325. Stanislav Grof

Stan Grof, M.D., Ph.D. is a psychiatrist with more than fifty years’ experience researching the healing and transformative potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness. His groundbreaking theories influenced the integration of Western science with his brilliant mapping of the transpersonal dimension. He is one of the founders and chief theoreticians of Transpersonal Psychology and received an Honorary Award for major contributions to and development of the field of Transpersonal Psychology from the Association for Transpersonal Psychology in 1993. Dr. Grof is also the founder of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA) and its past and current president. He has organized large international conferences throughout the world and continues to lecture and teach professional training programs in Holotropic Breathwork and transpersonal psychology. Currently, Dr. Grof is Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, and teaches at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA.

Website: stanislavgrof.com

Some of Dr. Grof's many books:

Healing Our Deepest Wounds: The Holotropic Paradigm Shift
The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death
When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-Ordinary Reality
Holotropic Breathwork: A New Approach to Self-Exploration and Therapy (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)
The Holotropic Mind: The Three Levels of Human Consciousness and How They Shape Our Lives
Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis (New Consciousness Readers)
The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)
LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious
The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness (S U N Y Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)
The Stormy Search for the Self: A Guide to Personal Growth through Transformational Crisis

Interview conducted 10/24/2015 at the Science and Nonduality Conference

Transcript of this interview

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Stan Groff's Work
00:02:30 - Discovering a Life-Changing Book and Career Path
00:04:49 - Albert's Mysterious Experiment
00:06:45 - Albert's Bicycle Trip: A Transformative Experience
00:08:28 - The Life-Changing Session with the Strobes
00:10:08 - The transformative power of LSD sessions
00:12:02 - The Perception of the World
00:14:20 - The Unconscious and Spontaneous Episodes
00:16:07 - Peeling Layers of the Psyche
00:18:19 - Exploring the Boundaries of Consciousness
00:19:57 - Rediscovering Ancient Maps of Consciousness
00:21:52 - Expanding the Cartography of the Psyche
00:23:33 - The Levels of the Birth Process
00:25:24 - Archetypal Images and the Birth Process
00:26:54 - The Importance of Asking God for Answers
00:29:23 - World Events and Collective Consciousness
00:31:04 - Transforming Humanity and Saving the Species
00:33:06 - Using Psychedelics for Therapeutic Purposes
00:34:28 - Using breathwork for integration
00:35:46 - Bringing up the Unconscious through Breathing
00:37:10 - The Beginning of a Powerful Session Journey
00:39:38 - Non-drug techniques for therapeutic outcomes
00:41:11 - The Power of Breathwork and Healing
00:42:42 - Subtle Physiology and the Energy Field
00:44:22 - The Experience of Chakras and Energy Flow
00:45:57 - Choosing the Right Psychedelic Experience
00:48:01 - The Challenge of Maintaining Consciousness in a Digital Age
00:50:08 - Transformations through meditative practices and psychedelics