phd in spiritual psychology

International University of Professional Studies

Somatic and Spiritual Psychology is the new science of the human condition. This holistic approach to inquiry and to healing transcends the mechanistic paradigms of twentieth century psychology (cognitive behaviorism and reductive versions of psychoanalysis), and recognizes the inherent divinity of every human being — his or her capacity to live an awakened life in Love. 

Somatic and Spiritual Psychology draws both from the most inspiring contemporary practices of therapy — which are holistic, dynamic and energetic — and from ancient traditions of spiritual wisdom. The central tenet of this discipline is to understand the lived experience of the individual as that of embodied spirituality. 

This degree program offers maximal flexibility and openness to the diversity of creative approaches to learning, and the program is ideally suited for individuals who have developed interests in the following five areas:

Bodymind — Somatic — Psychotherapy

Yoga and Associated Somatic-Spiritual Practices

Clinical / Educational Human Sexuality

Tantric, Taoist, Sufi and Related Traditions of Spirituality

Shamanic Traditions of Healing and Cosmology

Somatic and Spiritual Psychology

Masters Program:  45 Credits (31 Credits in Required Courses, 14 Credits in Electives​)

Doctorate Program:  90 Credits (54 Credits in Required Courses, 36 Credits in Electives)

Combined Masters/Doctorate Program:  120 Credits (54 Credits in Required Courses, 66 Credits in Electives)

Course credits toward your degree may be earned in the following ways:

Many students earn course credits by having their mentor assign books to read on the course topic, and writing papers or completing projects that demonstrate their understanding of the assigned material. Credits can also be obtained by attending conferences, workshops, retreats, or online courses from established academic institutions.  Students may request and submit for IUPS approval (through their mentors), permission to earn credits through external programs.  Students also have the opportunity to assist in designing their own electives, allowing for education customization.

A key criteria for earning credits is for students to demonstrate how learning this subject matter impacts their lives personally and professionally. Integration of course material is of paramount importance at IUPS. 

Course #     Credits      Required Core Courses for Masters SSP 501           3         Foundations of Somatic and Spiritual Psychology SSP 502           3         Somatic Awareness SSP 503           3         Principles of Conscious Relationships SSP 504           3         Somatic Centered Therapies SSP 505           3         Spiritual Therapy Approaches

SSP 506           3         Neuroscience and Somatic Spiritual Psychology

SSP 507           3         Tantric Traditions of Healing and Cosmology SSP 590         10         Masters Thesis Project

Course#     Credits     Required Core Courses for Doctorates

SSP 501          3         Foundations of Somatic and Spiritual Psychology SSP 502          3         Somatic Awareness SSP 503          3         Principles of Conscious Relationships SSP 504          3         Somatic Centered Therapies SSP 505          3         Spiritual Therapy Approaches SSP 601          3         Spiritual Traditions SSP 602          3         Readings in Embodied Spirituality      SSP 603          3         Theory and Practice of Therapeutic Relationships SSP 604          3         Principles of Yoga SSP 605          3         Introduction to Shamanic Practices SSP 606          3         Approaches to Somatic Human Sexuality SSP 607          6         Practicum/Internship in Somatic and Spiritual Psychology SSP 690        15         Dissertation Research Project

Below are examples of electives that one may consider taking as part of this degree program in Somatic and Spiritual Psychology. Students, in concert with their mentors, shall determine which electives are most relevant to their educational aspirations.

Course #     Credits        Courses

SSP 650        2 - 5        Readings in Embodied Spirituality SSP 651        2 - 5        Progressing in Meditation SSP 652        2 - 5        Theories of Bodywork SSP 653        2 - 5        Readings in Shamanic Practice SSP 654        2 - 5        Advanced Study of Interpersonal Relationships SSP 655        2 - 5        Advances in Somatic Human Sexuality SSP 656        2 - 5        The Spiritual‑Erotic Dimension in Contemporary Culture SSP 657        2 - 5        Practicum in Embodied Spirituality SSP 658        2 - 5        Practice of Living in Meditation SSP 659        2 - 5        Advanced Study of Yoga SSP 660        2 - 5        Practicum in Bodywork SSP 661        2 - 5        Practicum in Shamanic Practice SSP 663        2 - 5        Advanced Methods of Embodied Meditation SSP 664        2 - 5        History and Philosophy of Yogic Practice SSP 665        2 - 5        Neuroscience and Meditation SSP 666        2 - 5        Altered States of Consciousness SSP 667        2 - 5        Neuroscience and Somatic‑Spiritual Psychology SSP 668        2 - 5        The Body in Human Experience SSP 669        2 - 5        Aspects of Somatic and Emotional Growth SSP 670        2 - 5        Teaching Embodied Processes to Solo Practitioners SSP 671        2 - 5        Teaching Embodied Processes to Partnered Practitioners SSP 672        2 - 5        Teaching Embodied Processes in Workshop Settings SSP 673        2 - 5        Ethics of Healing Relationships SSP 674        2 - 5        Sexuality and Culture throughout History SSP 675        2 - 5        History of the Hindu–Jain Lineages SSP 676        2 - 5        History of the Buddhist Lineages SSP 677        2 - 5        History and Practices of Taoism SSP 678        2 - 5        History and Practices of Sufism SSP 679        2 - 5        Embodied Spirituality in the “Religions of the Book” SSP 680        2 - 5        Advanced Readings in Somatic and Energetic Psychology SSP 681        2 - 5        Images of the Goddess SSP 682        2 - 5        Advanced Readings in Ecology and Spiritual Practice SSP 683        2 - 5        Readings in Liberation Psychology SSP 684        2 - 5        Witnessing Embodied Spiritual Practice SSP 685        2 - 5        Diversity and Embodied Spirituality

Somatic and Spiritual Psychology - Selected Course Descriptions

(Please note: All Doctoral coursework (600 courses) involve more advanced research and in-depth study.)

REQUIRED CORE COURSES

For further course descriptions, please contact the University . 

SSP 501   Foundations of Somatic and Spiritual Psychology

SSP 502    Somatic Awareness

SSP 503  Principles of Conscious Relationships

Contemporary literature on interpersonal relations and intimacy is surveyed, including the most recent research and theory on relating with awareness and cultivating love.  An experiential component to this course is optional.  Some focus on the connection between conscious relationships and individual somatic-spiritual practices is included.

SSP 504   Somatic Centered Therapies

SSP 505  Spiritual Therapy Approaches

SSP 506   Neuroscience and Somatic Spiritual Psychology

SSP 507   Tantric Traditions of Healing and Cosmology

SSP 590  Masters Thesis Project (Masters program only) A Masters level thesis is required and the proposal must be submitted to the mentor and department chair. Upon approval, students will work with their mentors to gain direction for research, format, and editing. This project may be an extended essay on a topic of special interest, a comprehensive literature review on a specialty issue, a write-up of some research undertaken, or a report of a project such as a workshop that the learner has designed and facilitated. The thesis will be a culmination of the student’s knowledge, making a significant contribution to the field of Somatic and Spiritual Psychology.

SSP 601  Spiritual Traditions This course introduces students to the world’s spiritual and religious traditions, with their different cosmologies and practices. It focuses in particular on how these traditions view the human body and how the body is involved in spiritual practices. An experiential component of the course is optional if students wish to experience physical spiritual practices like meditation techniques, fasting, and yoga.

SSP 602  Readings in Embodied Spirituality This course reviews spiritual texts and research on the experiences and practices of embodied spirituality. Readings include Yogic, Hindu, Buddhist, Tantric, Christian, Jewish, and other texts that give insight into different spiritual traditions’ views of the body and its role in spiritual practice. They also include studies on the physical and psychological effects of these practices.

SSP 603  Theory and Practice of Therapeutic Relationships A good therapeutic relationship is the basis for all psychological work with a clients. This course acquaints students with the basic theories on how the therapeutic relationship both succeeds and fails. It provides tools for creating beneficial therapeutic relationships with clients, and addresses ethical issues presented in all therapeutic relationships, but particularly when the treatment involves physical techniques and sexuality.

SSP 604  Principles of Yoga This course provides an overview of the theory behind the different types of Yoga and how those theories have been implemented in the form of physical spiritual practices. Readings will include Yogic texts, modern interpretations of Yoga, and studies on the effects of Yogic practices. An experiential component of Yogic practice is optional.

SSP 605  Introduction to Shamanic Practices This course surveys the literature on anthropological and psychological studies of shamanic practices and how they evolved in various cultures. It also looks at the shamanic practices found in modern Western culture. Students may opt to add an experiential component to the course and attend or participate in shamanic rituals.

SSP 606 Approaches to Somatic Human Sexuality Completion of SSP 504 is prerequisite for this more comprehensive training to acquaint individuals with the erotic potential of their embodiment via methods of breath-work, touch, massage, and pelvic release.  

SSP 607  Practicum / Internship in Somatic and Spiritual Psychology Under the guidance of the Program Director, learners design and undertake a practicum or internship experience within the general area of Somatic and Spiritual Psychology.

SSP 690  Dissertation Research Project A dissertation is required and the proposal must be submitted to the mentor and department chair. Upon approval, students will work with their mentors to gain direction for research, format, and editing. The dissertation will be a substantial and original contribution to the literature in the field of Somatic and Spiritual Psychology.

ELECTIVE COURSES

Elective courses may be recommended by the university to ensure the student receives a well-rounded education and students are encouraged to take electives that focus on their core areas of educational interest. Alternative electives to the courses below may be designed by students and submitted to their mentor and the university for approval, truly giving students to opportunity to customize their education. In addition, with prior university approval, students can receive course credits for certain relevant workshops and conferences attended.

SSP 650  Readings in Embodied Spirituality Examines in more detail the notion that the lived experience of our embodiment is our access to the divine. Readings draw on tantric literature as well as works from closely related traditions.

SSP 651  Progressing in Meditation This course offers learners the opportunity to deepen their meditation practice, and to experiment with practices that involve “meditating with the body.”

SSP 652  Theories of Bodywork Reviews some of the major approaches to somatic healing, including such methods as Rolfing, Feldenkreis, Alexander technique, etc.

SSP 653  Readings in Shamanic Practice Examines in more detail some of the major methods and beliefs of shamanic practice from various indigenous traditions.

SSP 654  Advanced Study of Interpersonal Relationships Building on SSP 504, this course studies in more detail the theory and practice of conscious relationships and associated issues of intimacy.

SSP 655  Advances in Somatic Human Sexuality Studies in more detail the major theoretical perspectives and healing practices of somatic human sexuality. The emphasis of this course may be more theoretical or more experiential depending on the interest of the learner.

SSP 656  The Impact of Repression on the Human Experience   Surveys the contemporary crises faced by the human species and its planet. This course reviews ways in which the tragedies of genocide, ecocide, and endemic violence can be addressed by looking at the impact of emotional, spiritual, and sexual repression on the human experience. Readings of relevant cultural critics from Marcuse to contemporary work in ecological psychology are discussed.

SSP 657  Practicum in Embodied Spirituality In collaboration with an IUPS Mentor, learners design and implement a personal experience that deepens their appreciation of their own embodied spirituality. Such experiences might be a vision quest, a program of relevant training, etc.

SSP 658  Practice of Living in Meditation By reviewing a range of contemporary spiritual leaders, this course will inquire deeply into the practice of meditation, as well as reviewing contemporary findings in the psychology and neuroscience of consciousness.

SSP 659  Advanced Study of Yoga Building on SSP 604, this course is for the learner interested in deeper study and experience within the ancient and contemporary practices of yoga.

SSP 660  Practicum in Bodywork Learners select a particular modality of somatic healing and deepen their own experience of its methodology.

SSP 661  Practicum in Shamanic Practice Learners engage in an apprentice relationship with a bone fide shamanic practitioner, and learn some of his/her ways of working.

SSP 663  Advanced Methods of Embodied Meditation Specifically examines meditation practices that dynamically involve the body, including methods of breathing, moving, dancing.

SSP 664  History and Philosophy of Yogic Practice Building on SSP 604 and SSP 658, this course is intended for learners who teach, or who intend to teach, some type of yoga practice.  It reviews more intensively the great traditions of yoga in all eight aspects, as defined by Patanjali and as developed into the contemporary world.

SSP 665  Neuroscience and Meditation Surveys the current neuroscientific literature on the beneficial effects of meditation on the functioning and chemistry of the brain.

SSP 666  Altered States of Consciousness Reviews the literature on altered states of consciousness as induced by pharmacological agents, by breathwork, and by other methodologies.

SSP 667  Neuroscience and Somatic-Spiritual Psychology Building on SSP 665, this course enables the learner to study more intensively the findings of contemporary neuroscience that are pertinent to the concerns of somatic and spiritual psychology.

SSP 668  The Body in Human Experience Examines the notion of the “lived experience of embodiment” as it has been developed in phenomenological and other philosophical literatures.

SSP 669  Aspects of Somatic and Emotional Growth A course in comparative psychotherapy, with a strong emphasis on the development of dynamic methodologies in the course of the twentieth century.

SSP 670  Teaching Embodied Processes to Solo Practitioners    Reviews the basics of any one-on-one healing relationship including such matters as the intersubjective field, the relevance of “transference” and “countertransference,” and addressing difficulties and breakdowns in the healing process.

SSP 671  Teaching Embodied Processes to Partnered Practitioners Completion of SSP 657 is a prerequisite for this course, which examines the challenges of coaching couples in embodied spiritual practices.

SSP 672  Teaching Embodied Processes in Workshop Settings Completion of SSP 657 is a prerequisite for this course, which offers learners the fundamental skills of designing and implementing a workshop.

SSP 673  Ethics of Healing Relationships Examines the nature and crucial importance of ethical conduct in healing relationships, with a particular emphasis on issues of consent, boundary, and explicit communication.

SSP 674  Sexuality and Culture throughout History Completion of SSP 655 is a prerequisite for this course, which offers the opportunity for learners to examine more deeply the processes by which different cultures have curtailed sexual freedoms.

SSP 675  History of the Hindu-Jain Lineages Examines the distinctive features and practices of embodied spirituality in the Hindu-Jain traditions.

SSP 676  History of the Buddhist Lineages Examines the distinctive features and practices of embodied spirituality in the Buddhist traditions.

SSP 677  History and Practices of Taoism Examines more deeply the embodied spirituality of Taoist practice.

SSP 678  History and Practices of Sufism Examines more deeply the embodied spirituality of Sufi practice.

SSP 679  Embodied Spirituality in the “Religions of the Book” This course offers learners the opportunity to investigate the place of embodied spiritual practice in the  Judaic-Christian-Islamic traditions.

SSP 680  Advanced Readings in Somatic and Energetic Psychology  Reviews the development of somatic and energetic psychology as it has entered the awareness of the western world.   

SSP 681  Images of the Goddess Learners explore the significance of Goddess imagery and mythology, as well as the practical experience of the energies of the Goddess, in their personal and professional practice.

SSP 682  Advanced Readings in Ecology and Spiritual Practice Examines the interconnected intentionality of somatic spirituality and ecological awareness.  The importance of promoting an understanding of this interconnectedness is emphasized.

SSP 683  Readings in Liberation Psychology Basic texts in liberation psychology are read with the intent of understanding their significance for the practice of embodied spirituality.

SSP 684  Witnessing Embodied Spiritual Practice Helps the learner to develop skills of writing, speaking, and teaching, that are necessary to propagate the vision of somatic and spiritual psychology.

SSP 685  Diversity and Embodied Spirituality Examines the development of teachings directed toward particular populations; for example, the development of gay and lesbian tantra, transgendered tantra, etc.

Welcome to Spirituality Mind Body Graduate Studies!

The  Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI)  at Teachers College, Columbia University explores the intersection of science and spirituality through the framework of psychology, creating a new archetype for learning and teaching. The institute fosters true self-exploration, within a rigorous academic context, in order to build an international community of inspiring thought leaders, mind-body healers, spiritual activists and visionaries. The institute is pioneering the emerging field of universal spirituality through transformative inner work for outer change.

SMBI is committed to developing evidence-based science that examines the effects of spirituality across the lifespan, including spirituality as a protective factor against mental illness, a source of resilience in cultivating relationships and as a gateway to personal fulfillment.

The Spirituality Mind Body Institute serves as a bridge between science, academia and the diverse worldwide community to address the needs of a rapidly changing world, with a cutting-edge, global spiritual platform that brings together world-renowned scientists, educators, healers and spiritual leaders to inspire conversations that foster social connectedness and constructive resolutions to contribute to the higher good of the whole.

For further inquiries about our institute, please join us in one of our frequent virtual information sessions. These webinars are each one hour long and highlight the overall mission of SMB Graduate Studies, information regarding the courses, and the application process. 

• Publications

Advancing the Science of Spirituality and Mental Health

We use scientific methods to study the relevance of spirituality/religion to behavioral and emotional wellbeing and distress. Our ultimate goal is to generate novel methods to prevent and treat mental disorders.

Meet Our Team

Dr. david h. rosmarin.

Dr. Rosmarin (pronouns: he/him), is the director of the Spirituality and Mental Health Program at McLean Hospital and an associate professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rosmarin’s program of research examines the relevance of spiritual/religious issues to psychopathology and its treatment. He has published over 100 manuscripts, editorials, and chapters, and served as co-editor of the Handbook of Spirituality, Religion and Mental Health.

Dr. Caroline C. Kaufman

Dr. Kaufman (pronouns: she/her) is a postdoctoral fellow in the Spirituality and Mental Health Program at McLean Hospital and has a dual appointment at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kaufman’s main research interests are in the intersection of trauma, alcohol use, and spirituality among first responders (i.e., law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics) and other groups exposed to adversity. She is interested in developing spiritually integrated treatments to address overlapping posttraumatic stress and alcohol misuse in psychiatric settings.

Sean Adam Minns

Sean (pronouns: he/him) is a senior clinical research assistant in the Spirituality & Mental Health and Program at McLean Hospital. Sean combines art, science and technology to provide more accessible and culturally sensitive psychosocial treatment for behavioral health. In the Spirituality & Mental Health Program, he oversees the development and testing of the new DigitalSoul smartphone app, and assists with developing a video-based training course in Spiritual Psychotherapy for Inpatient Residential & Intensive Treatment (SPIRIT).

Mia (pronouns: she/her) is a senior clinical research assistant in the Spirituality & Mental Health Program, and the Geriatric Psychiatry Research Program at McLean Hospital. She manages several datasets to explore spirituality and mental health in collaboration with laboratories and clinical programs throughout McLean Hospital.

Poorvi Mandaym

Poorvi (pronouns: she/her) is a clinical research assistant in the Spirituality & Mental Health Program at Mclean Hospital, as well as the Meditation Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital . She assists with neuroscience studies on spirituality and mental health.

Dr. Steven Pirutinsky

Dr. Pirutinsky (pronouns: he/him) is a data scientist in the Spirituality & Mental Health Program at McLean Hospital, and an Associate Professor at Touro College Graduate School of Social Work (New York, NY). He oversees the development of a brief psychometric scale to assess spirituality for mental health science and clinical practice, and provides advanced statistical consulting for many other research projects.

Rev. Angelika A. Zollfrank

Mdiv, bcc, acpe, hec – c.

Angelika (pronouns: she/her) is an ordained minister, chaplain, and director of Clinical Pastoral Education within the Spirituality & Mental Health Program at McLean Hospital. She provides spiritual guidance and insight for our DigitalSoul and SPIRIT projects and serves as a liaison between our research team and the clinical staff at McLean Hospital.

Alissa Oleson

Rev. alissa oleson, mdiv.

Alissa (pronouns: she/her) is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American and part-time chaplain at McLean Southeast. She provides guidance for our research projects and serves as a liaison between our research team and the clinical staff at McLean Hospital.

Collaborators

Brent p. forester, md, msc, diego a. pizzagalli, phd, matthew d. sacchet, phd, marisa m. silveri, phd.

Director, Neurodevelopmental Laboratory on Addictions and Mental Health, McLean Hospital

David G. Harper, PhD

Associate Director for Research, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry

Cheri L. Marmarosh, PhD

Director of the Center for the International Study of Spirituality and Mental Health

Suzanne Hollman, Psy.D.

Divine Mercy University – McLean/Harvard Collaboration

Avijit Chowdhury, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, Meditation Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital

Moses Appel, MA

Research Associate, McLean Hospital

Sarah Salcone Eleanor Schuttenberg Alana Johnston

More psychotherapists are incorporating religion into their practices

Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God

Unlocking Inner Peace When the World Is on Fire

Current projects.

Clinical Training in SPIRIT

Previously we developed Spiritual Psychotherapy for Inpatient Residential & Intensive Treatment (SPIRIT) and evaluated its utility to over 1400 acute psychiatric patients at...

Neuroscience of Prayer Study 

The goal of the Neuroscience of Prayer Study is to use advanced human neuroscience techniques to provide foundational contributions to our understanding of the role of the brain...

Spirituality & Alcohol/Substance Use Among Adolescents

In collaboration with the McLean Hospital Neurodevelopmental Laboratory on Addictions and Mental Health, we are evaluating the relevance of spirituality to initiation and use of...

Spirituality & Geriatric Psychiatry

Our longstanding collaboration with the McLean Hospital Geriatric Psychiatry Research Program evaluates the relevance of spirituality to older adults, with a focus on mood...

Harvard Index of Spirituality & Religion (H-INSPIRE)

Research and clinical assessment of spirituality is encumbered by a lack of measurement. We are developing a brief 6-item scale to assess for positive and negative facets of...

DigitalSoul

DigitalSoul is a mental health app being developed by our program that provides acute psychiatric patients with the opportunity to integrate spirituality into their treatment....

Sample Publications

*Indicates a mentee

Rosmarin DH, Pirutinsky S, *Park S, *Drury M, Harper D, Forester B. Effects of religion on the course of suicidality among geriatric patients with mood disorders. Psychol Med. In Press.

Rosmarin dh, *salcone s, harper dh, forester bf. predictors of patient response to spiritual psychotherapy for inpatient, residential & intensive treatment (spirit). psychiatr serv. 2021;72(5):507-513., rosmarin dh, koenig hg, pargament ki. spirituality and mental health: challenges and opportunities [comment]. lancet psych. 2021;8;92-93., rosmarin dh, *salcone sg, harper dh, forester bf. spiritual psychotherapy for inpatient, residential, and intensive treatment (spirit). am j psychother. 2019 sep 1;72(3):75-83., rosmarin dh, forester bp, shassian dm, webb c, björgvinsson t. interest in spiritually-integrated psychotherapy among acute psychiatric patients. j consult clin psychol. 2015;83:1149-1153., rosmarin, d. h., kaufman, c. c., ford, s. f., keshava, p., drury, m., minns, s., marmarosh, c., chowdhury, a., & sacchet, m. d. (2022). the neuroscience of spirituality, religion, and mental health: a systematic review and synthesis. journal of psychiatric research., rosmarin dh, *bigda-peyton js, ongür d, pargament ki, björgvinsson t. religious coping among psychotic patients: relevance to suicidality and treatment outcomes. psychiatry res. 2013;210;182-187..

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Get In Touch

Contact us with thoughts, questions or prayers.

[email protected]

(310)-924-2595.

• 2024 Gatherings
• Heartful-Soul-Login
• The Book of Love

The School of Spiritual Psychology

Join robert sardello as he invites you into practices of heart awareness..

Robert Sardello, Ph.D.

Robert Sardello co-founded (with Cheryl Sanders-Sardello, PhD, in 1992) the School  of Spiritual Psychology. At the University of Dallas, he served as chair  of the Department of Psychology, head of the Institute of Philosophic  Studies, and graduate dean. He was also cofounder and a faculty member of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, as well as author of  more than 200 articles in scholarly journals and cultural publications,  and is a former faculty member of the Chalice of Repose Project in  Missoula, Montana. Having developed spiritual psychology based in  archetypal psychology, phenomenology, and the spiritual science of  Rudolf Steiner from more than thirty-five years of research in this  discipline, as well as holding positions in two universities, Dr.  Sardello is now an independent teacher and scholar, teaching throughout  the US, Canada, and the UK, as well as the Czech Republic, Philippines,  and Australia. He is a consultant to many educational and cultural  institutions and a dissertation adviser at numerous academic  institutions. He is author of many books, including Silence: The Mystery of Wholeness (2008) and Heartfulness (2015).  

Working with... Mary Jane Hooper, Ms, of Seeds of Change Therapy

.Mary Jane Hooper, MS, a licensed marriage and family therapist, has dedicated her life to helping people access true transformation. Using an integrative approach, Mary Jane employs several modalities in her work.  Certified in Rubenfeld Synergy, a body-centered psychology, using gentle touch, she invites her clients to listen to the wisdom of their bodies to access true freedom by releasing the imprisoned places in the heart and mind.

She is also a certified practitioner of the Integrative Process, an energy-based method of body-oriented therapy developed by Dr. Werner Kundig.She completed advanced training in Ericksonian Clinical Hypnosis with Dr. Michael Yapko.

In her work with couples, she completed advanced training in IFIO, Intimacy from the Inside Out, with Toni Herbine.  The model draws primarily from Internal Family Systems, to help couples better understand themselves, and the impact of their life experiences on the relationship,    She has found that decreasing shame and developing self-worth are often the keystones to creating loving and attuned relationships.

She has led retreats in the Rockies for several years to help people bring curiosity and compassion into their inner world as they explore the beauty  and intimacy of nature.  See her site Seeds of Change Therapy

The SChool of (Integral) Spiritual Psychology - A Little bit about it.

People are helped through Integral Spiritual Psychology but in a different fashion than the present, more  narrow ‘practical’ imagination of help. People are helped by gradually entering noticing the world very differently. The world, and earth too, are not at all the way they seem to be. We live decidedly unnaturally and  what we call the ‘world’ and ‘earth’ is a vast construction, an overlay,  centuries and centuries in the making that is guided by, I would say,  not so helpful forces, who perpetuate the illusion of humanocentricity,  meaning the humans are ‘above’ everything else of Earth, and Earth is  here, not really as our spiritual home,  but a kind of  ‘prison’ to make the best of this constructed world existing apart from  nature until released by death. I invite you into a very different view.  Welcome.

 ++++++++++++++++++

The  endeavor of Spiritual Psychology, later re-titled Integral Spiritual  Psychology, began in 1992. For years, the effort centered on developing  the means for awakening capacities of inwardly tracking heart  experience, directly and phenomenologically, that is, by describing the  immediate experience of consciousness centered in the heart. Heart was,  from the beginning not understood only as the physical heart nor only as  a metaphor (e.g. “I give my heart to you). We understand “heart” as  simultaneously a physical organ, an organ of perception, a spiritual  organ and a soul organ as well as the center of Love, the universal  medium within which we live.

The ability to be present with, not to , our experience,  must  be developed; this is the first essential aspect of entering the effort  of heart and heartfulness. We may say that we can, for example,  describe something that happened, and we call that our experience, but  we are then talking about an experience rather than  describing what is happening bodily, feelingly, sensorily, and  perceptually in such a manner that the experience itself speaks  flowingly rather than filtered through our intellect. When experience is  spoken about rather than from within, it is always already something  from the past that has already happened rather than life now happening  with immediacy, and even more radically, arriving from the time stream  of the future – which is the primary attempt and purpose of developing  Spiritual Psychology. The seemingly incredible possibility of being  present to the arriving future is founded in the Spiritual Science of  Rudolf Steiner, termed Anthroposophy. Spiritual Psychology is not an  anthroposophical endeavor, but it does rely heavily on study of the work  of Steiner.

Here  is one way of looking at the relation between Steiner’s Anthroposophy  and Spiritual Psychology. Rudolf Steiner, in his early research and  writing said very explicitly that Anthroposophy (The word  ‘Anthroposophy’ means ‘the wisdom of the human being.) could be done in  two ways: the way of thinking and the way of feeling.

He  chose the way of thinking (living thinking, not “thinking about”), and  rejected the way of feeling. He rejected the latter because he thought  such an approach would not be communicable, not as a spiritual science.  Integral Spiritual Psychology is indeed something like anthroposophy  done through the way of feeling, which does not mean ‘having feelings’  but feeling as akin to the word itself, “touching”. Integral Spiritual  Psychology is more like an art than like a science. Integral Spiritual  Psychology does not intend or pretend to be a science. You will see at  the end of this document what we now consider the best way (not  necessarily the final way) to say what is meant and intended by Integral  Spiritual Psychology.  

The  “method” of Spiritual Psychology, from the beginning, centered in what  can be ‘known’ directly through the immediacy of experience rather than  applying pre-given concepts or theories, or habitual consciousness.

At  the same time, a mythic imagination backs Spiritual Psychology, giving  the effort a sensibility wide and deep in scope. The major mythic story  that backs all Spiritual Psychology is the Grail Legend (as told in the  story, Parzival by Wilhelm von Eschenbach).  Why this story? At  first it came intuitively because this is the major story of the search  and finding of the Grail. We learn that the Grail is not an actual  object somewhere, a mysterious cup, but describes the spiritually  searching human being who evolves through innocence and its errors, to  encountering disruptive emotions, which are not to be eliminated as in  other forms of spiritual initiation, but to be met and calmed, to going  through the encounter with deadening power emphasized in the world, and  now, especially ,the technological power of “artificial intelligence”,  resulting in the quest for transhumanism. The story also shows the  trapping of the realm of the feminine and freedom from this trapping.  And the story also reveals how those we struggle against are our  actually our brothers and sisters. And finally, the mystery of the holy  Grail is the mystery of the spiritual human being and of the Spiritual  Earth—as united.

This  effort of Spiritual Psychology unfolded on its own, as if being guided  to somewhere that remained unknown. Following this first heart  awakening, this ‘mythic’ background of immediate heart experience  gradually became clear. I adhered to a basic dictum of the Archetypal  Psychology of James Hillman that I learned and incorporated at all  levels – of mind, spirit-soul-and body – to ask “WHO” backs the deep  inquires we make, Who is asking us to attend to them? We think we  oversee our thinking but thinking too is receiving when considered  spiritually and soulfully rather than simply a given human capacity.  “Who” then backs the heartfulness endeavor? As indicated above, the  ‘myth’ backing Spiritual Psychology is the Grail myth; thus, this  endeavor lives within the Grail questions. “What is the matter”? “How  can I help?”  “Whom does the Grail serve?”

Heart  presence requires becoming “actively receptive”. The will of the heart  clearly presents itself as receptive, and while will and receptivity  seem opposite, that is only when will is consciously or more likely  unconsciously backed by a more “masculine” spiritual-mythic background.

Heart  awareness and world heart awareness open inwardly to persona/individual  experience and to three significant creating presences

--  Sophia, Mary, and Mary Magdalene, all central to Spiritual Psychology:  Sophia, the Soul of the World, as the Icon of Earth; Mary as the creator  of all of the forms of Nature – the shape of each leaf, the form of the  trees, birds, animals and Earth forms too; and Mary Magdalene as the  creator of pureness of Love, expressed as pure Stillness and thus pure  embodying.

This  realization, and being able to demonstrate it through exercises that  bring direct experience of this assertion, reveal that Spiritual  Psychology is concerned with making an inner connection with the forces  of the continual process of the descending of the creative Divine Spirit  forming the human being and all of creation simultaneously with the  ascending of the Divine engendering Soul – that is the discovery of the  ultimate “two as one”, ongoing creating always happening through the  force of Love, a quite different stance than the universally accepted  notion of  God being ‘as if’ masculine. The ongoing descending of the  Divine Spirit and the ongoing ascending of the Divine Engendering Soul  are felt as intersecting at the place of the heart, opening heartfulness  to world-heartfulness, sensorily and perceptually. Integral Spiritual  Psychology can thus be described as a Way of Love.

As  Integral Spiritual Psychology emerged, it became more and more oriented  to life as Devotional Existence rather than an acquired conceptual  discipline with practical implications.From this juncture on, Integral  Spiritual Psychology sought and still seeks ever-more intimacy with  Earth – helped a great deal by an understanding of the inspiration and  practices of indigenous people – particularly Native Americans and the  Kogi of Columbia. We do not do what the indigenous people do; it is not  usurping a living culture, but rather doing  as  they do,  that is, being inspired by their still full present sense of the  sacredness of Earth, bringing us to ask where a “new indigenous’  imagination can occur that is open and available to anyone and what  would be its equivalent to ‘rituals’, without having a circumscribed  imagination of what constitutes a ritual. That is, we do not try to make  up rituals but take the whole of the work as an extended ritual-ling.

One  further unfolding of the School of Integral Spiritual Psychology. Not only is this endeavor now quite removed from what is typically  recognized as “psychology”, and quite removed from being a set of  propositions and practices concerned with being helpful to individuals  in a now false world and a false sense of earth, but being of even  greater help in the Grail manner – in particular, related to the third  Grail question, “Who does the Grail serve?”.  The Grail simultaneously  serves the Divine presences, Earth, Nature, and people whose individual  needs and questions are answered within the larger, wider, deeper, and  higher perspective.

The  efforts of the School are now clearly oriented to describing and  inviting people into a way of life that can be best described as  “Devotional Existence.” That is, the aim of the study and exercises of  Integral Spiritual Psychology is more akin to a “religious” concern  without in any way ever becoming a religion. Religious as relating  forward to the world and earth’s receiving of spirit and soul presences  who intertwine with the matter and matters of this world.

Once  this uniting of spirit and matter as intertwined (experienced through  soul, heart, and physical body) is noticed, the universally accepted  notion that we live, die, and after death enter another world  altogether, the habitual understanding of the ‘spiritual world’  is also  brought into question. Life and so-called death are not separated in this manner. There is, rather, only ‘visible life’ and ‘invisible life’, a great  ongoing rhythm, the rhythm – not of living and dying ….and perhaps a  notion like ‘reincarnation’ which still assumes death as natural, but  the rhythm of “borning” into visibility and “borning” into invisibility.  The term ‘borning’ is exactly as it sounds; we are in a continuous  process of being born. Almost immediately, this process can be bodily  felt – the body is released from the false ‘tag’ of what has been and  still, erroneously, called ‘death’ and ‘dying’. The ‘borning’ process we  are within is immediately felt as Great Freedom, lived every moment and  happening within the universal medium of Love.

If  we humans continue living within the highly erroneous assumption of the  division between spirit and matter, we, unknowingly participate in an  unconscious death wish. We all act and live as if life comes to an end  that we call death. If this is not at all so, but we believe it, we  expect this will happen, for it has always happened, it must continue to  happen – that is a death wish! This ‘wish’, cleverly inserted into the  world, results in all life as fundamentally pathological, and thus  quickly filled with ‘power brokers’, eager to be in control of ways to  try and make us forget, for a while, that we are here and then we die.

Relax  a bit and enter the imagination, the imaginal truth, of the ongoing  rhythmic movement of visible life into invisible life and invisible life  into visible life. Experience the new Freedom. 

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Introduction

Lisa J. Miller, Ph.D., is Director of Clinical Psychology and Associate Professor at Columbia University Teachers College.

• Published: 21 November 2012
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This introductory article starts by defining psychology and discussing the importance of psychology and how it relates to spirituality. The contributors to this book see spirituality as being fundamental to the human constitution and foundational to the nature of the surrounding world. By deeply integrating spirituality into the existing landscape of psychology, this book hopes to reveal an entirely new formulation of psyche. In this book, spirituality is understood as ontologically real. Psyche connects us with the greater spirit, or consciousness, that is in us, through us and around us. This book defines an emerging field within a spiritual psychological framework, that of postmaterialism, a science beyond the limitations of exclusive ontological materialism and mechanism.

Psychology is a vital expeditionary among the disciplines of academia—eager to grow and attuned to the moment and culture in which we live. We are flexible, adaptable and alert. We reflect the partially veiled yet most compelling and necessary concerns of contemporary people. Our language is understood by a broad range of people, our innovations rapidly absorbed by surrounding culture, and thereby we co-create our contemporary zeitgeist.

Psychology consistently dialogs with the times: hysteria in the 1900s, IQ testing in the 1940s, groupthink in the 1950s, stereotyping in the 1960s and 1970s, depression in the 1980s and 1990s, and positive psychology in the 2000s. Psychology lives in this way along the edge of cultural history and is propelled by each new generation. Our research rapidly informs cultural advancement and methods of healing, together forging our contribution.

Science is particularly exciting on this temporal edge. To my graduate students, I liken psychological research to the journey in Gulliver's Travels —our inquiry reveals magnificent and varied sites, shocking and awe inspiring. Stepping back, we have actually stayed home, but we crafted a new lens through which to perceive humans and our place in the world. In our current era, we now rise as a culture in our awareness of spirituality. The language, operative concepts and assumptions of our culture increasingly hinge on spiritual ways of seeing, knowing, and living, such as: non-attachment, attunement, synchronicity, and handing-over to a Higher Power. Spiritual psychology as a scientific discipline, taken seriously, authentically, and with academic freedom, naturally brings forth a reexamination of psychology's core ontological assumptions—perhaps our greatest opportunity for contribution to the field.

This handbook highlights the cutting edge of an expanded psychology, encouraged by a subfield of psychology that directly addresses a broadened ontology. At the dynamic edge of the field of psychology and spirituality exists a body of work that works from a broadened set of ontological assumptions.

The authors of the forty chapters in this handbook see spirituality as being fundamental to the human constitution and foundational to the nature of our surrounding world. By deeply integrating spirituality into the existing landscape of psychology, they collectively reveal an entirely new formulation of psyche. In this handbook, spirituality is understood as ontologically real. Psyche connects us with the greater spirit, or consciousness, that is in us, through us and around us.

The research outlined in this volume picks up a lost thread to the social sciences—one extending from the ideals of the Socratic dialogs, suspended in psychology in the 20th century due to an exclusive vogue of secular materialism (except, of course, the unbridled and honest inquiry into spiritual psychology of William James). This formulation of psyche—in which the human mind is part and parcel of living spiritual reality—expands psychology by a Copernican magnitude. It demands that we move beyond the exclusive mechanistic and materialist view of the human mind as atomistic—authorized as the maker of meaning upon an inert world—to that of the human mind as dialectical. The dialectical human mind is in dialog with a conscious and sacred world and emanates from the same source as the world around us.

In this handbook, we define an emerging field within a spiritual psychological framework, that of postmaterialism, a science beyond the limitations of exclusive ontological materialism and mechanism. For some of the scholars herein, this radical shift is quite explicit; for others it is implicit or the ground on which they work, and yet others are silent on issues of ontology. In all cases, the science in this handbook forms a pastiche of different view of human psyche in the surrounding world than found in 20th Century psychology. Postmaterialist spiritual psychology includes the view that consciousness is the fundamental strata of all surrounding reality, of which our human mind is part and parcel. Consciousness as the fabric of the reality allows for a universe with guiding intention that is inherently teleological and in which all ground is sacred.

Postmaterialist spiritual psychology can live alongside and cross-fertilize work conducted from a materialist perspective; the two are not exclusive, and both are true. Materialist science merely needs to make its assumptions clearer as it sustains a vital place abreast work conducted from other ontological contexts. Materialism, however, in light of the past two decades of science, can no longer suffice as the exclusive rubric through which we view the human psyche. From a postmaterialist perspective, the conscious universe reifies sometimes as matter. Consciousness contributes towards the unfolding of material events. For instance, William Bengston in chapter 35 experimentally shows the effects of consciousness in the context of a rigorous controlled trial on the healing of cancerous tumors in mice. The consciousness of the lab technician and the preintervention “bondedness” of consciousness between mice in the treatment condition and control condition, yield in the control mice a response to the treatment they did not directly receive. Findings of a blind so-called placebo effect in mice, suggest that materialist experimental design might benefit from regard for postmaterial scientific consideration.

Scientists in this handbook view the brain in multiple new ways, including as an antenna, as a materialization or material representation of energy or consciousness, and as an expression of superposition of consciousness. Direct experience is understood as a way of knowing from the greater consciousness. The human brain is not exclusively a thought-making machine, but rather an innate channel for dialog with a conscious, surrounding reality. In other words, the brain is not more real than thoughts simply because it is tangible, and it is no longer endowed as the sole source of consciousness. This view of the human mind allows for the wisdom and information that surround us to touch our lives, inform our decisions, heal us, and guide our collective human activities. We are free from an egocentric prison of ontological centrality. From this perspective, it can be asked: is putting the human brain in the center of consciousness analogues to putting the earth at the center of the cosmos?

This postmaterialist ontology resonates as profoundly true for the rising generation of university students. This paradigm speaks to the lived reality of our current day students. On November 19, 2010, some of the contributors from this handbook traveled to Columbia University to share with our graduate students the ideas represented in this volume. These eminent researchers shared the new expanded psychological science, emphasizing the gains brought through postmaterialist understanding of spirituality, such as the oneness of consciousness, existence of a sacredness of source, and a teleology of development that inherently carries purpose.

As intellectual forerunners whose academic rigor is matched by their innovations, these senior scholars have persevered at points in their careers beyond material biases and professional obstacles, echoing those encountered by fellow revolutionaries in thought. It was therefore with great delight, and foremost surprise, that these eminent scholars entered the Columbia University Teachers College auditorium to discover hundreds of student interested in their work. These intellectual heroes were welcomed with tremendous enthusiasm into our largest auditorium—filled to capacity, standing room only, students leaning on the back walls, sitting on the banisters and lining the stairwells. The groundswell of students representing a historical cultural and intellectual transition away from 20th century strict materialism towards 21st century views that a greater consciousness, or spirit, exists throughout all reality.

Research studies presented in the conference and reported in this handbook validate a way of healing through use of our psyche to engage the greater consciousness that exists in us, through us and around us. Schwartz and Dossey (Chapter 34 ) solidly support the phenomena of spiritual healing, nonlocally and nonmechanistically, through assembling elegant scientific studies on spiritual healers such as that by landmark study Jeanne Achterberg and colleagues ( 2005 ). Achterberg put both patients and practiced indigenous healers in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. At specific and irregular time intervals, the experimenter asked the healer to work. As the healer started to use the customary method of intention, prayer or invoking the spiritual presence, the MRI showed distinct changes in brain function of the healer. Separated by distance and any sensory connection, the patient at these very same moments started to show the same changes in brain function as detected by MRI. This elegant experimental design shows that consciousness heals through nonlocal means, when an ultimate source of life or healing was invoked. This is a remarkable notion, but it is not entirely surprising- or really surprising at all- to many within the new generation of students. The 21st century students generally consider this study confirmatory of their sense or direct experience of the healing. As one student listener explained, “Everyone has their own healing story, and this is science confirming that it is true for everyone—this is reality.”

Students, most in their twenties and thirties, responded to contributors of this handbook with verve saying, “This is the education that we want; the old scientific models feel dead to us. These ideas make sense to us.” And “I need to know this way of working if I am to become a healer.” Several students echoed, “I already assume a spiritual reality. Most of us do. So now what? We want to learn from this perspective.”

My beloved mentor from my days as a doctoral student, Martin Seligman, founder of the positive psychology movement, always took an interest and was visibly curious about the ideas of students. At a dinner table full of accomplished scholars, Seligman almost always sat near a student, and would listen with intensity and an open mind to the ideas of students. Although students still need training in method and form, Seligman advocated that the new generation of scholars already knows something important, which is not immediately apparent looking only retrospectively. Who are this generation of students but the emerging guides for our evolving field?

This Oxford handbook answers the demands of the students by introducing an expanded psychology in which spirituality is taken as ontologically real. The authors apply postmaterialism to topics such as mental health and wellness, how to heal, and development. To a generation of students, many of whom meditate and speak overtly and casually of synchronicity and karma, postmaterialism is a natural understanding from which they search, but often cannot find, scholarship in the social and healing sciences. The students I have taught at Columbia for about a decade have been living implicitly or explicitly beyond this Copernican leap. This is why students listened in the hundreds with wide eyes to guest scholars for four hours on a Friday night, asking for a different education. This handbook provides some of the finest work that scientists and healers have discovered to respond to the forward-thinking, curious and hungry seeker.

The rigid traditional boundaries of academic departments may be a relic of strict materialism—whereas here we study humans, there we study animals, and there we study atoms or machines. This handbook starts with consciousness as the root of the human experience, and psychology as the human relationship to consciousness. The handbook constitutes a living think tank, diligently prepared over the past decade through rigorous research by leading academic researchers and healers, endemically crossing boundaries of so-called subfields. Into this exciting movement of intellectual history, I invite our reader to meet 63 leading intellectuals. As you pull up a seat at the round table, know that the opinions are as rigorous, forward thinking, and empirically supported as any in our era. Together, these scholars offer an augmented scientific language and a set of models and methods for inquiry toward a more knowing and more healing psychology.

I honor the distinct and lucid voices in this handbook so dearly that I will not paraphrase but rather introduce our shared endeavor. My contribution to the handbook has been that of editor, which I interpreted as a charge to hold an honest intellectual space free from the censor of intellectual vogue, and only to edit any given chapters in the direction of clarity and fullness (which rarely was needed).

At this juncture in history, there is radical climate change, multiple wars, epidemics of new diseases, and volatile economies across the world. Right now, the danger is immanent, and we must learn to live in dialog with the greater consciousness that is in us, through us, and around us. The dialog formed through the psychotherapeutic models in this handbook, such as awakening to the daily sacredness of living in spiritual awareness psychotherapy (American Psychological Association, 2004 ), are generalizable models for living with what Wayne Jonas and colleagues (Chapter 23) call our three pressing areas of need: recognition of the global village, awareness of the environment, and deep understanding of health. The innovation of science in the past 10 years pushes us, right on time, past the 20th-century models of mind, affording us a new opportunity to keep up with our surrounding reality.

We live in a postmaterialist era, through which at the moment perhaps we are being pushed, even led, by wisdom in our young students to build upon this cutting edge of the postmaterialist spiritual psychology (Miller, 2010 ). Psychology, in our century of history, has always evolved propelled by the wisdom of the people. I hope that through the science in this volume we collectively contribute toward an intellectual shift that can face up to the worldly dangers unexplained and unresolved by an exclusively 20th century materialist perspective. The scholars herein offer an updated intellectual and scientific frame through which to perceive a highly volatile and transitional world—to gird a bright new way of thinking and to sustain a new way of living. Evidence, language, and new models refine the inchoate awareness expressed by our young students. Taken to heart this awareness can spawn spiritual activism, as suggested in chapter 38 by quantum physicist Amit Goswami. Perhaps spiritual activism is a foundational intellectual quantum perspective to undergurd the world-wide movement for social and political change spearheaded by young adults.

The science in is Oxford University Press Handbook, entered fully and with an open mind, shows our universe to be alive, guiding and so very sacred. The scientific perspective that all consciousness is one and sacred may reawaken our appreciation of living beings around us, all life.

Achterberg, J., Cooke, K., Richards, T., Standish, L. J., Kozak, L, & Lake, J. ( 2005 ). Evidence for correlations between distant intention and brain function in recipients: A functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis.   Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine , 11 , 965–971.

American Psychological Association (Producer). (2004). Spiritual awareness psychotherapy [video/DVD] by Lisa Miller with Jon Carlson. Available from http://www. apa.org/videos/

Miller, L. ( 2010 ). Watching for light: Spiritual psychology beyond materialism.   Psychology of Religion and Spirituality , 2 (1), 35–36.

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Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices

Now Accepting Applications for Fall 2024

An innovative doctoral specialization that re-imagines approaches to therapeutic practice, enhances and supports the individuation work of students, and integrates the essential perspectives of depth psychology and applied healing traditions.

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• Integrative Therapy & Healing Practices

Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices

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About Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices

This doctoral specialization cultivates an integrative approach to professional development in the art and science of therapeutic practice. Working with leading faculty, Pacifica students engage in a journey of personalized education that fosters advanced therapeutic skills and practices, and which supports them in making important and original scholarly contributions to their fields.

For established and emerging practitioners, we invite you to join a diverse group of academic and practice-oriented professionals who are called to deepen their therapeutic work through an integrative study of healing based on the visionary aspects of depth psychology. Become a part of a learning community focused on exploring the critical connections between psychology, spirituality, and healing.

We welcome students with a deep personal calling to their therapeutic work, individuals with profound curiosity about themselves and the world, and lifelong learners devoted to a transformative engagement with the numinous, the psyche, and the natural world.

In three-day residential learning retreats surrounded by the natural landscape of Pacifica’s Lambert campus, students and faculty work together to integrate essential healing traditions and contemporary research—drawing from indigenous and ancient practices, multicultural and contemporary perspectives, and emerging science on human experience and consciousness.

Lionel Corbett Discusses Therapy Based on Depth Psychology

For Diverse Practitioners

The Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices requires master’s-level education and training in a distinct healing-oriented profession. The program is ideal for diverse practitioners in the following professions, including (partial list):

• Psychotherapists and Psychologists
• Marriage and Family Therapists, Social Workers, and Professional Counselors (licensed or pre-licensed)
• Health and Medical Professionals (Nursing, Physicians, Allied Health Providers)
• Jungian Analysts and Psychoanalysts
• Specialized Addiction and Treatment Counselors
• Expressive Arts Therapists
• Spiritual and Pastoral Counselors
• Health and Wellness Practitioners with Advanced Training
• Other Qualified Consultants and Counselors

Students develop important mentoring relationships with Pacifica’s unique faculty of clinicians and scholars that include: Jungian analysts, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychodynamic therapists, systems therapists, archetypal psychologists, spiritual counselors, health and medical professionals, and advanced scholars in research, mythology, and the humanities.

This academic specialization includes two and a half years of coursework, followed by writing an original dissertation emanating from the student’s own selected area of research interest. Students in this program:

• Join an advanced doctoral cohort of diverse professionals collaborating and deepening their work with clients and themselves.
• Explore the growing field of depth psychological research and develop perspectives that help address the critical needs of our world.
• Develop a greater capacity to work symbolically with images, dreams, symptoms, complexes, and synchronicity.
• Work towards becoming advanced practitioners, academic educators, supervisors, or scholarly researchers in the field.
• Examine the critical underpinnings of therapeutic processes and the broad range of theoretical approaches to mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
• Build mentoring relationships with distinguished faculty and experts devoted to supporting students in deepening their practice and their individuation journey.
• Study the works of leading scholars who have bridged psychological, cultural, mythological, historical, and social traditions to advance broader understandings of human experience.
• Develop advanced skills in important practice areas, such as somatic healing, sexuality, dream work, and spirituality.
• Investigate the important connections between the health of an individual or group and the health of their environment and culture through courses that consider ecology, collective trauma, social justice, and cross-cultural dynamics.

Featured Blog Posts and Links

• Psyche and the Sacred
• Why Psychotherapists, Coaches, Counselors, and Healers of All Kinds Need Depth
• My first days at Pacifica: First year student reflections
• Depth Psychological Approaches to Suffering
• Psyche’s Knife: Archetypal Explorations of Love and Power
• Are Immediate Response Technologies Psychologically Damaging?

The Meaning of Integration in the Context of Healing

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Compassionate Care and Being Asian in America in COVID-19

Scholarships

Education Assistance The Education Assistance Scholarship is sponsored by Pacifica Graduate Institute and offered to new and returning students based on extreme financial hardship and strong academic excellence. Awards are made annually at the beginning of each academic year. The award is $1,000 to be equally divided over the academic year. This scholarship is not renewable, and students must apply each academic year. Students enrolled in the PhD and PsyD Dissertation phase of their programs are not eligible for scholarship consideration.

Yellow Ribbon Matching Scholarship Pacifica Graduate Institute is pleased to announce that we have entered into an agreement with the Veteran’s Administration in support of veterans continuing their education under the Post 9/11 GI Bill . Pacifica has agreed to provide up to ten Yellow Ribbon Scholarships each year for qualifying veterans under the Post 9/11 GI Bill on a first-come first-serve basis. Students in the M.A. Counseling program will qualify for up to $6,500 per year, M.A. Engaged Humanities and Creative Life will qualify for up to $5,400 per year, and those in the doctoral programs will qualify for up to $7,800 per year.

C.G. and Emma Jung Scholarship Offered to newly admitted students entering into the Ph.D. Depth Psychology with Specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices. Average awards range from $2,000-$3,000. The number and amount of individual awards is contingent upon the number of eligible applications received. This scholarship is renewable provided recipients meet the required grade point average.

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Chair & faculty.

The faculty of Pacifica’s doctoral program in Depth Psychology with specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices are leaders in the field: authors of international acclaim, renowned lecturers, Jungian analysts, clinical psychologists, registered nurses, and philosophers. Each brings a passion for education and decades of real-world experience into the classroom.

Curriculum Overview

Students matriculating in the Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practice in fall 2024, will come to campus for residential sessions that will take place once each quarter for 5 days from Monday through Friday and they will have additional attendance requirements through videoconferencing as well. Web-enhanced learning components such as recorded lectures, discussion posts and responses occur throughout the program as well. There will be no summer quarters.

This curriculum may vary depending upon changing academic needs. Selected courses may have online components. The required two-year dissertation period, following coursework, focuses on scholarly research and writing.

The program will also feature a series of special seminars and lectures on a range of important practice areas, such as: Addictions, Dream Tending, Family Systems Theories, Sexuality and Gender, Organizational and Group Dynamics, Jung and Shamanism, Expressive and Therapeutic Arts, Healing Mythologies, Sociopolitical Contexts and Cultural Complexes, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Wellness, Shadow and Power in the Healing Professions, The Meaning of Integration, Evolution of Jungian Analysis, James Hillman’s Cultural Critique of Psychology, Alternative Healing Arts, Inner Life and Trauma, Somatic and Implicit Processes, Jung’s Red Book, Indigenous Healing Traditions, Treating the Soul in the Health and Medical Professions, Yoga Therapy, Therapeutic Vocations and Careers, and other current issues and movements influencing the healing professions.

19.5 Total units for first year | 20.5 Total units for second year | 19 Total units for third year Total program units: 74 Units  (59 Units in coursework, 15 Units in dissertation)

• Foundations of Depth Psychology for the Healing Professions - DPT 730 , 2 units
• Jungian Psychology and Contemporary Healing I: Applied Theory and Practice - DPT 761 , 2 units
• Foundations of Scholarly Research and Writing - DPT 784 , 2 units
• Imaginal and Experiential Dimensions of Therapeutic Practice - DPT 962 , 2 units
• Cultural Dimensions of Psychological Life: Engaging Collective Trauma, Cultural Healing, and Social Justice - DPT 830 , 2 units
• Archetypal Psychology: Re-Visioning Approaches to the Psyche - DPT 762 , 1.5 unit
• Selected Topics I - DPT 974 , 1 unit
• Dissertation Development I: Imagination, Calling, and Rigor in Doctoral Scholarship - DPT 832 , 2 units
• Healing Narratives: Writing Compelling Practice Studies and Client Stories - DPT 785 , 2 units
• The Relational Field I: Theoretical Distinctions and Expanded Paradigms - DPT 763 , 1.5 unit
• Practice Consultation Groups I - DPT 750 , 1.5 unit

Second Year

• Psyche and the Sacred: Psychology and Spirituality in Dialogue - DPH 920 , 2 units
• The Inner Landscape of Dreams and Active Imagination - DPH 870 , 1.5 unit
• Depth Approaches to Psychopathology - DPH 850 , 2 units
• Practice Consultation Groups II - DPH 751A , 1.5 unit
• Interpersonal Neurobiology, Affective Neuroscience, and Depth Psychology - DPH 870 , 2 units
• Eco-Spirituality and Eco-Therapy - DPH 732 , 2 units
• Selected Topics II - DPH 992 , 1.5 unit
• Practice Consultation Groups III - DPH 850 , 1.5 unit
• The Relational Field II: Psychic Pain and the Human Condition - DPH 863 , 2 units
• Written Comprehensive Examination - DPH 899 , 1 unit
• Dissertation Development II: Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research - DPH 782 , 2 units
• Practice Consultation Groups V - DPT 851A , 1.5 unit
• Body, Mind, and Soul in the Healing of Trauma: Somatic, Neurological, and Archetypal Approaches - DPH 975 , 2 units
• Advanced Dissertation Development - DPH 944 , 2 units
• Working with Illness and Death: East-West, Depth, and Indigenous Perspectives on Suffering - DPH 894 , 2 units
• Practice Consultation Groups V - DPH 852 , 1.5 unit
• Jungian Psychology and Contemporary Healing II: Engaging Complexity and Diversity - DPH 861 , 2 units
• Selected Topics IIA - DPH 990 , 1 unit
• Selected Topics III - DPH 993 , 1.5 unit
• Practice Consultation Groups VI - DPH 950 , 1.5 unit
• Psyche, Soma, Cyborg - DPH 781 , 2 units
• Enacting the Oral Tradition: Oral Comprehensive Presentation - DPH 994 , 2 units
• Practice Consultation Groups VII - DPH 951 , 1.5 unit
• Dissertation
• Dissertation Writing - DPH 999 , 15 units

Requirements for Graduation

• Students must complete a total of 74 quarter units to fulfill the degree requirement for graduation.
• A minimum grade of “C” is required in each completed course.
• A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 must be maintained.
• Students must comply with attendance requirements as stated in the Student Handbook.
• Students must successfully pass a comprehensive written examination at the end of the second year of coursework.
• Students must successfully present a Control Paper describing their therapeutic or depth-oriented practice work with a particular client, family, or select group to two faculty members during the third year of practice consultation courses.
• Students must successfully complete a comprehensive oral presentation at the end of two and a half years of coursework.
• Students must write, submit, and defend an original dissertation accepted by the faculty.
• Students are required to take part in 50 hours of depth-oriented therapy, counseling, analysis, or an engaged self-reflective process with a provider in their field while enrolled. This is required for graduation and strongly recommended to support students in their educational experience in the program.

Notice Regarding

The Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices is designed specifically for those who, before enrolling, already are licensed or have sufficient academic and other credentials to pursue their chosen professional practice in compliance with applicable guidelines and regulations within their jurisdiction. The degree provides in-depth education in theory, applied contexts, and related-research contexts. Unlike the counseling and clinical doctoral programs at Pacifica Graduate Institute which have developed curricula and clinical training support for those wishing to sit for licensure exams to become psychologists, this specialized depth psychology program does not arrange, authorize, monitor, or supervise practice for licensure purposes.

The comprehensive examination consists of a written portion taken at the end of the second year and an oral portion taken at the end of the third year. The written exam is divided into three sections corresponding to the three study tracks of the specialization: Theory and Traditions of Depth Therapy; Psychology; Therapy, Counseling, and Healing Practices Informed by the Humanities, Arts, and

Sciences; and Integrated Praxis: Research and Applied Contexts. It is designed to assess knowledge gained in the first two years of coursework and serves as a qualifying exam for students before continuing into the third year of study. Students in the Integrative Therapy & Healing Practices specialization who have successfully completed at least 29 units of Ph.D. coursework and who are in good standing are eligible to complete the written comprehensive examination. The third year oral examination consists of the student’s formal oral presentation addressing the ways the program hasinformed their work and their proposed dissertation topic.

Control Paper

During the third year applied presentation series, each student presents a control paper that demonstrates their applied work and the ability to synthesize a variety of appropriate therapeutic and/or healing arts perspectives while maintaining their own unique style of practice.

Doctoral Dissertation

The dissertation process involves the completion of all coursework in research methodologies, dissertation development, and dissertation writing. Requirements and procedures for enrolling in dissertation writing are detailed in the Dissertation Handbook. The Dissertation Committee is composed of a Chair, a Reader, and an External Reader. Each committee member must possess an earned doctorate based in part on a dissertation unless the Research Coordinator for the specialization waives this requirement.

The curriculum may vary depending upon changing academic needs. Selected courses may have online components. The required two-year dissertation period, following coursework, focuses on scholarly research and writing.

Enroll Today

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Ph.D. in Psychology, Concentration in Somatic Psychology 

Rooted in the practitioner-scholar model, our students engage in rigorous academic coursework, in addition to completing their dissertation.

In this Section

Program overview, 4 - 7 years, our approach.

The Ph.D. in Psychology, concentration in Somatic Psychology is a research-oriented, part-time online program. There are two 5-day residential seminars per year at the beginning of fall and spring semesters. The fall residential intensive is in person; the spring residential intensive is virtual. The remainder of coursework is completed online.

About the Concentration in Somatic Psychology 

The program consists of core scholarship skills, research courses, somatic psychology, two comprehensive exams (one written, one oral), and a dissertation. All courses in the Somatic Psychology emphasis are graded by letter grade; (except the Residential Intensives and Praxis classes) there is no Pass/Fail option. 

The Ph.D. in Psychology, Concentration in Somatic Psychology is a unique doctoral program that approaches psychology from the lived experience of being human, and then invites in academic rigor as an ally in building a more insightful, effective psychology of the living person. Somatic Psychology is at the heart of mind-body inquiry and on the frontier of exploration into embodied consciousness. Entering the body, a world opens up that speaks in multitudes of texture and shades of aliveness, with contours of vitality and tangible presence — nuances that the intellect can only speculate about from an external perspective.

The curriculum also considers how embodiment awakens empathy for the environment, how the body holds personal and collective trauma, and how early attachment patterns and socioeconomic contexts can be embedded in and expressed through the body. When mind and body are reconnected through inquiry and research, powerful opportunities emerge for new ways to embody a more just world, promote sustainability, and cultivate humanhealing.

This course of study is situated within our Ph.D. in Psychology, which focuses on whole-person approaches to research and systematic knowledge-building. Whole-person psychologies expand the horizons of psychology to include the body’s ways of knowing and moving as an expression of the interconnected living, breathing systems of community, society, and world. From this perspective, it becomes possible to ask new and compelling research questions that lie close to the heart of what it is to be human. 

The curriculum for the Ph.D. in Psychology, Concentration in Integral Somatic Psychology is designed to help students acquire new knowledge and to further develop skill sets in critical thinking, writing, and research so they are prepared for dissertation writing and research. 

Once they complete coursework (36 units) and a written and oral comprehensive exam, students are eligible to enter dissertation proposal writing. Once their dissertation proposal is approved, they advance to candidacy and can begin work on the dissertation. Students write a dissertation proposal and dissertation under the supervision of a CIIS core faculty member, or a faculty member approved by the program chair to chair dissertations. They are also supported by a dissertation committee of three members (chair, plus two other members, including an external committee member). 

Curriculum Highlights

ITPS 7182 Origins of Somatic Psychology (3 units) This course will explore the revolutionary movements in the Western world such as European phenomenology, American pragmatism, and the analytic psychologies, which were designed to heal the deleterious effects of the radically dualistic approach to understanding human beings crafted during the European Enlightenment. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Wilhelm Reich, Elsa Gindler, Marion Rosen, Gerda Alexander, Moshe Feldenkrais, Mary Starks Whitehouse, and others were among the pioneers during the early 20th century whose works impacted our own developments. The course emphasizes unifying core teachings often obscured by public representations of the different methods.

ITPS 7183 Spiritual Traditions of Embodied Practice (3 units) Intersections between somatic practices and transpersonal psychologies occur in many spiritual disciplines: breathing practices, ritual movements and postures, chants, tracking sensations and energy flows. This course offers the opportunity to study and work with examples of embodied practices in the context of their spiritual traditions, with an appreciation for what can be learned from such traditions as well as what cannot be imparted to practitioners who are not themselves embedded in a tradition.

ITPS 7186 Embodied Social Justice (3 units) Recognizing the embodied dimensions of oppression is key to transforming the damage it inflicts on all members of society across intersecting social locations and identifications. This course provides a conceptual framework, research evidence, and practical skills for working critically with power and privilege in and through the body to support personal, relational, and social change.

Ph.D. in Psychology, Concentration in Somatic Psychology

Three years, part-time study

37 Units, plus dissertation at .10 unit per semester

Semester 1 | Fall (6 units)

ITPS 7182 Origins of Somatic Psychology (3 units)

ITP 7188 Scholarly Writing (2 units)

ITPS 7192 Somatic Praxis I (1 unit)

Semester 2 | Spring (6 units)

ITP 7222 Foundations of Research (2 units)

ITPS 7185 Further Reaches of Somatics/Somatic Psychology (3 units)

ITPS 7193 Somatic Praxis II (1 unit)

Required, self-directed, online exam in General Psychology for students who do not enter with psychology degree or courses of study. Students with psychology degree or course of study may request exemption. Due by the start of Semester 3.

Semester 3 | Fall (6 units)

ITP 7201 Qualitative Research Methods (2 units)

ITPS 7183 Spiritual Traditions of Embodied Practice (3 units)

ITPS 7194 Somatic Praxis III (1 unit)

Semester 4 | Spring (7 units)

ITPS 7197 Embodied Inquiry (3 units)  *Can be substituted with another approved research methods course inside or outside 

ITP ITPS 7190 Advanced Topics in Somatic Psychology Disciplines (3 units)

ITPS 7195 Somatic Praxis IV (1 unit)

Written Comprehensive Exam is completed between semesters 4 and 5 and due at the start of semester 5.

Semester 5 | Fall (6 units)

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This program is designed for scholars and practitioners who have established practices in a transformative body practice—such as biosynthesis, Bodynamics, Hakomi, sensorimotor psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, Authentic Movement, Body-Mind Centering, craniosacral therapy, Continuum, Feldenkrais, hatha yoga, massage, Rolfing, and similar disciplines—and who want to develop new kinds of knowledge that emerge from these practices.

Successful candidates for admission in the program typically have the following qualifications: a vision that is compatible with the program’s mission; regular engagement in practices focused on personal growth and/or spiritual growth; sufficient maturity and stability to pursue independent self-inquiry, adult learning, and sustained research; competence in communication and dialogical skills; demonstration of respect for a diversity of viewpoints; an openness to multiple ways of knowing and whole-person learning; the ability to clearly articulate educational, professional, and research goals; outstanding scholarly writing skills; and a prospective specialization that is consonant with the program’s mission and faculty expertise. Many students enter the doctoral program with a clinical licensure degree (e.g., LMFT) with the goal of bringing philosophical and spiritual depth to their practice or becoming qualified for new professional opportunities such as teaching. This program by itself does not lead to any professional license or certification.

Online Admissions Application: Begin the application process by submitting an online application and paying the non-refundable $65 application fee.

Degree Requirement: A bachelor’s and master’s degree (M.A., M.S., or the equivalent) from an accredited college or university.

Minimum GPA: A GPA of 3.0 or higher in previous coursework is required. However, a GPA below 3.0 does not automatically disqualify an applicant and CIIS will consider a prospective student whose GPA is between 2.0 and 3.0. These individuals are required to submit a GPA Statement and are encouraged to contact the Office of Admissions to discuss their options.

Transcripts: Official transcripts from all accredited academic institutions attended where seven or more credits have been earned. If transcripts are being mailed to CIIS, they must arrive in their official, sealed envelopes. Transcripts from institutions outside the US or Canada require a foreign credit evaluation through World Education Services (WES) or CIIS will also accept foreign credential evaluations that are in a comprehensive course-by-course format from the current members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) . 

Two Letters of Recommendation: Letters of recommendation will be accepted from academic advisors, professors, professional supervisors, or someone able to attest to your ability to undertake the work required for your program. Recommenders should use standard business format and include full contact information-name, email, phone number, and mailing address.

Academic Writing Sample: A writing sample of eight-to-ten pages (typed, double-spaced) that demonstrates your capacity to think critically and reflectively and demonstrates graduate level writing abilities. A sample that uses outside sources must include proper citations. You may submit copies of previous work, such as a recent academic paper, article, or report that reflects scholarly abilities.

Autobiographical Statement: A four-to-six page (typed, double-spaced) introspective autobiographical statement discussing your values, emotional and spiritual insights, aspirations, and life experiences that have led to your decision to apply.

Goal Statement: A one-to-three page (typed, double-spaced) statement of your educational and professional objectives. Include how you will use the resources of the curriculum to advance your chosen inquiry.

Resume/CV (Somatic Emphasis Applicants Only): Somatic Psychology Emphasis applicants must have a substantial background in one or more practices for accessing bodily experience, as well as experience working professionally in the field of somatics/somatic psychology. Make sure to show diverse somatic trainings and workshops that apply to professional practice in your resume.

Background Outline (Somatic Emphasis Applicants Only): Somatic Psychology Emphasis applications must include a statement detailing professional and personal experience with somatic practices such as Biosynthesis, Bodynamics, Hakomi, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, Authentic Movement, Body-Mind Centering, Craniosacral Therapy, Continuum, Feldenkrais, hatha yoga, massage, Rolfing, and other similar disciplines. 

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Psychology • October 1, 2022

What is Spiritual Psychology

Introduction.

Spiritual psychology (which we call “transpersonal psychology” at Meridian University) is a discipline that focuses on the understanding of the human psyche and its relationship with the spiritual dimension. Spiritual psychologists believe in holistic approaches to healing, which includes the integration of mind, body and spirit into one's daily life. From past experiences, we understand that our thoughts, emotions and beliefs can impact our physical health by influencing it on a cellular level.

The term “spiritual” in this practice refers to that which transcends ordinary consciousness, including our personal identity, our sense of self-worth and dignity, our capacity for empathy or compassion, our ability to love unconditionally, and finally our power as human beings—wisdom derived from knowledge gained through the human experience rather than facts drawn from school books or Google.

According to the American Psychological Association, transpersonal or spiritual psychology is defined as “An area of humanistic psychology that focuses on the exploration of the nature, varieties, causes, and effects of ‘higher’ states of consciousness and transcendental experiences. Transpersonal refers to the concern with ends that transcend personal identity and individual, immediate desires.“ This form of counseling builds on the traditional methods and theories of psychology while addressing our eternal yearning for meaning, purpose and connection through spirituality.

From past experiences we understand that our thoughts, emotions and beliefs can impact our physical health by influencing it on a cellular level.

Spiritual Psychology Combines Spirituality with Psychology

Spiritual psychology is a psychotherapy approach that integrates the teachings of the world's religions and traditions to address human suffering, build resilience and develop our humanity. The transpersonal approach to psychology is based on a non-dualistic philosophy of reality which acknowledges that we are all part of an interconnected system.This offers an alternative view of mental health in contrast to conventional psychology or psychiatry, which often focuson an individual’s own biology, symptoms or treatment options.

The shifted focus from the physical to the spiritual recognizes ancient teachings and perspectives which hold value beyond traditional Western psychotherapy.This seeks to bridge the gap between psychology and spirituality by combining ancient spiritual teachings with modern psychotherapeutic practices to address human suffering.

The lens through which spiritual psychology views mental health issues considers religious teachings, rituals and spiritual practices to address human suffering. In this sense, it can be thought of as a secularized form of religious counseling or pastoral care.

Spiritual psychology offers an alternative view of mental health in contrast to conventional psychology or psychiatry which often focus solely on an individual’s own biology, symptoms or treatment options.

Spiritual psychology recognizes the role of transcendent experiences in effective mental health care.

Mental health’s relationship with faith and purpose directs opportunities for providing care

Spiritual psychology is a form of counseling that looks for the spiritual dimensions in mental health issues . This is a way of understanding human suffering from the perspective of transcendent truths. These are eternal principles that guide us along a healing path of self-discovery.

By learning to live in harmony with these principles, we can begin to heal our own wounds and those around us—creating more compassion for ourselves and for others.

What Spiritual Psychologists Do

Spiritual psychologists are psychologists who bring spirituality into their research or clinical practice. They may conduct psychotherapy either as private practitioners or as employees of organizations with individuals or group settings. They may also be involved in research related to spirituality, such as how religious beliefs affect mental health or how prayer affects positive outcomes in patients with cancer.

These psychologists may also work with people who experience anxiety, depression, addiction, or other mental health issues. They may also work with people who are looking for ways to improve their relationships with others.

Spiritual psychologists are interested in the spiritual components of a person's life, including beliefs, faiths and practices that are important to the client. Practitioners of spiritual psychology  may also be interested in how a person's religious or spiritual beliefs affect their relationships and worldviews. They may use psychological principles to help clients explore their spiritual beliefs, connect with their emotions, and improve their physical and mental wellbeing..

Those interested in spiritual psychology may also explore how religion can be used to help people cope with stress or trauma. Spiritual psychologists may work with patients who have experienced abuse or violence as children, for example, helping them learn how to heal from those experiences.

Spiritual psychologists are interested in how a person’s spiritual beliefs affect their mental health and wellbeing.

Other Approaches

Spiritual psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on the study of human spirituality and how it relates to mental health. Several approaches to psychology consider the role of transcendent experiences in growth and healing.

Other approaches include:

• transpersonal psychology which focuses on spiritual development and other transcendent experiences.
• existential psychology which focuses on the individual's search for meaning.
• humanistic psychology which emphasizes an individual's potential for self-actualization.

MtMany definitions of spirituality focus on a belief in some kind of higher power or force that can help people find meaning in life despite their suffering or confusion. Other definitions focus on the deep understanding and connection one has with the world around them. The forms of psychology which draw on religious beliefs or practices and transcendent experiences try to  understand behavior, mental health, and opportunities for healing from an alternative perspective.

The nature of the human psyche is complex. Spiritual psychology provides a unique perspective on the mind and how it affects our lives. This approach to psychology is holistic in nature, meaning that it integrates body, mind and spirit into a cohesive whole. This practice involves bringing together different techniques from different schools of thought to explore life experiences as well and underlying beliefs.

If you are interested in learning more about spiritual psychology, take a look at our current degree programs . We offer a variety of Masters and Doctorate level programs in Transpersonal Psychology.

People Also Ask

What is spiritual psychology.

The study of the human mind and how it relates to the spiritual realm is at the heart of the field of spiritual psychology. Spiritual psychologists support the integration of the mind, body, and spirit into daily life as part of holistic methods to recovery.

What do spiritual psychologists do?

Psychologists that include spirituality into their studies or therapeutic work are known as spiritual psychologists. They may provide psychotherapy in individual or group settings as independent practitioners or as staff members of organizations. They might also be involved in studies on spirituality, such as those on the effects of religion on mental health or the beneficial effects of prayer on cancer patients.

How spirituality related to psychology?

In order to heal human suffering, foster resilience and advance our humanity, spiritual psychology integrates the teachings of several world religions and traditions into its psychotherapy methods. It is founded on a non-dualistic view of reality that respects the interconnectedness of all things.

In contrast to mainstream psychology or psychiatry, which frequently concentrate only on biological reasons, symptoms or treatment options, spiritual or transpersonal psychology provides an alternate perspective on mental health.

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Integrating applied mindfulness, analytic therapy, and diversity consciousness.

The Spiritual and Depth Psychology Specialization explores the intersections between mindfulness-based therapy, Jungian-based analytic psychology, and socio-cultural diversity consciousness. Students are supported in developing integrative psychotherapy techniques rooted in both traditional and evidence based practices of the East and West honoring body-mind-spirit wellness. This degree is offered by AU Los Angeles.

Program Overview

Founded in 2010, the Spiritual and Depth Psychology (SDP) Specialization provides you with a forum to investigate, study, and practice tools for personal growth, discovering your own voice and gifts as a therapist, as well as furthering your appreciation of social and cultural identities. Spiritual and depth psychological therapeutic techniques are able to compassionately reach unconscious levels of family, community, and cultural trauma, helping to restore mental wellness that can be both meaningful and sustaining. Courses are taught by instructors who are active contributors in the field of Spiritual and Depth Psychology, committed to advancing effective, inter-culturally informed psychotherapeutic practices. The faculty embrace proactive engagement in dialogue on diversity, which specifically includes the affirmation of women, people of color, LGBTQ communities, socio-economically vulnerable, and others often underrepresented in the mental health field and in the training of psychotherapists. The Spiritual and Depth Psychology Specialization supports our students’ professional development through:

• Core courses (in Applied Mindfulness and Intercultural Depth Psychological techniques), field work, and course-related research that support you in developing your own voice and unique strengths as a training integrative psychotherapist.
• Learning in skills and theoretical knowledge that enhance clinical training and often allow for distinctive abilities such strategic uses of mindfulness applied to anxiety and stress reduction, advanced abilities to meaningfully engage underlying emotional content, deep historical material, helpful in trauma and addiction recovery.
• Augmenting core skills through our elective courses such as Equine Assisted Therapy, Jungian Dreamwork, and Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention. SDP also supports our international classes in mindfulness studies in Kyoto, Japan, and Toulouse, France.
• Building connections with the larger SDP community of current students, alumni, and professionals through regular community dinners and networking as well as professional speaking events by leaders in the field.

Degree Requirements

Specialization courses (17 units).

• Intercultural Transpersonal and Depth Psychology
• Frontiers in Integrative Depth Psychology
• Life as Practice: Inner Work/Social Resp/Comm Srvc
• Mindfulness in Clinical Practice
• Transference/Countertransference & Psyche
• SDP Electives (3 quarter units)

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Home / Discover Psychology Careers / How to Become a Spiritual Psychologist

How to Become a Spiritual Psychologist

Step 1: complete a spiritual psychologist degree, step 2: become licensed as a psychologist, step 3: apply for a spiritual psychologist job, step 4: learn about spiritual psychologist salaries.

A spiritual psychologist is one who combines traditional clinical therapeutic approaches to counseling with spirituality to help those who are having a spiritual or emotional crisis. The psychologist focuses on understanding that the body, mind, and spirit must be studied together. The discipline blends spirituality and science to help individuals cope with life’s problems.

Although spiritual psychology has been used for centuries by religious organizations and psychologists, the specialty is not recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA does have a division for the psychology of religion and spirituality . This focuses on understanding the impact of spiritual elements on a person’s mental health.

To be a spiritual psychologist, you must become a licensed psychologist. The process is long and requires dedication and commitment. Each state has its own licensing requirements, but all states require you to have a Ph.D. Or a Psy.D. degree.

To be a spiritual psychologist, you must first earn a bachelor's degree which is a required step to earning a master's degree and ultimately, a Ph.D. or Psy.D.

• Associate's degree : This is the first step some take as they head for their eventual goal of earning a doctorate degree. Not everyone earns an associate's. Most people enter a college or university with the goal of earning a bachelor's degree. It will take two years to complete.
• Bachelor's degree in psychology or a related field: Psychology is the preferred degree, however, a related field may be religious studies or philosophy. It generally takes four years to obtain a bachelor's degree .
• Master's degree in spiritual psychology: You must have a bachelor's degree to be accepted in a master's degree program. Many schools offer a master’s degree in spiritual psychology. A minimum requirement is a master’s in psychology. At the completion of a master's degree, some states allow you to become licensed and practice as a psychotherapist, but you may not call yourself a psychologist unless you have a Ph.D. in psychology or a Psy.D. degree. The length of time it will take you to earn your master's degree depends on whether you attend school full or part-time. It can take between one and three years.
• Earning a doctorate degree: To call yourself a psychologist, you must have a Ph.D. or a Psy.D. degree. It takes between three and five years to earn your doctorate degree, and you will be required to first achieve a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree, and complete a number of hours in an internship.

There is no license for spiritual psychology, but to be employed or have your own practice as a spiritual psychologist, you must be a licensed psychologist. Each state has its own specific licensing requirements, but you must be licensed in each state in which you plan to practice.

A Ph.D. or Psy.D. degree will be required for licensure. The degree must be from a nationally accredited college or university or government-chartered institution. Some states require the degree to be from an APA-accredited program for you to qualify to take the licensing exam.

Examination

You must pass the Examination of Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) test. You have four years after earning your doctorate degree to take this test. If you do not pass the first time, you can retake the test up to four times in a 12-month period. The fee for taking the test is $600 with an additional $87.50 for the testing site. You can purchase practice tests for $64.50.

Internship / Practicum Experience

All states require you to have supervised work hours in addition to all the other requirements for licensure . A licensed psychologist or psychiatrist must supervise the hours. You can also enroll in an APA-approved internship program to meet the requirement for supervised hours.

State Requirements

No state issues a license for life. The renewal requirements vary by state, but all require continuing education (CE) hours for renewal. For one example, California requires renewal every two years, and you must earn 36 CE hours during that two years to qualify for renewal.

Spiritual psychologists can pursue careers working with:

• Religious organizations
• Mental health facilities
• Educational institutions
• Crisis centers
• Rehabilitation centers
• Private practice

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides statistics about salaries for hundreds of various careers including for psychologists. There is no separate category for spiritual psychologists.

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) found the median pay for psychologists in 2021 was $81,040 a year. Median means that 50 percent of psychologists earned more than that and 50 percent earned less.

The top 10 percent earned more than $133,890. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $47,850.

The BLS also projects there will be a need for about 14,100 more psychologists every year for the next 10 years with annual job growth of about 6 percent, which is about as fast as the average for other careers.

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What is spiritual psychology.

Spirituality and religion are often very important parts of any culture. Houses of worship can be found in nearly every town and city in the world, and many people attend services regularly. Faith and religion even helps some people going during rough times in their lives. The simple fact is that spirituality has a huge impact on people's thoughts and behaviors.

Spiritual Psychology is a blend of spirituality and science. It uses elements of both traditional psychology and spirituality in order to help individuals feel better and more content with their lives.

Professionals in the field of spiritual psychology understand that the body, mind, and the spirit all work together, therefore, they must be studied together. Each of these elements must be healthy and "in shape" to achieve optimal harmony. This sometimes involves treating a fractured spirit, which is frequently a piece of the human puzzle that is ignored. In a way, spiritual psychology focuses on repairing fractured souls or replacing missing pieces of the soul.

Spiritual psychology has been around in some form for centuries. Catholic confession, for example, is a way for believers to acknowledge their sins and be forgiven for them, which often makes them feel better. Spiritual counseling has also been available to everyone who needs it for century.

Despite its popularity, spiritual psychology is still not recognized by the American Psychological Association. It does, however, have a division for the psychology of religion and spirituality, which is more focused on understanding the impact that these elements have on a person.

Why Do We Need Spiritual Psychology?

For many, a spiritual crisis can be a very upsetting event. It will usually have an impact on every part of a person's life, from their homes to their workplaces. Many people experiencing such a crisis will often feel stuck and confused, with nowhere to turn.

Spiritual psychology and spiritual counseling enables patients to better understand their own beliefs and work through that confusion. Spiritual psychologists can help individuals by allowing them to explore their spiritual side and work toward repairing any shattered pieces of their souls. These professionals can usually help people feeling despondent and dejected with a number of problems that can't usually be fixed with traditional psychological methods.

What are the Education Requirements for a Spiritual Psychology Career?

Aspiring spiritual psychologists should have an education that is a mixture of traditional psychology and spirituality, or religion.

A spiritual psychology career typically starts with a bachelor's degree in general psychology . This usually involves taking a number of psychology courses, including courses in developmental psychology, transpersonal psychology, clinical psychology, creative consciousness, and counseling psychology. Students interested in a spiritual psychology careers should also take classes in theology and religion, particularly eastern religions.

The majority of spiritual psychologists also hold advanced degrees, such as master's degrees and doctorates . If possible, an advanced degree specifically in spiritual psychology is best. Advanced degrees in counseling psychology with a concentration in spirituality are also sufficient.

Find psychology programs in your area using our  Find a School page .

What Does a Spiritual Psychologist Do?

The main duty of a spiritual psychologist is to counsel people and help them to achieve spiritual wellbeing as well as mental and emotional wellbeing.

Many of the patients who seek help from a spiritual psychologist are going through spiritual crises. They need a comfortable atmosphere and a non-judgmental ear to listen to their problems and help guide them through the dark times in their lives. A spiritual psychologist can help his patients explore their spiritual paths in life.

He may encourage them to closely examine their own beliefs as well as alternative beliefs. A spiritual psychologist will also usually guide his patients with such things as meditation and altered states of consciousness. These actions can help patients become centered and will often lead to realization of and a better understanding of their own beliefs. Guided visualization is another popular technique used by spiritual psychologists. This involves a patient entering a state of altered consciousness while the psychologist speaks in a calm and even voice, urging them to explore a fictitious world that is representative of their sub-conscious mind.

In many ways, spiritual psychologists are also similar to counseling psychologists . These professionals listen to their patients' problems and help them work through them. They offer advice on how to better communicate, and calm and center themselves. See also: transpersonal psychologists .

Where Do Spiritual Psychologists Work?

Spiritual psychologists can often secure employment in a number of different places, such as churches, mental health facilities, and rehabilitation clinics. Spiritual psychologists can also choose to open their own practices. They might operate as spiritual psychologists or similar professionals, such as life coaches or personal growth counselors.

What is the Median Salary for Spiritual Psychologists?

Because spiritual psychology is, in many ways, an untraditional career choice, it is difficult to find median salary information for this profession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not record any salary data specifically for these types of psychologists. It does, however, record salary data for similar professions, like counselors (categorized by the BLS as counselors, all other) who, as of May 2022, earn a median salary of $43,390 .

Median salaries for counselors in settings where spiritual psychologists often work include:

• Offices of other health practitioners: $43,500
• Residential mental health and substance abuse facilities: $45,140
• Colleges and other post-secondary institutions: $57,140
• Home healthcare service providers: $62,420
• General medical hospitals: $63,730
• State-run psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals: $77,780
• Religious organizations: $85,990

However, spiritual psychologists who earn advanced degrees may be able to offer clinical psychological services, as well. In May 2022, the BLS reported the median annual salary for psychologists, all other, as $106,420 .

Employment Outlook & Career Guidance for Spiritual Psychologists

Psychology is a flourishing career all across the US. It’s projected to grow at least 6% through 2031 according to the BLS. Spiritual psychology is a fairly new field in comparison with the other branches of psychology, but it is a fast-growing branch and offers a lot of opportunity for young professionals. Spiritual Psychology, also often called Transpersonal Psychology, is the study of human consciousness and how it relates to human behavior.

What Types of Positions Can Spiritual Psychologists Hold?

There are a lot of different hats a spiritual psychologist can wear, from researcher to counselor. These professionals can work in hospitals and other healthcare settings, schools and research facilities, and in private practice. A wide array of positions within the workforce is available to these professionals, including but not limited to:

• Crisis Counseling
• Life Coaching
• Research Positions
• Teaching Positions
• Grief and Family Counseling

The specific position a spiritual psychologist may hold can depend upon the type of training they have.

“It’s my belief that more and more businesses are looking for new and alternative methods for reducing absenteeism and staff, motivating employees and developing successful businesses in a rapidly changing and uncertain world. We are witnessing epidemic proportions of people feeling afflicted with chronic health problems such as depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue and pain conditions and stomach and bowel complaints and equal numbers of people feeling lost, stuck, overwhelmed, stressed and unfulfilled. It’s my belief that there is a growing need to take the ideas of spiritual psychology and apply them in therapeutic and work place environments in order to address the growing number of complaints and health problems people are facing.” – Independent Psychologist,  Kyle Davies

Learn more about how to become a spiritual psychologist . Also, check out our interview with expert spiritual psychologist, Dr. Maurice Turmel .

Spiritual Psychologists Can Also Find Employment Within

• Corporate or Business Setting – More and more businesses are making these professionals available to their employees to provide emotional and spiritual support.
• Private Practice – These professionals, like most other psychologists, often open private practices to provide counsel and treatment to patients on a regular basis.
• Rehabilitation Facilities – Spiritual psychologists often work with individuals who are overcoming some sort of spiritual or emotional issue, or those who are attempting to gain more fulfillment in their lives.

Ways for Spiritual Psychologists to Increase Desirability as a Job Candidate

Although the precise needs of an employer will differ from one employer to the next, there are some general ways in which spiritual psychologists can increase their value in the eyes of potential bosses. Typically, those who take their education level to the highest level are considered more valuable; more and more schools are recognizing the need for spiritual psychology programs and are implementing them. Attributes that will increase the value of a spiritual psychologist in the eyes of employers include:

• Possessing active listening and communication skills.
• Displaying an excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Being an active member of psychological associations such as the APA.
• Having contributed to academic writing or research and being published in this aspect.
• Displaying excellent problem-solving skills.

Ways for a Spiritual Psychologist to Increase His or Her Salary

The most important way a spiritual psychologist can increase his or her salary is to obtain additional training or schooling. The position they are most hoping for should guide their educational choices. For instance, those who would like to obtain positions in places of worship may study religion or philosophy in addition to psychology. Spiritual psychologists who desire to become consultants for corporations may want to take a business course. By obtaining specialized education, these professionals can increase their worth and therefore, their potential for higher salaries.

Networking Opportunities and Organizations

There are a few different organizations that benefit spiritual psychologists, including the Society for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (Division 36 of the APA) and the Spiritual Psychology Association. Attending conferences and seminars is a great way to network with like-minded professionals and learn about available jobs and positions within the industry.

Spiritual Psychology Continuing Education Sources & Resources

The most advantageous continuing education source for psychologists is the American Psychological Association. They offer a variety of CE courses that provide continued education credits and are accredited in all states.

• Quantum Units Education - Buddhist Psychology
• Spiritual Competency Resource Center

2022 US Bureau of Labor Statistics job market trends and salary figures for psychologists , counselors (all other) , and psychologists (all other) are based on national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed June 2023.

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MA In Transpersonal Psychology

Pursue a professional concentration in transformative coaching, creativity and innovation, or spiritual psychology., course overview:, program details:.

Originally established as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP), Sofia University is the birthplace of the Master of Arts in Transpersonal Psychology (MATP). Our innovative and multidimensional program combines theory and practice, instilling in you the ability to serve both professional and community settings. The MATP is primarily an online program, with a residency component twice during the two-year program for 5 consecutive days each. These seminars are conducted like retreats, either in person (*safety permitting) or through virtual teleconferencing.

As you move through the MATP program, our faculty invite you to select one of three concentrations to support your calling to this field: Transformative Life Coaching, Creativity and Innovation, or Spiritual Psychology. In addition, we also offer the option of including a secondary concentration in Transpersonal Ecopsychology.

State Authorizations for Distance Education

Sofia University is licensed, registered, authorized, certified, or formally exempt in the following states and territories as indicated on our State Authorizations page.

Professional Licensure

Please visit our Professional Licensure page for more information.

Curriculum As a Journey:

The MATP curriculum is designed as a journey to guide you toward a continual deepening, diversifying, and reimagining of your approach to living. This is achieved through scholarly readings, experiential learning, integration and creative exercises. Your courses and seminars lead to enhanced consciousness, transformation, spiritual practice, and application of transpersonal principles in service to your communities. Faculty members facilitate whole-person instruction in a dynamic format within a close learning community. We invite you to contemplate innovations related to social justice, peace, and joy. Join us in the cultivation of professional leadership skills, transcendent self-awareness, and expanded consciousness.

Faculty serve as academic advisors who guide students through their educational journey, helping them select courses that attain their academic and professional goals and complete the program in a timely manner. Your academic advisors will be an essential part of your MATP experience, supporting you in sensing and integrating resonant meanings and their contributions to your overall education and professional endeavors.

The MATP journey will take 2 years to complete as a full-time student; part-time study can also be arranged.

Course Information:

At-a-glance information about this course for your convenience:

Key Program Highlights:

We blend scholarship in transpersonal psychology with meaningful, transformative learning that inspires actualization and wholeness in you.

Transformative Learning

Whole-person, transformative, experiential learning.

Transpersonal Grounding

Grounding in transpersonal theories, principles, and practices.

Spiritual Exploration

Exploration of transpersonal, spiritual, ecological, and creative practices.

Practicum Significance

Meaningful practicum experiences.

Dynamic Classrooms

Collaborative, dynamic participatory classrooms led by dedicated teachers.

Transformation Reflection

Reflection on personal stories of transformation.

Right Livelihood

Alignment with right livelihood through the development of personal vision and goals.

Learning Outcomes:

Here’s what you can expect to walk away from this program with…

1. Whole-Person Development

Reflect upon the meaning of whole-person development, including growth in mind, body, spirit, creativity, and community, and apply that understanding to their own personal and professional lives.

2. Theoretical Integration

Blend theories and practices of transpersonal psychology with those in a professional concentration area(s).

3. Expressive Proficiency

Employ multiple ways of accessing information, expressing self, and working with others in a professional concentration area.

4. Thought Evolution

Articulate shifts and developments in their own thought processes, including the assumptions they bring to situations, as these relate to their program of study.

5. Community Plans

Use reflective scholarship and transpersonal theories and practices to create an action plan that addresses the needs of a community, organization or professional area.

6. Ethical Integration

Integrate relevant moral and ethical frameworks with key concepts and practices drawn from transpersonal psychology in the development of solutions to professional and community problems.

Concentrations/Career Paths:

Pick the path that speaks to your journey – both personally and professionally.

• Creativity and Innovation

Career outcomes include:

• Social Work
• Entrepreneur
• Spiritual Psychology
• Social Advocate or Leader
• Non-Profit Work
• Transformative Life Coaching
• Health & Wellness

Curriculum:

To receive a Master of Arts in Transpersonal Psychology, students must successfully complete a minimum of 48-51 units depending on the concentration deleted. A dual concentration is also available, which requires additional units and time. The following are specific degree requirements.

The Foundational Year provides students with theories, practices, and embodiment of transpersonal and spiritual psychology.

• MTP7201A Opening Seminar (1)
• MTP7401 Embodied Spirituality (3)
• MTP7402 APA Writing Style (1)
• MTP7403 Foundations in Transpersonal Studies (3)
• MTP8300 Creative Expression and Transformation (3)
• MTP7603 Theories of Personality (3)
• MTP7801 Spiritual Development Across the Lifespan (3)

MATP students select at least one professional Concentration to focus their second year of study. As part of the Concentration, students complete two Capstone Projects, which highlight their professional identity and transpersonal knowledge: MTP9042 Showcase Portfolio demonstrates how students’ personal vision, scholarship, experience, and education come together; and MTP9077 Community Action Project enables students to demonstrate how transpersonal education can be integrated into community service. The following are the three primary Concentrations:

Students may also add a focus in Transpersonal Ecopsychology to their primary Concentration or complete two Concentrations:

• Primary Concentration (above) and Sub-concentration in Transpersonal Ecopsychology
• Concentrations in Transformative Life Coaching and Creativity and Innovation
• Concentrations in Transformative Life Coaching and Spiritual Psychology
• Concentrations in Creativity and Innovation and Spiritual Psychology

The Concentration in Creativity and Innovation helps students work and use creative thinking skills in order to solve problems and make decisions within communities. It focuses on creative expression and imagination to move communities and organizations forward. The knowledge and leadership skills developed in this Concentration are applicable to work in institutional settings, corporations, hospitals, schools, and with individuals. It is key for entrepreneurial ventures. This Concentration addresses the educational goals of those who see themselves as “Cultural Creatives” and who want to develop new and original ways of impacting social change.

This Concentration provides the educational background necessary to apply for the Registered Expressive Arts Consultant/Educator (REACE) Credential through the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA). Students will be required by IEATA to complete additional experiences and supervision upon graduation for credentialing. Students are encouraged to review the credentialing requirements established by IEATA as these may change over time; Sofia University does not guarantee credentialing of any particular student who completes the MATP program with a Concentration in Creativity and Innovation.

Students are awarded a Certificate in Creative Expression upon successful completion of the Concentration in Creativity and Innovation. Their practicum experience (MTP8873 Professional Practicum I, MTP9974 Professional Practicum II) and paper for MTP9077 Community Action Project must involve an aspect of creative expression in order to be eligible for the Certificate.

• MTP7201B Transitional Seminar (1)
• MTP8303 Empowering Community Through the Expressive Arts (3)
• MTP8373 Professional Practicum I (1)
• MTP8374 Professional Practicum II (2)
• MTP8387 Ways of Knowing: Creative, Intuitive, and Collective (3)
• MTP8399 Inquiry into Creative and Innovative Processes (3)
• MTP9041 Transpersonal Integration Paper (3)

The Concentration in Spiritual Psychology helps students to bring spirituality, consciousness, and wholeness into communities. It focuses on mindfulness, deep listening, community action, and respectful interactions with individuals and community groups. The knowledge and leadership skills developed from this Concentration are applicable to work in institutional settings, corporations, hospitals, schools, and with individuals. This Concentration may be relevant to Yoga teachers, spiritual guides, educators, therapists, and other professionals who seek to integrate wholeness into their work environment.

• MTP8703 Heart and Mind in Community Action (3)
• MTP8799 Inquiry into Embodied Spirituality (3)

The Concentration in Transformative Life Coaching is based on the theoretical principles and practices of ontological coaching. Ontological coaching facilitates the emergence of personal and professional life by exploring how humans co-create reality and perception. It addresses both action and the transpersonal levels of awareness. The Concentration aims to prepare students for a career as a coach or another professional field that integrates and makes use of coaching practices. It prepares students to enter into a professional coaching relationship with clients and to establish a specialized coaching practice.

The Concentration in Transformative Life Coaching is designed to provide the educational background necessary to apply for coach certification through the International Coach Federation (ICF). Students are encouraged to review the credentialing requirements established by ICF ( https://coachfederation.org/) as these may change over time; Sofia University does not guarantee credentialing of any particular student who completes the MATP program with a Concentration in Transformative Coaching.

• MTP8800 Introduction to the Transformative Coaching Process (3)
• MTP8805 Entrepreneurial Spirit (3)
• MTP8811 Practicum in Transformative Coaching I (3)
• MTP8812 Practicum in Transformative Coaching II (3)
• MTP8813 Advanced Practicum in Transformative Coaching (3)
• MTP8799 or MTP8399 Inquiry into Embodied Spirituality or Inquiry into Creative and Innovative Processes (3)
• MATP students are required to complete 12 units of Elective courses selected based on their personal interests and professional goals. The following courses may be used to fulfill the Elective Course requirements:
• MTP8201 Archetypes, Myths, Symbols (3)
• MTP8202 Transpersonal Approaches to Dreams and Dreaming (3)
• MTP8204 Creative and Conscious Aging (3)
• MTP8205 Eco-Spirituality (3)
• MTP8206 Ecopsychology (3)
• MTP8207 Sustainability, Culture, and Sacred Ecology (3)
• MTP8208 Nature-Based Programs and Wholeness (3)
• MTP8212 Contemplative Mind (3)
• MTP8213 Tree of Life: A Brief Introduction (3)
• MTP8804 Psychosynthesis* (3)
• MTP8805 Entrepreneurial Spirit* (3)
• MTP6411 Psychology of Extraordinary Dreams (3)
• MTP6214 Anomalous States of Consciousness (3)
• MTP8452 PTSD Psychology and Healing Methods (3)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

The MATP program at Sofia University, originally established as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP), is a unique and multidimensional program that combines theory and practice. It primarily serves online, with a residency component twice during the two-year program. The curriculum is designed as a journey, guiding you towards a deeper understanding and reimagining of your approach to living through scholarly readings, experiential learning, integration, and creative exercises.

The MATP journey will take 2 years to complete as a full-time student. However, arrangements can also be made for part-time study, allowing for flexibility based on your personal circumstances and professional commitments.

The upcoming start dates for the MATP program are Summer – July 3, 2023, Fall – October 2, 2023, and Winter – January 8, 2024. These dates provide prospective students with multiple opportunities throughout the year to begin their journey.

The estimated total cost for the MATP is $29,600.

The MATP program at Sofia University provides concentrations in Transformative Life Coaching, Creativity and Innovation, and Spiritual Psychology. Depending on the chosen concentration, career outcomes may include roles in social work, consulting, entrepreneurship, life coaching, health & wellness, social advocacy or leadership, teaching, and non-profit work.

Speak with an enrollment advisor today to apply.

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In search of self and something bigger: A spiritual health exploration

At a glance.

• Spiritual health encompasses having meaning in one’s life, a sense of connection to something larger than oneself, and a sense of purpose. Finding this meaning is associated with strong mental, social, and physical health.
• While assessment of spiritual health ranges widely across ages and locations, McKinsey Health Institute’s Global Gen Z Survey in 26 countries found that across generational cohorts the vast majority of respondents said spiritual health is “somewhat” to “extremely” important to them.
• Social, public, and private stakeholders can explore ways to help people find purpose and space to reflect on their lives. This includes employers seeking to help individuals find meaning in their work.

In McKinsey Health Institute’s (MHI’s) vision of a modern understanding of health , spiritual health is not a “nice to have” but a core dimension, along with physical, mental, and social health. But spiritual health can be hard to define. For many, it invokes a variety of feelings. There are those who see it as inseparable from religion, as well as those who associate it with following an internal moral compass or finding peace and calm through meditation. While those feelings can overlap, MHI’s concept of spiritual health 1 The subcomponents of spiritual health have been recognized for decades, as discussed in Adding years to life and life to years , McKinsey Health Institute, March 2022. For more, see S. K. Chaturvedi, Neera Dhar, and Deoki Nandan, “Spiritual health, the fourth dimension: A public health perspective,” WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health , January 2013, Volume 2, Number 1; Francesco Chirico, “Spiritual well-being in the 21st century: It is time to review the current WHO’s health definition,” Journal of Health and Social Sciences , March 2016, Volume 1, Number 1; Christina M. Puchalski, “Integrating spirituality into patient care: An essential element of person-centered care,” Polish Archives of Internal Medicine , September 2013, Volume 123, Number 9; Giancarlo Lucchetti et al., “Spirituality and health in the curricula of medical schools in Brazil,” BMC Medical Education , August 2012, Volume 12, Number 78; South-East Asia Advisory Committee on Medical Research, “Spiritual aspects of health: Global strategy for health for all by the year 2000,” World Health Organization, March 1984. is not necessarily tied to religious beliefs but rather to meaning in one’s life, a broad sense of connection to something larger than oneself, and a strong sense of purpose. These can be found within a community, a calling, a form of divinity, the ability to feel rooted and mindful in the present moment, or all of the above. And those who are able to develop their spiritual health often see positive overlaps with the other dimensions of health.

Methodology

To gain a better understanding of Gen Z in comparison with other generations, the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) conducted an internet-based survey in May 2022 in ten European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom), with approximately 1,000 completions per country. In August 2022, an additional 1,600 completions per country were collected from 16 mostly non-European countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Vietnam). In total, the survey collected responses from 42,083 people, including 16,824 Gen Zers (mostly 18- to 24-year-olds and including a negligible minority of 13- to 17-year-old non-European respondents), 13,080 millennials (25 to 40 years old), 6,937 Gen Xers (41 to 56 years old), 5,119 baby boomers (57 to 75 years old), and 123 from the Silent Generation (76 to 93 years old).

Within each country, the survey applied weights to match the distribution of age cohorts, gender, and share of population with tertiary education in the sample to the country’s national census. The sample was drawn from populations with access to the internet, which made the samples more representative of Gen Z respondents. With this age cohort, nearly all individuals with access to the internet are active technology users; however, for other generations, this is less likely to be the case. This analysis reflects self-reported results in 2022.

Considerations for cross-generational surveys

The survey focused on how respondents—mainly Gen Z—were feeling at the time they were surveyed. Therefore, we cannot determine whether differences in answers between age cohorts are caused by an intrinsic difference in attitudes and behaviors or are merely induced by age differences: it is possible that Gen Z will eventually think and behave like millennials, Gen X, or baby boomers, when they reach those ages.

Considerations for surveys conducted online

The survey was conducted online. Therefore, it may not accurately reflect the behaviors or attitudes of individuals who don’t have reliable online access. This can be particularly significant in various aspects of life, given that the internet can have a profound impact on the information we access and how we process it.

Considerations for cross-country surveys

Cross-country, sociocultural differences can affect perceptions, scale of use, and other factors that may influence responses. However, we cannot automatically conclude that these differences are objective. The variations in answers on an agreement scale, for example, may be due to the respondent’s inclination to agree or disagree and their propensity to choose extreme answers such as “strongly disagree” or “strongly agree.”

Although we relied on cultural experts and youth reviewers to ensure equivalence of meanings across languages during translations, some observed differences across countries may still be induced by the translations.

To measure differences, we computed country averages and used them to calculate simple averages across countries. By doing so, we treated each country equally, regardless of its population size.

For more on physical, mental, social, and spiritual health definitions, see the interactive, “A modern understanding of health,” in the MHI report, Adding years to life and life to years .

However, there are differences between generations as to how they report spiritual health. MHI’s recent Global Gen Z Survey—a cross-generational survey that oversampled Gen Zers in order to yield insight into the generation, while still sampling all other generations for comparison purposes—highlights the complexity of how spiritual health is perceived and practiced around the world and the way spiritual health affects overall well-being. 2 The survey asked questions based on the four dimensions of health: mental, physical, social, and spiritual. MHI then analyzed differences and similarities across generations and countries, with the hope of informing the broader dialogue around Gen Z mental health. Additionally, while Gen Z tends to report worse mental health, the underlying cause is not clear. There are several age-specific factors that may impact Gen Z’s mental health independent of their generational cohort, including developmental stage, level of engagement with healthcare, and familial or societal attitudes. Among 41,000 respondents across generational cohorts in 26 countries, the vast majority said spiritual health is “somewhat” to “extremely important” to them (see sidebar, “Methodology”). This finding is similar to those of previous MHI surveys . This survey also highlights the varying global perspectives regarding the importance of spiritual health. More than 80 percent of respondents in Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam said spiritual health was very or extremely important, for instance, compared with less than 45 percent of respondents in Ireland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Understanding how much spiritual health varies in level of importance could create better understanding in a globalized world, including for those working in the social, public, or private sector.

This is also an area with potential for more research: an MHI analysis found that about 75 percent of studies related to health primarily measure physical health, while just 12 percent measure mental health, 6 percent social health, and 1 percent spiritual health. 3 Adding years to life and life to years , McKinsey Health Institute, March 29, 2022. MHI has conducted multiple global surveys to understand how individuals perceive the four dimensions of health and what gaps exist. In a recent MHI survey of employees , for example, more than half of respondents across 30 countries reported positive overall holistic health, but respondents reported the lowest proportion of positive scores when it came to spiritual health. This may indicate that some employees, regardless of country, may be struggling to integrate meaning into their lives and work, which could, in turn, affect their physical, mental, and social health.

The series of insights below illustrate what cross-generational respondents said about their spiritual health in the Global Gen Z Survey, how to better understand the differences based on age and country, and how everyone has a role to play in helping people have lives with purpose. This can begin by understanding how spiritual health intersects with other dimensions. MHI highlights Gen Z specifically because of the many challenges young people face in the transition to adulthood, and how insights into aspects of health can lead to better resilience.

While the Gen Zers who have good spiritual health appear to be doing well in all dimensions, those with poor spiritual health may be struggling (Exhibit 1). Individuals reporting poor spiritual health were up to about four times less likely to say they had good or very good mental health than those reporting neutral or good spiritual health. In addition, those with poor spiritual health were about two times less likely to report good social or physical health.

The Gen Z survey is not the only research being done to find out how spiritual health can overlap with other dimensions. Spiritual health has been correlated with multiple dimensions of quality of life in other studies, 4 WHOQOL SRPB Group, “A cross-cultural study of spirituality, religion, and personal beliefs as components of quality of life,” Social Science & Medicine , March 2006, Volume 62, Number 6. and there has been growing discussion on the role of spiritual health in holistic medical care. 5 Tracy A. Balboni et al., “Spirituality in serious illness and health,” JAMA , July 2022, Volume 328, Number 2. This can include the role of spiritual beliefs in mental health, with some studies finding that higher spirituality scores correlated with fewer depressive symptoms or that spiritual health and perceived social support is associated with less death anxiety in the elderly. 6 Benjamin R. Doolittle and Michael Farrell, “The association between spirituality and depression in an urban clinic,” Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry , 2004, Volume 6, Number 3; Mehrdad Hajihasani and Nahid Naderi, “Death anxiety in the elderly: The role of spiritual health and perceived social support,” Aging Psychology , 2021, Volume 6, Number 4.

Other studies have found that spiritual and physical health are strongly connected for some patients, with a 2011 US study finding that 41 percent of patients desired a discussion of religious and/or spiritual concerns while hospitalized. 7 Joshua A. Williams et al., “Attention to inpatients’ religious and spiritual concerns: Predictors and association with patient satisfaction,” Journal of General Internal Medicine , July 2011, Volume 26, Number 11. There is also some evidence of the connection between spiritual, social, and mental well-being, with a 2017 study finding that seniors in Iran who had spiritual behaviors and good social health were more likely to have self-care capacity. 8 Mahboobeh Mohammadi et al., “Assessment of the relationship between spiritual and social health and the self-care ability of elderly people referred to community health centers,” Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research , December 2017, Volume 22, Number 6.

Overall, Gen Z respondents reported challenges with spiritual health at a higher rate than non–Gen Z respondents; about three times as many Gen Zers reported poor spiritual health as did baby boomers. 9 Erica Coe, Andrew Doy, Kana Enomoto, and Cheryl Healy, “ Gen Z mental health: The impact of tech and social media ,” McKinsey Health Institute, April 28, 2023. Gen Zers with poor mental health were three times more likely to report a lack of meaning in their lives than those with good mental health (Exhibit 2). And while Gen Z reports struggling the most with spiritual health, it’s not the only generation where spiritual and mental health are connected: non–Gen Z respondents with poor mental health were more than four times more likely to report a lack of meaning in their lives, compared with those with good mental health.

While the survey findings across countries affirmed that those with lower spiritual health had lower mental health scores, the perception of that connection varies by country. Eighty-eight percent of respondents in Indonesia, for instance, said positive spiritual health helped their mental health, while only 15 percent of respondents in Japan agreed with that sentiment. 10 As with all cross-cultural research, differences in scores across countries can be driven by the following two factors: true differences between countries on variables of interest and differences between countries because of artifacts such as within-country response styles or context-driven stigma. As an example, in our current survey, we observed lower scores across many variables of interest in Japan compared with other countries. When reviewing cross-cultural findings, we recommend the reader considers the cultural context of the country and region. That means it may be harder in certain countries to make the case that investment in better spiritual health can improve mental health.

By encompassing 26 countries, the Global Gen Z Survey offers insight into distinct regional differences in the way individuals perceive spiritual health (Exhibit 3). Respondents in higher-income economies, for example, were substantially less likely than those in lower- or lower-middle-income economies to indicate spiritual health was “extremely important” to them (27 versus 43 percent).

While spiritual health is not confined to religion, these complex differences around the world sometimes correlate with religious observance. Under half of respondents in France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Sweden, for instance, said spiritual health was extremely or very important to them, compared with 85 percent of respondents in Nigeria. But it’s relevant to remember that many evaluate their spiritual health outside of traditional religion: in 21 of the 26 countries surveyed, the majority of respondents in each country said spiritual health is important to them, while far fewer reported regularly practicing religious habits, such as going to a faith-based service.

Recent Pew research supports this idea that there is a middle ground between the absence of spiritual beliefs and full religious or spiritual practice, finding that almost a third of US respondents say they are atheists (17 percent), agnostic (20 percent) or list “nothing in particular” (63 percent). Almost half of “religious nones” said their reasons relate to disliking religious organizations, and a third gave a reason related to negative experiences with those who described themselves as religious. Yet in this group, almost half said spirituality is important or that they considered themselves spiritual. 11 Gregory A. Smith et al., Religious ‘nones’ in America: Who they are and what they believe , Pew Research Center, January 2024; when asked about their beliefs regarding the presence of spirits or spiritual energies in the following, 69 percent of “religious nones” and 71 percent of the religiously affiliated chose at least one of the following when answering whether they believe the following can have spirits or spiritual energies: animals other than humans; elements of nature such as mountains, rivers, and trees; graveyards, cemeteries, or memorial sites; certain objects such as crystals, jewels, and stones.

By exploring the differences in spiritual health’s importance across countries or regions and by understanding the varying feelings on religion, organizations and individuals could potentially have a deeper understanding of how to advance holistic health.

This can invite conversation within social, public, and private settings on factors that influence spiritual health. For example, asking someone, “What ways do you find purpose in your life?” or “How are you helping others find meaning?” can yield fruitful discussions.

While finding pathways to pursue individual spiritual health is important across generations, our data suggest that this is especially important for Gen Z (Exhibit 4). When surveyed, Gen Z was the least likely to endorse positive statements about spiritual health: over a third of respondents reported a lack of meaning in their lives. Gen Zers were also the least likely to report finding a sense of purpose in their work and having personal beliefs that give them the strength to face difficulties. One potential explanation is that individuals in this phase of life may still be actively developing their sense of purpose, which lends credence to supporting younger generations in this important element of their health.

Earlier MHI work has highlighted the challenges among younger generations in maintaining their health and how employers can play a role in improving it. For example, workplace interventions that promote positive behaviors and limit negative ones can help create organizational climates that promote holistic health. In the search for meaning, some individuals may find a sense of purpose in their jobs. Others, however, may feel strongly that work is an intellectual or necessary part of life but that their primary purpose comes from volunteering in their communities, raising a family, creating art, engaging in activism, or doing other actions.

Spiritual health can be deeply personal, but MHI findings suggest that the workplace may be one of many places where individuals experience a sense of purpose and positive spiritual health overall (Exhibit 5). A person may find their job unfulfilling, but the flip side could also occur: people can find deep fulfillment in paid or unpaid work. About two-thirds of Gen Z respondents, for example, said spiritual health considerations, such as a purposeful mission statement and opportunities for pro bono work, were “very important” or “important” when it came to selecting an employer. Seventy percent of millennials and 66 percent of Gen X reported the same.

However, having a sense of purpose at work cannot override negative elements, such as toxic behavior and burnout. 12 Jacqueline Brassey, Brad Herbig, Barbara Jeffery, and Drew Ungerman, “ Reframing employee health: Moving beyond burnout to holistic health ,” McKinsey Health Institute, November 2, 2023. Additionally, individuals may prefer not to seek purpose in the workplace; instead, they may turn to avenues like volunteering, helping family members, participating in a religious or spiritual community, or all of the above. Still, recognizing the role the workplace can play in promoting spiritual health is an element of total employee holistic health, and creating opportunities for purpose in the workplace may be essential to the future of work.

Spiritual health can be framed as part of an individual’s overall well-being. Seeking purpose and meaning, connecting with what matters, and acting with intention can be a lifelong journey, much like the need to regularly assess one’s physical, mental, and social health. “Some of us are more predisposed than others to feeling spiritually connected. . . .  But we can all cultivate this natural capacity and build our spiritual muscle,” notes Lisa Miller , researcher on spiritual health and author of The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life (Random House, August 2021).

Similar to mental health, while spiritual health is personal to each individual, strong communities can be essential to increasing spiritual well-being for people around the world, along with other dimensions of health. Social, public, and private stakeholders can explore ways to help people find purpose and space for self-reflection in order to boost holistic health. These ways may include ensuring city residents have access to natural or green spaces that provoke reflection or exploring how community-level endeavors can improve people’s overall well-being. Another consideration for employers is how to better convey their appreciation for mission-based work to employees or how workplaces can encourage a holistic view of health. Other potential actions may simply include decreasing stigmas about discussion of spiritual health.

For those who want to cultivate spiritual health, the path may begin with recognizing its role in overall well-being. And starting the conversation on spiritual health could be an important first step to improving the health of ourselves and others.

Erica Coe is a partner in McKinsey’s Atlanta office and a McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) coleader; Kana Enomoto  is a partner in the Washington, DC, office and the MHI director of brain health; Jacqueline Brassey  is an MHI coleader of employee health and a senior fellow in the Luxembourg office; and Victoria Bennett is an MHI fellow in the New York office.

The authors wish to thank Manish Chopra, Alexandru Degeratu, Ignacio Fantaguzzi, Kai Grunewald, Anna Hextall, Abhishek Mahajan, Yukiko Sakai, and Claudia von Hammerstein for their contributions to this article. They also wish to thank Shri Murali Doraiswamy of Duke University; McKinsey alumnus Tom Latkovic of Backrs; Lisa Miller of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University; Shekhar Saxena of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and Moitreyee Sinha of citiesRISE for their contributions to this article.

This article was edited by Elizabeth Newman, an executive editor in the Chicago office.

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What Do Spiritual Formation Practices Look Like Among Graduate Theology Students? Implications for Faculty Teaching

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This article describes a preliminary and exploratory longitudinal study examining the spiritual formation practices of graduate theology students as they move through their program of study. It uses the relational spirituality model as a theoretical framework to measure connection with God, spiritual dwelling, and spiritual seeking/questing within a seminary community over the course of four semesters: Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, and Spring 2021. The one-way repeated measures ANOVA yielded statistically significant results for the spiritual practices of prayer and Bible reading and spiritual seeking. The article concludes with implications for graduate theological education and faculty teaching.

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For more information about the grant project, see https://www.seminaryformationproject.com .

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This project was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation (61515) on “The Assessment of Character and Spiritual Formation: An Empirical, Longitudinal and Ecumenical Project with Seminary Students and Faculty.”

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What Can You Do With a Psychology Degree?

Author: University of North Dakota May 22, 2024

Psychology has taken center stage.

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With anxiety and depression on the rise —alongside the diagnosis of various mental health disorders such as ADHD, bipolar, and autism—psychology has taken a front-row seat. There are people discussing mental health in all spaces of life, be it mainstream media, movies, books, social media, and conversations between friends and family. 

This exposure, while enlightening, only scratches the surface of the diverse field of psychology, the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychologists work across various environments and employ a multitude of methods to understand complex mental processes and behaviors. 

So, what can you do with a psychology degree? Well, given the vastness of the field, a degree in psychology opens up numerous pathways and roles, each offering unique contributions to society. Keep reading as we explore the numerous opportunities such a degree unlocks.

What is a Psychology Degree?

A psychology degree is centered on the intricate workings of the human mind and behavior. It aims to understand how and why we think and act the way we do. Common topics covered include cognitive processes, emotional and social dynamics, brain functions, and psychological disorders. 

Psychology career paths begin with a bachelor's degree as students are introduced to fundamental psychological theories and findings. Then, as students advance, they have the opportunity to specialize in more focused areas through graduate degrees or certifications, choosing paths like clinical psychology, forensic psychology, neuropsychology, or organizational psychology. 

Such advanced specializations enable graduates to apply their skills in various professional settings, including mental health clinics, hospitals, schools, corporate environments, and research institutions. Thus, a psychology degree provides a strong foundation for understanding human behavior as well as equips students with the versatility to pursue a wide range of impactful careers in both scientific and practical domains.

What Can You Do with a Psychology Degree?

To demonstrate the broad applicability of psychological principles across various domains and highlight the field's capacity to address diverse human needs through specialized knowledge and skills, let's examine some roles you can pursue with a degree in psychology. Each contributes uniquely to understanding human behavior and mental processes and directly impacts individual and community well-being.

1. Clinical Psychologist

Clinical psychologists are integral in mental health services, offering psychotherapy and behavioral interventions for mental illnesses ranging from depression to schizophrenia. As part of their work, they try to understand a patient's condition through psychological testing and crafting personalized treatment plans based on the results. 

Becoming a clinical psychologist requires a Psy.D. or Ph.D., followed by a supervised clinical internship of 1-2 years and successful completion of licensing exams. This extensive training prepares them to handle complex psychological issues in various settings such as clinics, hospitals, or private practice.

2. Counseling Psychologist

These psychologists perform many of the same functions as clinical psychologists but often deal with less severe psychological conditions. They focus on helping clients adjust to life transitions or cope with stress and anxiety, providing tools for personal development and better mental health management. 

Counseling psychologists work in diverse environments, including academic, health, corporate, and community sectors. To reach these professional environments, they need to have a license to practice, which typically involves obtaining a diploma from an accredited master’s or doctoral program in psychology, completing an internship, and passing state-regulated exams.

3. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist

Industrial-organizational psychologists apply psychological theories to organizations and the workplace to boost morale, increase productivity, and optimize organizational structure. They also engage in leadership development, training, policy planning, and recruitment strategies. Thus, these psychologists have an important role in society as they have the capacity to shape the way we work and interact during working hours. 

To take a role as an organizational psychologist, a master’s degree can be suffiecient. However, for higher-level positions a Ph.D. may be necessary.

4. School Psychologist

School psychologists are crucial in educational settings. They help students succeed academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Moreover, they collaborate closely with teachers, parents, and administrators to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments. 

Typical tasks may include conducting psychological assessments, counseling, and designing educational and behavior management programs. School psychologists typically require an Education Specialist degree (Ed.S.), which consists of three years of graduate study and a one-year internship.

5. Forensic Psychologist

The work of such psychologists blends psychological practices with the legal and criminal justice systems. They assess the psychological state of individuals involved in legal proceedings, prepare psychological evaluations for court cases, and provide expert witness testimony. They may also work with offenders, providing rehabilitation programs or risk assessment. 

Forensic psychologists need a doctoral degree, specialized training in forensic psychology, and a state license to practice. In addition to psychological knowledge, their work often requires them to understand legal standards, making their role particularly complex. 

6. Health Psychologist

Health psychologists focus on how behavior and social context influence health and wellness. They work to improve patient outcomes through behavioral change programs, stress management techniques, and by addressing psychosocial factors that affect health. 

This role is key in chronic disease management, preventative healthcare, and system-level intervention to promote health at a community or population level. Practitioners usually need a Ph.D. or Psy.D. in health psychology, and many also pursue postdoctoral work to specialize further, mainly if they aim to provide clinical services where licensure is required.

7. Research Psychologist

Research psychologists play a significant role in advancing the understanding of human behavior and mental processes through empirical research. These professionals design and implement studies, analyze data, and publish results that contribute to the scientific foundation of psychology. 

They often specialize in areas like cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, or social psychology and find careers in academic settings, government research institutions, and the private sector. A Ph.D. in psychology is typically necessary to lead research projects and teach at the collegiate level.

8. Neuropsychologist

Neuropsychologists focus on understanding the relationship between the physical brain and behavior. They assess cognitive function, diagnose conditions, and treat patients suffering from brain injuries or neurological disorders. 

These professionals work in hospitals, clinical settings, and research facilities. To enter the field and achieve board certification, they must undergo extensive training, including a doctoral degree in neuropsychology or clinical neuropsychology, followed by a postdoctoral residency in neuropsychology.

9. Rehabilitation Psychologist

These psychologists focus on helping individuals cope with disabilities and chronic health conditions, aiming to enhance their functional abilities and quality of life. They assess psychological needs, provide counseling, and develop treatment strategies that promote personal and social adjustment. 

A doctoral degree in psychology, typically specializing in rehabilitation, is necessary, along with a clinical internship and licensure to practice independently.

10. Social Worker

Lastly, social workers support individuals, families, and communities to overcome life's challenges, such as poverty, abuse, addiction, and mental illness. They provide therapy and crisis intervention as well as connect clients with other resources to improve their circumstances. 

While closely related to psychology, social work emphasizes social systems and social change, focusing on direct community involvement. A degree in social work (BSW for entry-level positions and MSW for clinical roles) is required, along with state licensure to practice clinically.

Benefits of a Psychology Degree

One of the primary benefits of a psychology degree is the vast career opportunities discussed so far. However, a psychology degree also equips individuals with a skill set that encompasses skills highly valued in any profession, making psychology graduates well-prepared for challenges and leadership roles in their chosen fields. 

Additionally, careers in psychology can be incredibly lucrative and personally satisfying. Psychologists often work directly with individuals or communities to improve their mental well-being, providing a unique opportunity to make a tangible, positive impact on others' lives. This rewarding aspect attracts many to the field.

Is a Psychology Degree Worth It?

Absolutely, a psychology degree is worth it. In addition to the rewarding career paths it encompasses, which can profoundly impact people's lives, the degrees also provide a strong foundational skill set applicable in virtually every industry today.

With the growing recognition of mental health's critical role in overall health, the demand for trained professionals in psychology is high, ensuring that graduates find meaningful and stable careers.

The Bottom Line

So, a psychology degree opens a world of possibilities, catering to a wide range of interests and career aspirations. Whether your passion lies in understanding the criminal mind, assisting those in need of mental health support, or exploring the depths of human cognition, UND provides the perfect starting point with its Bachelor in Psychology . 

For those aiming to specialize further, UND offers advanced opportunities, including a master's in Forensic Psychology , Ph.D. programs in Clinical Psychology , Counseling Psychology , and General Experimental Psychology , as well as an undergraduate certificate in Forensic Psychology . Each program is designed to deepen your expertise and enhance your professional impact. At UND, you won't just be studying psychology; you'll be preparing to help others.

What pays the most with a psychology degree? ( Open this section)

While salaries can vary widely in psychology, the highest earners typically are found in specialized areas such as clinical neuropsychology or industrial-organizational psychology, where professionals can earn six-figure salaries. These high earnings often depend on factors such as the specific role, industry, and geographic location.

Does psychology require math? ( Open this section)

Yes, psychology degrees generally require some math, particularly statistics, to support psychological research and data analysis.

What is the hardest field in psychology? ( Open this section)

Clinical psychology is often considered one of the hardest fields due to its demanding nature, intense emotional engagement, and the extensive education required to practice.

What is the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist? ( Open this section)

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can prescribe medication and tend to focus on biological factors of mental health conditions, while psychologists primarily provide psychotherapy and treatment based on behavioral interventions.

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Home > News and events > News > School of Graduate Studies Celebrates 2024 Commencement

School of Graduate Studies Celebrates 2024 Commencement

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