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Polarization and the Algorithmic Undertow: Integral and Critical Realist Perspectives
Full text linkThe recent election in the United States has underscored, in dramatic fashion, the depth and intensity of polarization that has taken hold, not only in America but across the globe. While political division is not new, the character and scope of today’s polarization suggest deeper, complex dynamics that resist simple explanation. At the Institute of Applied Metatheory—and in the Blue Sky Leaders program, a new trans-disciplinary leadership certificate program at CIIS—we explore how these dynamics may become clearer through multiple metatheoretical lenses. This paper brings together insights from Integral Theory (IT) and Critical Realism (CR) to examine the underlying generative mechanisms driving our increasingly divided information landscape and to understand why traditional approaches to bridging these divides often fall short
Colic as Trauma Release? A Comparative Exploration of Play Therapy in Children With and Without a History of Colic
Full text linkColic, characterized by excessive, inconsolable crying in early infancy, has long puzzled researchers and clinicians. Traditional approaches have predominantly relied on medical models, yet they have failed to provide satisfactory explanations or effective treatments. This blinded comparative qualitative study took a novel approach by asking: What are the womb and birth experiences of colicky babies in relation to the prenatal relational trauma between mother and fetus or within the fetal environment? The sample comprised 23 mother-child dyads, 10 children with a history of colic and 13 without, whose histories and interactions unfolded through 10 videotaped sessions of Experiential Play Therapy. Children with a colic history engaged in far less traumatic reenactment than those without, and those born vaginally in both groups re-enacted less trauma than those born via caesarian section. These findings suggest that colic may be the natural release of accumulated pre- and peri-natal trauma rather than an illness or condition requiring treatment resulting in a healthier child than non colicky children whose trauma impacts have not been expressed or released
Measuring Paranormal Beliefs: Reconceptualization and Empirical Validation of the Paranormal Belief Construct
Full text linkThe Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) is the most widely-used tool for measuring beliefs in paranormal phenomena, although it is not free from criticism. Lindeman and Aarnio (2006) proposed an extended version of the RPBS with some improvements and a second-order hierarchical model to explain the structure of the scale. Our objective was to analyze the goodness of fit of the model and measurement invariance by sex in a Spanish sample. A sample of 6,584 participants completed the extended RPBS. After reversed items were removed, the model demonstrated an adequate fit, significant factor loadings and invariance between sexes. The results suggest the possibility of generalizing the RPBS to other cultures. Nonetheless, further research is needed to agree a precise definition of the concept of paranormal beliefs
Smokable Vine of the Dead : Two Case Studies of Experiencers of Both Changa and Near-Death Experiences
Full text linkIntroduction: Virtually no studies have looked at psychopharmacological combinations as models of the near-death experience (NDE), which is inadequate given the evidently complex neurochemistry occurring near- or at death. An example of such a combination is changa, a smoked mixture of the psychedelic N,N-DMT and monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI)-containing plants, and as such has been referred to as smokable ayahuasca (vine of the dead). Only very few studies, yet not systematically, have included experiencers of both NDEs and psychoactive substances. Methods: Two case studies are presented of individuals who have experienced both a near-death experience and a changa experience, making them invaluable in this comparative project. Interviews were conducted encompassing the content of both experience types, as well as the participants’ reflections on, including quantification of, perceived comparability. A detailed content analysis was performed and the presence or absence of each feature between the two experiences is tabulated. The near-death experience scale was also applied for both states as a quantitative measure. Results: Case SR (NDE from misaligned vertebra) reported high, while case DA (NDE, initially, from allergic reaction) reported medium perceived similarity between their NDE and changa experience, supported also by their NDE scale scoring. SR’s changa experience, however, shared only 36% of features with his NDE. Despite this, there were only a few notable differences in features with neardeath experiences at large (exhibiting 83% similarity with NDEs at large)—and the presence, and ordering, of other features is strikingly NDE-resembling. Although, the content by which these appeared was idiosyncratic of DMT. DA’s changa experience shared a comparably low-moderate 42% of features with his NDE, and did appear to entail more discrepancies with NDEs in general, which were classically DMT-like (but also exhibiting 83% similarity with NDEs generally). Despite this, several other features, though again DMT-like in content, appeared particularly NDE-resembling. Discussion: These similarities, to greater and lesser degrees, in both features and content, qualitatively and quantitatively, between the NDE and the DMT-MAOI admixture across the case studies are discussed in light of semantic analyses and physiological studies suggesting monoaminergic activity near-death, motivations for drug-induced re-experiencing of the NDE, and implications of state-dependent memory mechanisms
Transpersonal Approaches to Clinical Supervision
Full text linkTranspersonal psychology can provide unique approaches to clinical supervision by offering an interconnected self-expansive view of the self across time and space, as well as can provide a secular avenue to consider the importance of spirituality without relying on supernatural assumptions. Transpersonal supervisors can challenge conventional notions about what and how supervisees know, and even the nature of being a knower, through providing a more inclusive, perhaps even holistic, vantage that is both critical of mainstream approaches and surpasses their ability to provide a coherent “super” (i.e., going beyond the usual more-myopic understandings) vision. Background on transpersonal psychology related to the supervisor role is provided, and discussion on how to conduct transpersonal clinical supervision is offered, along with cautions regarding potential pitfalls in adopting this perspective
Teaching for Transpersonal Learning
Full text linkThis article addresses the “why,” “what,” and “how” of teaching for transpersonal learning. Why transpersonal education is relevant for addressing modern social problems and the global ecological crisis, what it is like to teach for transpersonal learning, and how transpersonal learning becomes transformative are discussed. Three promising options in technology and consciousness studies for transpersonal learning—transpersonal media, multistate studies, and entheogenic education—are described and the challenges of introducing transpersonal education into academic settings and assessing educational (student) learning outcomes are reviewed. The relevance of Mezirow’s Transformation Theory to transpersonal educational psychology, with special attention to ecological perspective transformation, is then examined. The varieties of transpersonal education, including Integral Transformative Practice (ITP), and pedagogical issues related to the role of the teacher and the place of contemplative practice and spirituality in adult education are also addressed. Transpersonal education, at its best, is about healing the social problems and global ecological crises of our times, empowering individuals to express their ideals in whatever way is given, and learning to reclaim the vitality, exuberance, optimism, and wonder that is at the heart of embodied life
Human Entanglements with More-Than-Human Worlds
No full textSummit Opening and Welcome
9:30am PDT
Dr. Elizabeth Allison
Chair of the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Program
Message from the Provost Division of CIIS
9:40am PDT
Dr. Kathy Littles
Land Acknowledgement
09:45am PDT
Dr. Preston Vargas
Director of the Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis
Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Panel: 10:00am – 12:00pm PDT
Human Entanglements with More-Than-Human Worlds
Panel Summary:
This panel aims to explore diverse perspectives on the intersections between human and more-than-human beings particularly focusing on queer theory, ecology, and indigenous spirituality.
Dr. Patricia Kaishian: “Myceliating the Emotional Space”
Presenter bio: Dr. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian is the Curator of Mycology at the New York State Museum, and a professor of biology with Bard Prison Initiative. She is a co-founder of the International Congress of Armenian Mycologists, which seeks to jointly protect Armenian sovereignty and biodiversity. Patricia also studies queer theory and philosophy of science, exploring how mycology and other scientific disciplines are situated in and informed by our sociopolitical landscape. Her work The science underground: mycology as a queer discipline appears in Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience. Her forthcoming book, Forest Euphoria, will be published by Spiegel & Grau.
Dr. Cate Sandilands: Urticacious Intimacies and Queer Ecologies
Presenter bio: Catriona (Cate) Sandilands is a Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Toronto. Her research areas include queer and feminist ecologies, critical plant studies, ecocriticism, public environmental engagement through literature and storytelling, and creative writing practice and pedagogy. Her sole-authored and collaborative publications in these fields include the books The Good-Natured Feminist: Ecofeminism and the Quest for Democracy (1999); This Elusive Land: Women and the Canadian Environment (2004); Queer Ecologies: Sex, Nature, Politics, Desire (2010); and Rising Tides: Reflections for Climate Changing Times (2019). Her recent writings on plants and queer ecologies include essays in Ecologies of Gender: Contemporary Nature Relations and the Nonhuman Turn (2022); Kin: Thinking with Deborah Bird Rose (2022); Sex Ecologies (2022); Environmental Humanities (2022); and The Cambridge Companion to Environmental Humanities (2021), all of which are part her project Plantasmagoria: Botanical Encounters in the (M)Anthropocene.
Dr. Michelle Marzullo: “Unforeseen Lines of Force: Queer Kinship, Climate Ethics”
Presenter bio: Michelle Marzullo, Ph.D. is a practicing anthropologist specializing in critical sexualities studies. She is Chair and Professor in the Human Sexuality Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), leading only the second fully accredited sexuality doctoral program in the U.S. Her latest works are Critical Sexuality Studies, Lavender Languages, and Everyday Life. Bloomsbury (Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2024) and Critical Sexual Literacy: Forecasting Trends in Sexual Politics, Diversity and Pedagogy (Anthem, 2021). She leverages her position to be a convener of academics and advocates who foster critical sexualities studies, which center issues of power related to sexualities, sex, and gender. Dr. Marzullo has worked on a wide range of research and consultancy engagements across topic such as LGBTQ access to higher education; artificial intelligence and reproductive health; workplace diversity and inclusion; sexuality, marriage, and economics in the U.S.; and LGBTQ youth issues. Check out more at www.ciis.edu/hsx.
Dr. Margaret Robinson: “Kinship with Other Animals in Mi’kmaw Spirituality”
Presenter bio: Dr. Margaret Robinson (she/her) is a two-spirit Mi’kmaw scholar and a citizen of Lennox Island First Nation. She holds Indian status under article 6.2 of the Canadian Indian Act. Margaret regularly publishes on sexual and gender identity, mental health, substance use, food sovereignty, and Indigenous cultural continuity. Her community-driven program of research examines benefits of cultural identity, language, and the arts to promote wellbeing for oppressed people. She works as an Associate Professor at Dalhousie University, where she holds the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Reconciliation, Gender, and Identity.
Moderator: Andrew Scanlan, PhD Student in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion at CII
CIIS Dissertation Abstracts 2023-2024
Full text linkThis compilation of 60 dissertation abstracts reflects the exciting research completed by the 2023-2024 graduates from PhD programs in the School of Consciousness and Transformation and the Clinical Psychology Doctorate (PsyD) in the School of Professional Psychology and Health at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).
The original and impactful doctoral research presented here spans the interaction between humans and nature, children’s sexual rights, ancestral rituals as a resource for psychospiritual wellbeing, the effects of closed adoption, mystical feminine jouissance, embodied experiences of highly sensitive activists, intentionally designed spaces for persons with dementia, enneagram type and patterns of sexual desire, psychedelic usage in psychospiritual evolution, and so much more.https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/dissertation-abstracts/1001/thumbnail.jp
Empathy, Ethics, and Empowerment: Supervising the Transpersonal Therapist
Full text linkThis grounded theory study addressed the question What model explains the essential qualities, skills, and competencies of an effective supervisory relationship for transpersonal therapists in training? It emerged out of a recognition that current training models for supervisors were not inclusive of competencies to address the needs of therapist trainees who are oriented toward a transpersonal approach to psychotherapy. The results of 22 interviews with trainees and supervisors surfaced a fundamental tension within the supervisory relationship in the distinction among the primary responsibility of the supervisor for ensuring client welfare, and encouraging supervisees to develop their personal therapeutic orientation and the self of the therapist. Emergent themes describe the nature of a supervisory relationship that encourages development of all of the gifts of the therapist while training for competence