Doing not doing: an applied Transpersonal Psychotherapy
Transpersonal psychotherapy is concerned with the entire spectrum of human identity (i.e., egoic, existential, and transpersonal). Consequently, transpersonal psychotherapists do not engage in reductionism of the client (e.g., reducing cognitions to behaviour), but instead adopt a holistic approach that acknowledges a variety of mind-body states (e.g., ordinary waking and altered states) that occur in the context of the client’s life-world. One important transpersonal technique is Holotropic Breathwork (HB), which uses extreme breathing, evocative music, and bodywork to facilitate nonordinary states that provide therapeutic benefits for the client. HB has be used with clients experiencing, for example, psychosis (Crowley, 2007; Grof, 1985), death anxiety (Holmes, Morris, Clance, & Thompson-Putney, 1996), neurosis (Spivak, Kropotov, Spivak, & Sevostyanov, 1994), and addiction (Metcalf, 1995; Jackson, 1996; Jeffreys, 1999.). HB has also been applied in inpatient psychiatric settings (Williams, 2010). Despite the increasing use of HB, there is a paucity of randomized controlled trials testing the efficacy of this approach and, therefore, the evidence base is in its infancy. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a general introduction to HB as a radical adjunct to therapy for clients presenting with trauma or addiction. Subsequently, we will appraise the HB empirical literature and provide a brief research prospectus
