The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) [Paperback]

Stanislav Grof (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The data, much of which is precious anecdotal material from the field's most creative explorer, stirs the mind to consider new possibilities. It is a wonderfully open and inviting text." -- Richard D. Mann

From the Back Cover

Here Grof presents a useful model of the psyche--a model extended by his thirty years of studying non-ordinary states of consciousness. It is useful for understanding such phenomena as shamanism, mysticism, psychedelic states, spontaneous visionary experiences, and psychotic episodes. The model is also useful in explaining the dynamics of experiential psychotherapies and a variety of sociopolitical manifestations such as war and revolution.

This book might have been entitled Beyond Drugs. The second part describes the principles and process of the non-pharmacological technique developed by the author and his wife Christina for self-exploration and for psychotherapy. Grof explores in detail the components of this technique. He describes its method, its effective mechanisms, as well as its goals and potential. Its practice is simple, since it utilizes the natural healing capacity of the psyche.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr (January 31, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887065414
• ISBN-13: 978-0887065415
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.8 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #496,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Brilliant Investigator in History February 11, 2003

By Dr Tathata

Format:Paperback

I have to respond to Zosimos review below. The therapeutic technique Grof has been using since the 70's, is not original to him. It is derived from the tradition of Kundalini yoga, and his observations from research conducted both at the Prague Psychiatric Research Center, and Spring Grove Hospital, in Spring Grove, MD. His sessions with "holotropic breathwork" is very similar to "gestalt psychotherapy", involving elements of Reichian body work, combined witht he Kundalini technique of rapid breathing. The theoretical aspects of his research, conducted in the 60's with the hallucinogen LSD, was a reasonable attempt to model a framework to account for the clinical observations that he and his staff has made during their extensive research. This theoretical framework has been "born out" in his clinical work with "holotropic breathwork" involving, at this point, over 35,000 participants.

Only the most ignorant of commentators could describe any aspect of his work as "bad". His work is not ideological, or even philosophical, in nature. It is existential. He instructs in the use of a technique, and does not even suggest much theory, to participants. My impression is that Zosimos has had very little exposure to the material associated with LSD Psychotherapy, and has virtually no experience with holotropic breathwork. If this is true, then he can only derive the authority of his opinion from reading, and listening to lecturers. He is the classic case of a paradigm bound individual making no effort whatsoever to wrestle with information and facts that cannot be accounted for by his model of reality. Its sad, really. Grof offers some of the most exciting insights to be found anywhere--but you have to be willing to keep an open mind if you have no experience with either LSD in a therapeutic context, or holotropic breathwork, or a close encounter with death.

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Hyperventilation as a Therapy Towards Wholeness and Healing May 13, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

In THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY, Stanislav Grof, M.D., tells how group hyperventilation is a "powerful and effective method of stress reduction and leads to emotional and psychosomatic healing" (p. 176).

The typical hyperventilation session begins with physical and emotional tensions surfacing. Continued fast, deep breathing brings intensification of physical and emotional pain until the suffering reaches a climax, followed by sudden release, with subsequent deep relaxation and even bliss. During the termination phase, any residual tensions can be released by massage of the painful area. In addition, when a breather seems helpless and vulnerable, and is clearly regressed to early childhood--perhaps even curled into a fetal position--then supportive mother-like physical contact such as rocking and cuddling can have "truly remarkable" (p. 226) therapeutic results, especially in persons with an emotionally deprived childhood.

In early breathing sessions, most people dramatically relive their birth. Later sessions bring transpersonal experiences such as reliving fetal traumas, and feeling healing streams of Kundalini-like energy flowing through one's body; in everyday life, synchronicities often become more common. There is a definite trend over many breathing sessions from difficult, negative episodes to more positive, healing experiences.

Besides describing the technique of group hyperventilation therapy in detail, the book outlines the healing mechanisms involved. The therapeutic value of reliving childhood traumas, of the death-rebirth process, and of transpersonal experiences, are all explained.

The excerpts from breathwork sessions bring the text to life. For example, one woman's experience: "I stayed with my fear and my tantrum....I resumed the deep breathing....I pushed and strained and yelled. Images of struggling to get out of the womb, out of the crib, out of my confining life situation came to me. After maybe twenty minutes, I was quiet again....I...thanked them for helping me find God again....I had never felt so connected, after feeling so alone in my life" (p. 215).

The two dozen or so illustrations from breathing sessions also round out the picture of what this form of therapy is actually like. For example, one painting is of a person lying staked to the ground while overhead a beautiful swanlike bird takes flight, with the sun shining on the horizon in the background; the caption reads, " a powerful death-rebirth eperience".

For those who wish to try hyperventilation on their own, I recommend patience and persistence; I succeeded only after a couple of dozen tries over a period of several weeks (I simply had not been breathing fast and deep enough). One way I can tell when it's working is I get a buzzing/vibrating sensation in my head after I've been hyperventilating for a couple of minutes. Pursing one's lips into a tiny opening, as if whistling, may be more effective at moving a large volume of air in and out of the lungs more quickly (rather than holding one's mouth wide open). Also, alternating a period of hyperventilation with a period of holding one's breath works well for me (Grof mentions this technique).

I have used hyperventilating alone by myself to reduce stress, as well as to resolve several severe panic attacks over a period of several months about two years ago.

It is worth noting that while hyperventilating alone by oneself does have some therapeutic effects, hyperventilating with a group is "much more powerful" due to the "catalytic energy field" (p. 199) that develops. I tried hyperventilating in a group only once (transportation and cost limited my access to the nearest group), and it was with a non-certified facilitator. While it definitely was more powerful than alone, my experience was a mixed one, and I recommend a Grof-certified "holotropic breathwork" facilitator for best results.

Two other books I recommend: Stanislav Grof's masterpeice BEYOND THE BRAIN; BIRTH, DEATH, AND TRANSCENDENCE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY, presenting the author's radical new view of the human psyche, its disorders, and its potential for growth, based on his seventeen years as a pioneering LSD psychotherapist; and Sandra Ingerman's SOUL RETRIEVAL: MENDING THE FRAGMENTED SELF, a modern shamanic view of finding one's lost "inner child" soul parts, which has helped me understand my own returning-inner-child dreams, and begin to welcome my lost sub-personalities (which split off due to childhood traumas) home again.

50 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An enthralling read September 10, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Stanislav Grof is the foremost researcher in this field. His book is a gem of fact and detail. In the Preface, Dr Grof states, "I live mostly inside my head which explains why I'm always behind in the rent." This is true for most of us and this book explains why this is so. I particularly enjoyed the chapter titled 'Who Am I, Who Are You and Why Is My Short-Term Memory So Lousy?' This is not a book for the amateur... it is scientifically sound but at times esoteric. Nonetheless, it is enlightening and compulsive.