Transpersonal psychology translates to "beyond the self". The plan was to create a 4th force in psychology. Alongside psychoanalysis, behaviourism and humanistic which was deemed incomplete and critical aspects were said to be missing. One of these aspects was the acknowledgement of the role of spirituality in people's lives and the impact it has. The core assumption of transpersonal psychology is that people are first and foremost spitual beings alongside their other dimensions of being contained in a body, having an ego and a soul, which as a psychology must take into account and address those areas, but in addition it takes into account peoples spirituality. However this is sort of a misnoma as psychology deals with the personal, as transpersonal would infer transpsychological. The psyche is personal (Reed, 1998). There is a trans or meta psyche within us and it is stated as spiritual but many theorists claim that it is not related to psychology (Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., & Scott, A. B., 1999). Psychology is very complex and deals with motivations, desires, fears, repressed fantasies to name a few in the huge labyrinth of dilemas. There is a body of thought which states you can transcend psychology and transcend the whole concept of your being if you are willing to disidentify from the person which we mistakenly believe we are, this is a primary illusion. There is an indentification of the escence of what we are with a very complex construct and once caught in the labyrinth of the construct this is when suffering begins.
The 20th century mathmatician and philosopher Alfred Northwhitehead once wrote "In western literature there are 4 great thinkers whose services to civilisation are thought to rest largely on their achievements in philosophical assemblage. These are plato, Aristotle, Leibniz and William James." During 1901-1902 James participated in a series of lectures titled "Varities in religious experience" (Duclow,2012) in which he presented a fascinating contrast between what he referred to as healthy minded and those he called sick souls. The purpose of his lectures was not to be concerned with the structure organisation or dogma with religion but the more personal and experiencial side of religion, that being the spiritual experience that arise within individuals (James, 1985). James valued religious experiences as these could help humans deal with the inevitable struggles associated with life. The "Healthy minded and the Sick Souls" concept represented to James an alternative way in viewing the world, this resulted in different religous temperaments. The healthy minded were those who had an intuitive belief in the all saving power of healthy minded attitudes in the conquering efficacy of courage hope and trust, and a correlative contempt for doubt, fear and worry. Based on this description it is evident in one form or another this movement has been influential until this present day. One example is the abundance of self help books on the market to help those with fears and anxieties house some form of healthy mindedness, which is known as positive thinking. On the other hand James described those who are incapable of living their life on the positive side of the pain threshold would not find healthy mindedness helpful to adopt. Some people see the world in a much different light and the evil and suffering is too real to be ignored. James coined the term morbid mindedness to describe those with a view in life in this way due to unavoidable attitudinal dispositions or circumstance (Pawelski, J. O., 2003). These two concepts can explain real world contemporary issues for example, mental health problems. Morbid mindedness can attain for high relapse rates across the spectrum with bipolar (Macneil, 2009). This mood disorder affects about 1% of the population, of that 700,000, 50% of patients comprise of,: 25% recover but need constant support, 15% are hosptalised and never improve and 10% result in death, often suicide. Some people may never recover as they may be in the morbid mindedness state throughout their life. They may be incapable of fully recovering, however as James states, people should not be seen as weak or cowardly "when such a conquering optimist as Goethe can express… how would it be with less successful men" (Sherrington, 2014) talking about the German writer and statesman who was said to be in the morbid mindedness in 1824.
Despite the relevant application to real life situations there is still a requirement for further research to definitively determine the link between positive psychology and its usefulness for treating the sick-souled (Pargament, 2009). Theoretically there are issues with the way in which data is gathered; self reports hinder the accuracy of the quantitative study. At a therapeutic level, sick-souled people reported alleviating symptoms and soothing effects of positive interventions. There was also a highlight on the joys of not being too concerned with ones self but from being selfless and devoting time and efforts to God and other people.
James' concept of healthy mindedness can be connected to mindfulness through aspects such as meditation practise, a coping strategy and a mode of being as opposed to a mode of doing, which James also delved into. Mindfulness based cognitive therapy is said to be as good as pills at stopping people relapsing from major illness. Clinicians wanted to see if a type of therapy known as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could be a different method of treatment for those suffering from severe depression as opposed to antidepressants (Morgan, 2003). The results state that MBCT may help some people with major habitual depression reduce or eliminate medication.
William James has made significant contributions to the understanding of philosophy and psychology. Regardless of 100 years passing since James' famous "Varieties in religious experiences" lectures his work is still relevant. James offered varying psychological concepts which offered an alternative to existing theories at the time. It is important to acknowledge the context surrounding the formulation of James' theories, the field of psychology was still in its infancy and there was a lack of the resources available today which make it easier to gain physical insight to the brain and its functions. His focus on the way that people think allows practitioners such as psychologists to acknowledge and accept that some people will have specific thought tendencies such as morbid mindedness. Supporting people who do possess this type of thinking characteristic can be increased by their knowledge that those suffering should not be given up on.
References:
⦠Duclow, D. F. (2002). William James, Mind-Cure, and the Religion of Healthy-Mindedness. Journal of Religion and Health, 41(1), 45-56.
⦠James, W. (1985). The varieties of religious experience (Vol. 13). Harvard University Press.
⦠Macneil, C. A. (2009). Bipolar disorder in young people: a psychological intervention manual. Cambridge University Press.
⦠Morgan, D. (2003). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression: A new approach to preventing relapse. Psychotherapy Research, 13(1), 123-125.
⦠Pargament, K. I. (1999). The psychology of religion and spirituality? Yes and no. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 9(1), 3-16.
⦠Pawelski, J. O. (2003). Is healthy-mindedness healthy. Cross currents, 52, 404-412.
⦠Reed, E. S. (1998). From soul to mind: The emergence of psychology, from Erasmus Darwin to William James. Yale University Press.
⦠Sherrington, C. (2014). Goethe on Nature and on Science. Cambridge University Press.
⦠Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., & Scott, A. B. (1999). The emerging meanings of religiousness and spirituality: Problems and prospects. Journal of personality, 67(6), 889-919.