I'm trying this one last time. I sent the following post out on Sunday,
again on Monday, and then one more time on Tuesday. Unless I am not
getting all of the messages posted to TIPS, it never got there. I am
beginning to think that supernatural forces are preventing it from
getting to you: I am critical of transpersonal psychology in this
message and they are in touch with other realms of existence (or so I
hear). If the earlier attempts ever appear, please accept my apologies
for the multiple postings.
-------------------------------------------
On Friday, I mentioned that I had just begun to read a book on research
methods in transpersonal psychology. Michael Kane had asked about
transpersonal psychology and I thought that briefly sketching some main
ideas and methods in the book might help us to get a better idea about
the nature of this field. The book is an edited collection of articles
(Braud & Anderson, 1998). In general, the authors included in the book
minimize the ways of knowing commonly referred to as "scientific" and
promote "alternative ways of knowing" (which I will abbreviate as AWKs).
The following quote from the editors' introduction to Chapter 8
illustrates this:
"In a discussion with a colleague, this question arose: What would the
_ideal_ Institute of Transpersonal Psychology dissertation look like?
Because our graduate program emphasizes six facets of human
experience--bodily, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, communal, and
creatively expressive aspects of our humanity--the obvious first answer
was that the ideal dissertation might attempt to address these six areas
in each major phase of the dissertation work.... Most conventional
dissertations [i.e., those in the mold of traditional science], and
research projects in general, tend to deal with only a narrow band of
the spectrum of possibilities. Such projects observe reality with _one
eye_, process what is learned through _one brain_, and express their
findings with _one mouth_. The one eye is the eye of the conventional
senses through which we survey the external world. The one brain is a
left-hemispheric, logical, analytical, interpretative approach to
working with the data we have collected. The one mouth is the expression
of our findings through the writing of linear, scientific prose. These
approaches yield relatively narrow slices of what may be known about
reality. The constraints imposed by conventional quantitative research
methods narrow the slices even further." (p. 151)
They propose that we use AWKs--ways of knowing that are outside the
traditionally rational and empirical methods of science. There are many
and varied AWKs such as altered states of consciousness, nonverbal dream
work, channeling, and shamanic journeying. There is a strong emphasis on
the use of paranormal techniques. In general, transpersonal
psychologists focus on what some in the book call "exceptional human
experiences." Those who adopt a natural-science approach to knowledge
typically find there to be little or no evidence for paranormal
explanations of these exceptional human experiences. Transpersonalists
would dismiss such skepticism, I gather, by noting that conventional
scientists do not use the research methods that would allow one to gain
valid information about these experiences. AWKs, they claim, allow one
to study such experiences in valid ways.
As an example, let me describe the method of "shamanic journeying."
Sharon Van Raalte published a section in Chapter 8 that was entitled
"Direct Knowing" (pp. 163-166). In her study, she obtained the first
names of clients who were n therapy with a cognitive/behavioral
psychiatrist. She stated that she was given no other information about
the clients other than a general "journey question" that she was to
explore in order to help the psychiatrist in charge of the cases gain
insight into the clients' problems. Next, she went on her shamanic
journey:
"Using drumming tapes, I journeyed alone, at a distance, without clients
knowing when or how I would work on their behalf. I then provided the
psychiatrist with written descriptions of each journey, which he shared
with the client, noting the reaction evoked by the client's reading of
the journey. Later, I discussed with the psychiatrist how the
information either confirmed what he already knew or provided new
insights, and we worked together to formulate the next journey
question." (p. 163)
She claimed that her shamanic journeys were successful in helping the
psychiatrist to understand the clients' problems and in helping the
clients themselves. In fact, she claimed that she was able to gain
information about them that could not have been obtained with
conventional methods:
"Through image and symbol, the shamanic journeys revealed levels of
knowing that were often beyond what could be perceived or expressed by
the clients or the psychiatrist. For example, Luke was dying from a
brain tumor. An early journey suggested that I teach his wife, Suzanne,
to work with him. Learning to journey to find her power animal proved to
be helpful when it came time for her husband to die. At another point, I
was journeying on a question for myself, when the focus abruptly
changed. I found myself sitting with the couple in a boat that began
moving to a farther shore. On the other side, Luke got out of the boat
and went toward a group of people waiting to greet him. I had the
sensation that the pain they had caused him in his life was washed away
as they surrounded him with love. This classic shamanic experience
(known as _conducting the souls of the dead_) had come unbidden. Only
after I had reported this journey to the psychiatrist did I learn what
had literally happened. In his delirium as he was dying, Luke had called
out the name of his dead sister, with whom he had had a painful
relationship. Drawing from the experience of her single journey, Suzanne
knew what he was seeing and urged him to run to his sister." (p. 164)
Apparently, the cognitive/behavioral psychiatrist with whom she did the
study was impressed with her findings. In fact, he "is currently
exploring the uses of energy resonance, sound, and imagery in his
practice" (p. 166). The author's belief in the procedure was
strengthened by what she perceived as its successful use as an adjunct
to therapy: "By demonstrating that each of us is connected to the mythic
source around which the shamanic model grew, the study has confirmed for
me that contemporary shamanism has a vital role to play in healing
today" (p. 166). Of course, the study was uncontrolled and, thus, her
conclusions are unwarranted. In fact, she and the psychiatrist not only
agreed beforehand on the wording of the journey question (a plausible
source of suggestion for the results of her "journey"), but they
together discussed the results of her journey, a tried-and-true method
for fitting the results to the particulars of the case after the fact.
In turn, both the psychiatrist and Van Raalte discussed the findings
with the clients, another possible source of contamination (Van Raalte
could obtain all kinds of information from the clients) and
after-the-fact fitting of the results of the journeys.
Although I have not gotten very far into the book (I probably won't be
able to do this until the summer), it looks like a very thorough
description of the main research methods that transpersonalists believe
will have much to offer to the discipline of psychology. Nevertheless,
the editors of the volume seem to realize that there may be important
sources of invalidity in their use of paranormal techniques:
"How might we set the stage or prepare ourselves so that paranormal
information is more accessible? What are the factors that facilitate or
impede such knowing? ... Can we become sufficiently practiced in looking
for and accessing such knowledge so that we can distinguish wheat from
chaff, signal from noise, and valid from invalid paranormal information?
Can we learn to recognize internal reference points or indicators of
accurate paranormal impression that might help us to distinguish these
from irrelevant mental noise, idle wishes, fears, apprehensions, and
projections?" (p. 153)
There seems to be a complete lack of skepticism about the paranormal in
this passage. But at least they recognize that there might be sources of
error that would have to be controlled before one could be certain that
one has accessed a transpersonal (paranormal) realm. But since they seem
to minimize (and even denigrate) traditional methods of controlling for
the effects of suggestion, demand characteristics, etc., I am not
certain that they are serious about investigating these errors.
Well, I hope that this at least gives you a taste of what transpersonal
psychologists are proposing.
Jeff
Reference: Braud, W., & Anderson, R. (1998). _Transpersonal research
methods for the social sciences: Honoring human experience_. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"The truth is rare and never simple."
Oscar Wilde
"Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths"
Karl Popper
"If you want to learn new things, you should try reading old books."
Richard Cytowic
