An Internet-Based Quantum Biofeedback and Neurotechnology Cybertherapy System for the Support of Transpersonal Psychology

Signal Generator ◽

Altered States ◽

Human Beings ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Transpersonal Psychotherapy ◽

Level Of Consciousness ◽

Human Psyche ◽

Biofeedback Device

Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their ego and integrate the spiritual experience within a broader understanding of the human psyche and consciousness. Altered states of consciousness have been used as psychotherapy in transpersonal psychology for decades. A Cyberpsychotherapy system is proposed to support transpersonal psychotherapy. The system can be used to induce non-ordinary state of consciousness that can be used by transpersonal psychologists as a healing tool to cure his patients with psychological problems such as psychosis at a distance location with the help of Internet technologies. The Cyberpsychotherapy system uses quantum signal generator for the induction of altered states of consciousness based on the God's helmet of Persinger (1983). The Cyberpsychotherapy has integrated an EEG that serves as a biofeedback device in order to assess if the patient has reached the desired level of consciousness and can be used it to adjust the frequencies of the signal generator in order to improve the psychotherapy experience of the patient if necessary. A sample of 10 patients was used to test the Cybertherapy system based on Neurotechnology and quantum biofeedback, data was collected and analyzed. Although the results show that the patients were not able to reach the desired level of consciousness for the psychotherapy, there is statistical significant evidence that the proposed system can help to raise the level of consciousness; this can help with future designs that will eventually assist to reach the desired level for the psychotherapy.

Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies - Web-Based Behavioral Therapies for Mental Disorders ◽

Neurotechnology in the Development of Cyber-Psychotherapy Systems for Inducing and Measuring Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

10.4018/978-1-5225-3241-5.ch007 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 185-211

Author(s):

Raul Valverde

Keyword(s):

Altered States ◽

Human Beings ◽

Altered State ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Transpersonal Psychotherapy ◽

Altered State Of Consciousness ◽

Human Psyche ◽

Different Characteristics

Transpersonal psychotherapy is based on transpersonal psychology and considers that the psyche is multidimensional and that there are several “levels of consciousness” and each has different characteristics and is governed by different laws. Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their ego and integrate the spiritual experience within a broader understanding of the human psyche and consciousness. Altered states of consciousness have been used as psychotherapy in transpersonal psychology for decades. Although there are very well known techniques to induce altered state of consciousness as holotropic breathwork, Neurotechnology offers an alternative way not only to induce these states for transpersonal therapy but also to measure the level of a state of consciousness. The objective of this chapter is to provide a review of the main concepts of Neurotechnology and the main technologies that can be used to induce and measure altered state of consciousness for transpersonal psychotherapy and propose an architecture for a Cyber psychotherapy system that uses these technologies.

Neurotechnology in the Development of Cyber-Psychotherapy Systems for Inducing and Measuring Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

Research Anthology on Rehabilitation Practices and Therapy ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-3432-8.ch037 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 766-786

Author(s):

Raul Valverde

Keyword(s):

Altered States ◽

Human Beings ◽

Altered State ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Transpersonal Psychotherapy ◽

Altered State Of Consciousness ◽

Human Psyche ◽

Different Characteristics

Transpersonal psychotherapy is based on transpersonal psychology and considers that the psyche is multidimensional and that there are several “levels of consciousness” and each has different characteristics and is governed by different laws. Transpersonal psychology is the study of human nature and proceeds on the assumption that human beings possess potentials that exceed the limits of their ego and integrate the spiritual experience within a broader understanding of the human psyche and consciousness. Altered states of consciousness have been used as psychotherapy in transpersonal psychology for decades. Although there are very well known techniques to induce altered state of consciousness as holotropic breathwork, Neurotechnology offers an alternative way not only to induce these states for transpersonal therapy but also to measure the level of a state of consciousness. The objective of this chapter is to provide a review of the main concepts of Neurotechnology and the main technologies that can be used to induce and measure altered state of consciousness for transpersonal psychotherapy and propose an architecture for a Cyber psychotherapy system that uses these technologies.

Neurotechnology as a Tool for Inducing and Measuring Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

NeuroQuantology ◽

10.14704/nq.2015.13.4.870 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Raul Valverde

Keyword(s):

Altered States ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Transpersonal Psychotherapy

Psychedelic-Informed Experiential Research

Integral Transpersonal Journal ◽

10.32031/itibte_itj_13-dm4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 63-73

Author(s):

Michael Doty

Keyword(s):

Research Methods ◽

Research Process ◽

Altered States ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Neurological Effects ◽

Experiential Research ◽

Research Tools

Early in the life of transpersonal psychology, Tart (1972) proposed the use of altered states of consciousness, including those brought on by psychedelic substances, as research tools. Drawing on recent research on established transpersonal research methods and the neurological effects of psychedelics, this article proposes the use of Psychedelic-Informed Experiential Research to add depth and understanding to all stages of the research process. KEYWORDS Psychedelics, brain, DAN, states of consciousness

Divine kink: A consideration of the evidence for BDSM as spiritual ritual

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies ◽

10.24972/ijts.2019.38.1.220 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

Keyword(s):

Empirical Research ◽

Altered States ◽

The West ◽

Spiritual Meaning ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Transformative Potential ◽

Preliminary Comparison

This paper reviews the limited empirical research supporting BDSM as a spiritual ritual that enables distinct altered states of consciousness. It expands upon Sagarin, Lee, and Klement’s (2015) preliminary comparison of BDSM to extreme ritual by suggesting that BDSM bears in common with spiritual ritual elements of pain or ordeal, spiritual meaning, and transformative potential. An increasing interest in BDSM in the West is considered in light of the spiritual and ritual roles BDSM fulfills for many practitioners. The relevance of BDSM to transpersonal psychology is discussed and BDSM is considered as an area for further research in transpersonal psychology.

An essay in speculative mysticism

Religious Studies ◽

10.1017/s0034412500000792 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 469-484

Author(s):

Herman F. Šuligoj

Keyword(s):

German Romanticism ◽

Altered States ◽

Ken Wilber ◽

Meister Eckhart ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Background Data ◽

The Rich ◽

Pseudo Dionysius

I entitled the paper ‘An Essay in Speculative Mysticism’ because it undertakes, in the tradition of such ancient and mediaeval mystics as Plotinus, Pseudo-Dionysius, Hugh and Richard of St Victor, Nicholas of Cusa, Ruysbroeck, and Meister Eckhart, to mate psychological introspection with ontological speculation, focusing on the rather fundamental themes of Identity, Alterity, Transcendant Identity, and Illusion. I acknowledge my more recent, general indebtment to the rich reservoir of contemporary research in the area of Transpersonal Psychology, a research amply documented in the journal of Transpersonal Psychology, as well as in the bibliographies, most notably provided among others, in the respective works of Charles Tart, John White, and Ken Wilber. Since Transpersonal Psychology embraces within its attempts at controlled studies such sundries as altered states of consciousness, parapsychological phenomena, yoga, as well as doctrines which skirt the very frontiers of psychology's experimental ingenuity, namely the tenets of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, H. P. Blavatsky, Oscar Icazo, John Lilly, Roberto Assagioli, and many others, the rapport between a speculative study in mysticism and the background data supplied by Transpersonal Psychology becomes readily apparent. Furthermore, I accede to any reader's deft detection in my essay of a rather uncommon medley of remnants from Thomism, German Romanticism, British Neo-Hegelianism, Vitalism, and Structuralism. If, at last, I were to be questioned on the methodology of my paper, I would have to respond that it probably resembles most closely the methodology of two French Reflective thinkers, viz., Jean Nabert and Henry Duméry, and the French existential metaphysician, Jean Wahl. Since I owe so much to so many, I simply acknowledge my general indebtedness at the beginning and allow the essay to emerge with its own internal cogency. The paper's rationale should, therefore, emanate from a clear inner coherence of its ideas as these reflect communicable psychological experience and unfold some of the latter's ontological implications.

When Seconds Turn Into Minutes: Time Expansion Experiences in Altered States of Consciousness

Journal of Humanistic Psychology ◽

10.1177/0022167820917484 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 002216782091748

Author(s):

Steve Taylor

Keyword(s):

Thematic Analysis ◽

Altered States ◽

Affective States ◽

Human Beings ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Experience Of Time ◽

Time Expansion ◽

Near Death Experiences ◽

Self System

Time Expansion Experiences (TEEs) occur when a person’s normal experience of time slows down or expands significantly. Previous research has associated them mainly with accidents but also with altered states of consciousness such as mystical experiences, psychedelic experiences, and near-death experiences. This article describes a qualitative study of 74 reports of “Time Expansion Experiences” (also a pilot study of 22 reports), which investigated the phenomenology of such experiences, using thematic analysis to highlight the main themes. The most common triggers of TEEs in the study were accidents (40 of 74), followed by spiritual states (12), and, then, psychedelic experiences and sports and games (both 7). Many participants commented on the dramatic nature of their TEEs, with themes of positive affective states (most notably calmness), alertness, the opportunity to take preventative action (related to very rapid cognition), and quietness. Interpretations of TEEs are discussed, arguing against the theory that they are an illusion created by recollection. TEEs are seen as a characteristic of altered states of consciousness, which occur when the normal self-system dissolves in exceptional circumstances. Human beings’ normal experience of time is a psychological construct, produced by the psychological structures and processes of the normal self-system.