Transpersonal Education: Problems, Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

Despite its substantial scientific, academic, and professional achievements, transpersonal psychology has not been fully incorporated within traditional undergraduate psychology curricula. One reason is conventional psychology’s prejudiced perception of humanity’s spiritual nature. Other reasons lie within the field of transpersonal psychology itself, including the lack of agreed-upon general curricular models, absence of normative educational (student) outcomes, unstructured courses with restricted content coverage, and con- ceptual and methodological disagreements among experts. One of the most pressing challenges facing contemporary transpersonal education is the publication of an authoritative, standard textbook that would effectively introduce undergraduate students to transpersonal psychology and facilitate the progress of the discipline’s further integration into mainstream psychology.