Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) [Paperback]

Brant Cortright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0791470725 | ISBN-13: 978-0791470725 | Edition: 1

A bold new view of the human psyche, integrating Eastern and Western approaches.

--This text refers to the Perfect Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Integral Psychology connects Eastern and Western approaches to psychology and healing. Psychology in the East has focused on our inner being and spiritual foundation of the psyche. Psychology in the West has focused on our outer being and the wounding of the body-heart-mind and self. Each requires the other to complete it, and in bringing them together an integral view of psychology comes into view.

The classical Indian yogas are used as a way to see psychotherapy: psychotherapy as behavior change or karma yoga; psychotherapy as mindfulness practice or jnana yoga; psychotherapy as opening the heart or bhakti yoga. Finally, an integral approach is suggested that synthesizes traditional Western and Eastern practices for healing, growth, and transformation.

"The discussion of how the three primary yogas--jnana, karma, and bhakti--can be applied within Western psychotherapies is excellent. The account of mindfulness practice is first-rate, as, too, is the discussion of bhakti practice and the opening of the heart. The author has a great deal to contribute to an important area of inquiry." -- Michael Washburn, author of Embodied Spirituality in a Sacred World

"Cortright's synthesis of Eastern and Western spiritual and psychological perspectives is insightful, well developed, and often profound. I have been stimulated to think about psychotherapeutic problems from a larger perspective." -- John E. Nelson, M.D., author of Healing the Split: Integrating --This text refers to the Perfect Paperback edition.

About the Author

At the California Institute of Integral Studies, Brant Cortright is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Integral Counseling Psychology program. He is the author of Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy, also published by SUNY Press. --This text refers to the Perfect Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press; 1 edition (April 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791470725
• ISBN-13: 978-0791470725
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #919,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Integral Psychology, August 26, 2007

By 

Jeff Shapiro - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart (S U N Y Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) (Perfect Paperback)

Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth and Opening the Heart, by Brant Cortright

Having read Dr. Cortright's earlier Psychotherapy and Spirit, I was pleased to discover that Integral Psychology was available this year, and read it immediately upon receiving it. It's been ten years since the earlier publication, and the author has [from my long-distance observation] made important progress in his spiritual growth, opening of the heart, and writing style during this time.

The book is based upon Sri Aurobindo's complex Integral understanding, and though it focuses upon psychological aspects of that theory, the spiritual and developmental features are also mentioned. Through Ken Wilbur's use of the term `Integral', many have become interested in the concept; Dr. Cortright presents a fuller explanation of how Aurobindo's thinking can be related to psychotherapeutic theory and practice.

It's a pleasure to read someone who is so steeped in an Eastern approach, and who can relate it to contemporary psychological, clinical issues. For example, whole chapters link behavior change therapy to karma yoga, mindfulness to jnana yoga, and heart-opening to bhakti yoga. In these and other chapters, sometimes with clinical examples, Dr. Cortright demonstrates his superior integration of Aurobindo's original theory, his own adaptations, and his use of such understanding in psychotherapy.

Some readers will be most touched by the early chapter, The Core Wounding of Our Time. Based in part on ego-psychology and self-psychology, Dr. Cortright suggests that "The core wounding of our time is a rip in the very fabric of the self", and goes on to suggest that it effects the mind, higher-, central-, and lower-emotional aspects, as well as the body and spirit. This essentially diagnostic chapter is an important precursor to the later therapeutic orientation. Others may be more interested in the concept and approach to spiritual emergency; since I've had little clinical experience with this proposed entity I found it less compelling.

More broadly, for the reader interested in the possibility of integrating the integral theory of Sri Aurobindo and the thinking of a contemporary clinician and Professor [California Institute of Integral Studies], this book is highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A highly recommended supplementary text especially recommended for psychologists and psychotherapists, December 2, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) (Paperback)

Brant Cortright (Professor of Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies) presents Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart, a daring new approach to psychology and healing that seeks to learn from Eastern methods that focus on the inner being and the psyche's spiritual foundation, as well as the Western methods that focus on the outer being and the injuries of body, heart, mind, and self. Chapters apply classical East Indian yogas as a means to perceive psychotherapy: psychotherapy as behavior change or karma yoga, psychotherapy as mindfulness practice or jnana yoga, and psychotherapy as opening the heart or bhakti yoga. An approach that combines the best of both worlds for psychological and spiritual healing and self-improvement lies at the heart of Integral Psychology. Though Integral Psychology touches upon spirituality, the concepts presented are emphatically not meant to convert the reader to any specific religion, but rather to promote healing and wellness for patients of all faiths and cultural backgrounds. The result is a highly recommended supplementary text especially recommended for psychologists and psychotherapists.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Map!, July 19, 2007

By 

Georgia Dow "Integrative Energy Healer and Co... (Grass Valley, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart (S U N Y Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) (Perfect Paperback)

Brant Cortright's Integral Psychology was for me a reader's digest version of the entire history of Psychology and Transpersonal Psychology into the even deeper realms of our being with Shri Aurobindo's " Integral Yoga". His "map" showed me, in a remarkably concise way, the ever deepening paths of the west and the profoundly deep offering from the east of growing through the opening of our hearts and souls. For the beginner, what an overview this is and for the advanced one, what an acknowledgment of spirit and matter in it's evolution!