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THE INSTITUTE OF
TRANSPERSONAL AND ARCHETYPAL STUDIES |
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History and ITAS was founded in 2015–16 by a group
of eminent clinical practitioners, scholars, and transpersonal
psychotherapists united by a common focus on promoting a greater
understanding of psychological transformation through an exploration of the
deeper dynamics of the human psyche. The mission of ITAS is to provide a
range of educational activities and settings for self-exploration directed
towards people interested in the transformative possibilities of working with
non-ordinary states of consciousness, spiritual or mystical experiences, archetypal
astrology, dreams, synchronicities, and the myriad other ways transpersonal
experiences and archetypal principles reach into our lives. ITAS is grounded
in the recognition of the reality of a universal consciousness or deeper
ordering principle and inner authority offering a source of life meaning,
guidance, and psychological healing. ITAS seeks to support individuals as
they learn to navigate the terrain “beyond the individual ego” and move
through the transformative process with awareness, authenticity, and an open
heart. |
Education for Transformation |
Values A primary value of the ITAS
community is respect for the integrity and autonomy of each individual’s process
of transformation. Honoring the “inner healer” or the Self of each individual
emerges from reverence for the potentiating force emerging through the deep
psyche as having greater wisdom than any human expert. or
therapeutic perspective. More than any particular techniques or theoretical
frameworks, ITAS values the creation of safe set and setting for emergence of
the creative potential of each person’s contact with transpersonal
experiences, transformative processes, and archetypal principles and energies.
ITAS values whole person and
experiential learning, incorporating mind, body, emotions, soul, spirit,
community, and creative potential.
While conceptualization is often essential for developing meaning and
following our path, ITAS also values experiences of the emotions and body
even if they cannot be fully understood intellectually. |
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There are
many systems helping us to frame and understand encounters with the transpersonal
dimension of the psyche, and to follow our own path of transformation,
including Jungian, Grofian, astrological, shamanic,
alchemical, and mythological. Through workshops and online courses, ITAS
provides the opportunity to explore various conceptions of the
psychospiritual journey with the understanding that each person will find the
appropriate path at the appropriate time for guidance in the unfolding of his
or her own unique life. Our mission
includes providing opportunities in many ITAS workshops for experience of
non-ordinary states of consciousness inviting the healing, heuristic, and
transformative potential of the deep psyche, including but not limited to Holotropic Breathwork.™ ITAS also
holds the mission to provide conceptual support and context for sharing by
participants engaged in exploring non-ordinary states on their own, including
experience with plant medicines and psychedelics. Please note: ITAS does not
offer non-ordinary state experience through substances not lawful for use in
the jurisdiction of our workshops. |
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ITAS values honesty about the
potential perils and pitfalls of authentic inner work and “spiritual paths.”
Recognizing that an influx of archetypal energies can be overwhelming and
destabilizing, ITAS values willingness to make use of traditional
psychotherapy and psychiatry in some instances as the most prudent means for
maintaining the safety of individuals. ITAS values the recognition of the
possibility of inflation, spiritual bypass, spiritual materialism, and a
range of adverse psychological and somatic states in the midst of authentic
psychospiritual transformation. ITAS values connection with archetypal and
transpersonal energies not merely as life-enhancing experience but as
providing precious opportunities for accelerating psychological work and
discovering deeper life meaning. In our instructors and
facilitators, ITAS values extensive personal experience as well as
theoretical knowledge and/or therapeutic training, reflecting the intricacies
and challenges of encountering the depths of the psyche, as well as ongoing
commitment to self-reflection, self-knowledge, and openness to feedback. |
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Ideas and Approaches Transpersonal Psychology refers
to a broad spectrum of psychological approaches and perspectives concerned
with the exploration and study of what are often described as “spiritual” or
“numinous” experiences or “non-ordinary states of consciousness.” Since its
inception in the late 1960s, transpersonal psychology has sought to study
these kinds of experiences scientifically and empirically, independently of
the doctrinal interpretations of any specific religious traditions. The field
addresses the human impulse for connection with something beyond (“trans”)
personal identity, ordinary states of consciousness, and the exclusively
individual sense of self. Transpersonal psychology has also been particularly
concerned with personal and social transformation with respect to perception
of life, attitude, mood, objectives, and well-being of the individual and the
planet. Interested in translating the wisdom and spiritual practices of
worldwide cultures, including indigenous traditions, into language and
concepts suitable to the modern world, transpersonal approaches typically
describe in psychological terms the range of spiritual paths traveled for
thousands of years by our ancestors in almost all cultures while
acknowledging that the individual’s journey of psychological development and
spiritual growth is also unique and not necessarily to be accommodated within
any existing system. Within the range of approaches broadly
classed as transpersonal, ITAS is especially concerned with the psychologies
developed by Carl Gustav Jung and Stanislav Grof. Of particular relevance are the following areas: • The realization of a
deeper mode of identity and personhood, which Jung called the Self. • Navigating experiences of psychological
death-rebirth. • Movement toward a condition of wholeness, termed holotropic by Grof, and described through Jung’s model of individuation. • Exploring
the place and role of archetypes in our lives, including the experience of
“high archetypal penetrance states.” • The recognition of synchronicities,
“meaningful coincidences” and archetypal connections between occurrences in
the material world and the inner world. • The
cultivation and realization of higher human potentials. • Drawing upon manifestations in the body
and emotions as assisting psychological development, including during
non-ordinary states of consciousness. • Gaining
insights about the nature of reality and the purposes of existence, and
finding deeper life meaning. •
The realization of the spiritual or
soulful essence of the cosmos. Grofian
Perinatal Psychology explores the
psychodynamics and phenomenology of rebirth or “ego-death” through the
reliving of the biological birth experience in non-ordinary states of
consciousness. It is based upon the observation that human experience, both
individually and culturally, is unconsciously shaped by the deep memory and
imprint of the various stages of the birth experience. The four Basic Perinatal Matrices (BPMs)
identified by Grof may be considered archetypal
phases particularly important in human experience: BPM I, corresponding to
the period in the womb prior to the onset of labor,
a sense of oceanic oneness and unity; BPM II, corresponding to the experience
of no-exit angst and depression when contractions have begun but the mother’s
cervix has not dilated; BPM III, pertaining to the life-or-death struggle as
the infant moves through the birth canal; and BPM IV, pertaining to the release and sense of
arrival, completion, accomplishment, and liberation experienced at birth. Grof and cultural historian Richard Tarnas
observed the Basic Perinatal Matrices correspond,
respectively, to the astrological archetypes associated with the outer
planets: Neptune, Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus.
Holotropic Breathwork is a powerful
experiential method of self-exploration and transformation developed by Stanislav Grof, and his
wife Christina Grof, as an alternative to
psychedelic therapy. Through the use of intensified breathing techniques and
evocative music, in a supportive environment, Holotropic
Breathwork makes possible an opening into enhanced
states of consciousness manifesting through images, emotions, memories, and
body experiences. Catharsis of unresolved trauma, including birth trauma, is
common and facilitates an accompanying psychological rebirth or “second
birth” out of the defensive armoring of the ego. Grof’s
“expanded cartography of the psyche” describes in detail the common
experiences during non-ordinary states of consciousness, including those
emerging from the perinatal and transpersonal dimensions
of the human unconscious, as well as the biographical domain recognized by
other branches of psychology. Jungian Analytical Psychology is based on the
foundational concept of archetypes—formative principles, patterns, and dynamisms
in the depths of the “collective unconscious” psyche that shape and animate
our lives. Among the most prominent archetypes are the shadow (the dark,
primitive, and inferior part of the personality), the anima (eros, the inner feminine,
and the archetype of life), the animus (logos, the inner masculine), the mother, the trickster,
the hero, and the archetype of the spirit. Coming to terms with the role of
the archetypes and the unconscious in our lives is essential for the process
of psychological growth and transformation that Jung called individuation.
Through this process we might bring our consciousness into alignment with the
Self—the center and totality of the psyche, described by Jung as the
“God-image.” Jung is also known for his research into dream interpretation,
synchronicity (meaningful coincidence), the nature of God, the problem of
evil, and the psychological significance of alchemy. Archetypal Astrology is the study of the correlations between
cyclical alignments of the planets and archetypal themes in human experience.
Pioneered by Richard Tarnas, archetypal astrology
combines an understanding of archetypal principles articulated in the
psychology of C. G. Jung, James Hillman, and Stanislav
Grof with techniques and interpretive methodologies
drawn from astrology, in both its ancient and modern forms. Archetypes are
understood as Platonic (metaphysical), mythic, and Jungian (psychological,
instinctual) in essence. To study the positions of the planets at specific
moments of time is to understand how the archetypes associated with those
planets are related to each other in human experience. Archetypal astrology
is especially helpful for understanding the content of non-ordinary states of
consciousness and for understanding the transformations one might go through
during the individuation process—an application explored in Keiron Le Grice’s
work. Archetypal Cosmology is the larger academic
field, incorporating archetypal astrology, concerned with understanding the
theoretical basis of astrological correlations and their implications for the
wider worldview. Drawing on scholarship from many areas such as astrology,
depth psychology, history, philosophy, cosmology, religious studies, cultural
studies, the arts, and the new sciences, archetypal cosmology is
multidisciplinary subject primarily focused on understanding the nature of
archetypes and their role in the universe. Major contributors to the field
are Richard Tarnas (author of Cosmos and Psyche) Keiron Le Grice
(author of The
Archetypal Cosmos), and the community of scholars associated with Archai: The Journal of Archetypal
Cosmology (www.archai.org). Related Perspectives: The programs at ITAS
also draw selectively on a range of other perspectives such as psychiatry,
psychedelics, ecopsychology, the perennial philosophy, mysticism,
shamanism, the Indian chakra system and kundalini
yoga, Roberto Assagioli’s transpersonal psychosynthesis, Joseph Campbell’s study of the myth of
the hero’s journey, and more. |
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Program Directors and
Faculty |
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Keiron Le Grice is
a professor of depth psychology and archetypal cosmology, and chair of the
Jungian and Archetypal Studies specialization at Pacifica Graduate
Institute, |
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Jay Dufrechou worked for many years as an attorney before
following spiritual experiences into the study of transpersonal psychology.
While making most of his living as an attorney and mediator, Jay teaches
courses in transpersonal topics in online programs and has supported many
students in transpersonal dissertation research. He is interested in
psychospiritual growth and healing through disciplined work with non-ordinary
states of consciousness, including breathwork and
psychedelics, particularly in ceremonial settings. Along with Ryan Westrum, Jay is the author of The Psychedelics
Integration Handbook. He has particular interest in the work of
Stanislav Grof and in
designing, supporting and teaching in programs to support the shifts of
consciousness that will be necessary for meeting the serious challenges
facing humanity, including the ecological crisis. Jay is the author of Moving
through Grief, Reconnecting with Nature, which gathers stories from
people around the world who experience grief when feeling intimate connection
with nature, typically including a blending of grief relating to
environmental destruction and longing for the experience of the divine within
nature. Future research interests include exploring and documenting the
relationship between particular experiences in non-ordinary states and
astrological transits and natal placements, following the work of Richard Tarnas and Stanislav Grof. Jay lives in |
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Tim Read is a medical doctor, psychotherapist, and
consultant psychiatrist in independent practice in |
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Website
content, design, and development copyright 2021 Keiron Le Grice and Jay Dufrechou |
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