Transpersonal Psychology

As a branch of humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology was started by Abraham Maslow, developer of the ‘human hierarchy of needs’ and one of the seminal figures in the development of humanistic psychology. (The word transpersonal means to include and go beyond the personal). Transpersonal psychology builds on the first three schools of psychology. These are: (i) psychodynamic - focuses on the unconscious and early life experiences and their impact on personality and human development; (ii) behaviorism - focuses on learning and conditioning in shaping behavior; and (iii) existential-humanistic - focuses on self-actualization, free choice, purpose and meaning in life. Transpersonal approaches incorporate these but also add the study of spiritual, transcendent, flow, and peak experiences. In the process of my own self-actualization, and after a few peak experiences, I decided to study such experiences more systematically in the hope of making them a regular part of my daily life... :-)