Stanislav Grof

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Stanislav Grof (born 1931 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology and a pioneering researcher into the use of altered states of consciousness for purposes of healing, growth, and insight.

Grof is known in particular for his early studies of LSD and its effects on the psyche—the field of psychedelic psychotherapy. He constructed a theoretical framework for pre- and perinatal psychology and transpersonal psychology in which LSD trips and other powerfully emotional experiences were mapped onto one's early fetal and neonatal experiences. Over time, this theory developed into an in-depth cartography of the deep human psyche. Following the legal suppression of LSD use in the late 1960s, Grof went on to discover that many of these states of mind could be explored without drugs and instead by using certain breathing techniques in a supportive environment. He continues this work today under the title "Holotropic Breathwork".

Grof received his M.D. from Charles University in Prague in 1957, and then completed his Ph.D. in Medicine at the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in 1965, training as a Freudian psychoanalyst at this time. In 1967, he was invited as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA, and went on to become Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center where he worked with Walter Pahnke and Bill Richards among others. In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and lived there until 1987 as a scholar-in-residence, developing his ideas.

Being the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA) (founded in 1977), he went on to become distinguished adjunct faculty member of the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a position he remains in today.

Notably, Grof's brother, Paul Grof, was chairman of the World Health Organization committee that evaluated ecstasy. Stanislav helped Rick Doblin deliver information about the drug to his brother. Paul ultimately dissented from the committee's decision to regulate Ecstasy as a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

[edit] Bibliography

Realms Of The Human Unconscious: Observations From LSD Research (1975)
The Human Encounter With Death (1977) with Joan Halifax
LSD Psychotherapy (1980)
Beyond Death: The Gates Of Consciousness (1981) with Christina Grof
Ancient Wisdom And Modern Science (1984) Edited by Stanislav Grof
Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death And Transcendence In Psychotherapy (1985)
Human Survival And Consciousness Evolution (1988) Edited with Marjorie L. Valier
The Adventure Of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness And New Perspectives In Psychotherapy (1988)
Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes A Crisis (1989) Edited with Christina Grof
The Stormy Search For The Self: A Guide To Personal Growth Through Transformative Crisis (1990) with Christina Grof
The Holotropic Mind: The Three levels Of Human Consciousness And How They Shape Our Lives (1992) with Hal Zina Bennet
Books Of The Dead: Manuels For Living And Dying (1993)
The Thirst For Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction And The Spiritual Path (1994) by Christina Grof
The Transpersonal Vision (1998) book and audio
The Cosmic Game: Explorations Of The Frontiers Of Human Consciousness (1998)
The Consciousness Revolution: A Transatlantic Dialogue (1999) with Peter Russell and Ervin Laszlo. Foreword by Ken Wilber
Psychology Of The Future: Lessons From Modern Consciousness Research (2000)
Caterpillar Dreams (2004) with Melody Sullivan
When The Impossible Happens: Adventures In Non-Ordinary Reality (2006)
The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness And The Mystery Of Death (2006)