Integral Psychology
Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart
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A bold new view of the human psyche, integrating Eastern and Western approaches.
Description
Integral Psychology connects Eastern and Western approaches to psychology and healing. Psychology in the East has focused on our inner being and spiritual foundation of the psyche. Psychology in the West has focused on our outer being and the wounding of the body-heart-mind and self. Each requires the other to complete it, and in bringing them together an integral view of psychology comes into view.
The classical Indian yogas are used as a way to see psychotherapy: psychotherapy as behavior change or karma yoga; psychotherapy as mindfulness practice or jnana yoga; psychotherapy as opening the heart or bhakti yoga. Finally, an integral approach is suggested that synthesizes traditional Western and Eastern practices for healing, growth, and transformation.
At the California Institute of Integral Studies, Brant Cortright is Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Integral Counseling Psychology program. He is the author of Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy, also published by SUNY Press.
Reviews
"Very few books go deeply into the spiritual area that Wilber calls the Subtle, but this one does it brilliantly … It opens up the spiritual heart of the person in a way that makes the further journey into the more abstract realms easier and less stressful. " — BACP North London Magazine
"The discussion of how the three primary yogas—jnana, karma, and bhakti—can be applied within Western psychotherapies is excellent. The account of mindfulness practice is first-rate, as, too, is the discussion of bhakti practice and the opening of the heart. The author has a great deal to contribute to an important area of inquiry. " — Michael Washburn, author of Embodied Spirituality in a Sacred World
"Cortright's synthesis of Eastern and Western spiritual and psychological perspectives is insightful, well developed, and often profound. I have been stimulated to think about psychotherapeutic problems from a larger perspective. " — John E. Nelson, M. D., author of Healing the Split: Integrating Spirit Into Our Understanding of the Mentally Ill, Revised Edition