention of focus remains on the point between the eyebrows. The current study examined changes in substance use, general psychological distress and dysfunction, craving, and 12-step involvement between the three conditions over a 6-week period. Compared to the average of all groups meditation was significant in predicting abstinence from substances, ?2 (2) = 6.39, p = .0115. This finding gives some credence to spirituality being a protective factor against substance use, and suggests the benefits of using non-secular meditations in drug treatment facilities.</p>