Integrated Contemplative-Cognitive Behavior Therapy Institute, Dr. Douglas Y. Seiden, Psychologist

Integrated Contemplative Behavior Therapy

Contemplative therapy is transpersonal humanistic approach that uses consciousness practices such as meditation and self-inquiry to train our minds to function in a manner consistent with insight, compassion and joy. Behavior therapy and cognitive therapy (known together as cognitive behavior therapy, or CBT) are approaches that focus on changing how we think, feel and act in order to improve our mood, reduce stress, and achieve other important health and life outcomes.

Dr. Seiden's approach is "integrated" in the sense that it adheres to a "4-psychologies" philosophy (revised from Seiden & Lam, 2010): Preventive, Curative, Positive & Transpersonal. It both addresses and goes beyond a traditional focus on problems and illness by cultivating positive goals, exploring existential concerns such as life purpose and meaning, and teaching consciousness-raising practices. Integrated CBT draws not only from cognitive behavioral theory and research, but as well from depth psychology; humanistic, positive and transpersonal psychologies; and the various Western and Eastern spiritual and meditative traditions.

(1) Preventive Psychology
(2) Negative, or Curative, Psychology,
(3) Positive Psychology,
(4) Transpersonal Psychology

These "Four Psychologies" are not to be confused with Maslow's "Four Forces" in psychology (Behaviorism, Psychoanalysis, Humanistic, Transpersonal), but are rather a different way of "slicing the pie," so to speak. There is therefore overlap among the Four Forces and the Four Psychologies, with a given Force sometimes involving more than one function (e.g., "First Force" derivative, cognitive behavior therapy, includes preventive interventions, such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for depression relapse prevention, in addition to many interventions aimed at curing or reducing current difficulties, such as exposure therapy for panic disorder, etc.)

Preventive Psychology focuses on preventing psychological problems before they occur. This could include identifying risk factors associated with later difficulties in individuals who have experienced certain types of life circumstances, as well as providing interventions that reduce the likelihood of later consequences.

Negative or Curative Psychology is concerned with solving problems and curing what it defines as disorder, illness or disease. Freudian psychoanalysis and cognitive behavior therapy fall predominantly into this category.

Positive Psychology focuses on helping the individual to self-actualize within the boundaries of the so-called "real world," defined by concensus. The existential and humanistic approaches to therapy are in this category, as are any modalities that focus on achieving positive goals (addressed in some cognitive behavioral approaches, and in some mindfulness-based approaches).

Transpersonal Psychology explores the full range of human potential, without bias toward anomalous human experiences reported since the beginning of written history (e.g., religious, spiritual, mystical, psychic or otherwise consciousness expanding phenomena) and helps interested students and clients learn about these for themselves.

Many modern integrated approaches to psychology and psychotherapy place a dual emphasis on both curative and positive aspects, with prevention naturally associated with both.

In addition to these, a smaller number of approaches and professionals assist their clients in venturing into the transperonal. These include Ken Wilber's Integral Psychology, Carl Jung's Analytical Psychology, Roberto Assagioloi's Psychosynthesis, Integrated CBT, and other modalities created by likeminded colleagues.

Benefits of Cognitive Behavior Therapy

The American Psychological Association has endorsed cognitive and behavior therapies as "well established treatments" supported by research for depression; anxiety, stress, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, agoraphobia and other phobias; health problems such as headaches, bulimea, rheumatic pain and smoking cessation; childhood difficulties such as bedwetting and oppositional behavior; and marital distress. In addition, cognitive behavioral stress management training has been shown to be as useful as aerobic exercise in decreasing the long-term risk of further coronary illness in cardiac patients.

Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal Psychology was co-founded by Abraham Maslow as the logical successor of the first field he co-founded, namely Humanistic Psychology. Humanistic Psychology was recognized as the Third Force in psychology, and Maslow expected Transpersonal Psychology to evolve into the Fourth Force.

The founder of psychology as a science, William James, coined the term trans-personal (though some other words he coined in the same 1905 Harvard University lecture notes more accurately referred to what is currently understood by the term) and was a firm believer in the value of religion and mystical experience as areas of valid psychological investigation.

Similarly, while he was not originating Psychology's first scientific method of Psychophysics, Gustav Fechner was writing books on such topics as "Life After Death" (see Ken Wilber's "Note to the Reader" in his Integral Psychology for a wonderful account of how lost -- or suppressed -- history may be rediscovered in used bookstores).

A number of leaders of the First Force, Behaviorism, have gone on to develop methods of psychotherapy borrowing from Eastern spiritual traditions (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Dialectical Behavior Therapy -- though it could be argued that these remain, for the most part, in the realm of Curative and Positive Psychology -- See Seiden & Lam, 2010).

The founder of the Second Force (Psychoanalysis / Psychodynamics), Sigmund Freud, came to believe in non-physical phenomena such as telepathy, and some of his contemporaries (e.g., Roberto Assagioli and Carl Jung) developed some of the first transpersonal therapies. Carl Jung's technique of Active Imagination, in particular, cultivates access to states of consciousness associated with some spiritual and esoteric practices.

As mentioned above, Abraham Maslow, co-founder of the Third Force, Humanistic Psychology, himself proposed Transpersonal Psychology as the Fourth Force, and added "Self-Realization" to the top of his well -known Hierarchy of Needs pyramid (formerly topped by Self-Actualization).

Transpersonal Psychotherapy

The "Transpersonal" aspect of the particular approach taken here refers to the explicit therapeutic focus on moving toward "ultimate human capacities and potentialities" rather than merely on figuring out ways to eliminate "problems" (though this is an important focus as well). Some such capacities might include, as contained in one definition of Transpersonal Psychology,

". . . ultimate values, unitive consciousness, peak experiences . . . ecstasy, mystical experience, awe, being, self-actualization, essence, bliss, wonder, ultimate meaning, transcendance of self, spirit, oneness, cosmic awareness . . . sacralization of everyday life, transcendental phenomena . . . and related concepts, experiences and activities." (Sutich, 1973)

Although such an approach is uncommon in traditional psychotherapeutic practice, two of the founders of scientific psychology, Gustav Fechner and William James (as mentioned above), were themselves transpersonalists. William James once wrote, "No part of the unclassified residuum has usually been treated with a more contemptuous scientific disregard than the mass of phenomena generally called mystical" (1897, pp. 299-303, in The will to believe and other essays in popular philosophy, cited in Ryan, Mark B., 2008,The transpersonal William James, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Vol. 40, No. 1, p. 27).

According to Ouspensky,

"Psychology is sometimes called a new science. This is quite wrong. Psychology is, perhaps, the oldest science, and, unfortunately, in its most essential features a forgotten science." (The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution)

In our particular approach to Integrated CBT, consciousness practices such as meditation serve as central, personal, and experiential modes of obtaining the knowledge, understanding and wisdom necessary for self-healing, self-actualization, self-transcendence and moving toward Becoming what one already is, with increasing awareness and equanimity.

Consciousness Practices, Lucid Visioning Training and Lucid Imaginal CBT

These include cultivating contact with the unconscious and superconscious via such techniques as meditation, Jungian active imagination, Ericksonian hypnosis, neurofeedback, audio-administered binaural beats, and lucid dreaming.

Learning to access and maintain awareness in deep states of consciousness makes available an enhanced lucid imaginal environment for the use of cognitive and behavioral techniques. This experience is characterized by (1) finding yourself present in a multidimensional environment, as seemingly real as the room you are sitting in right now, (2) knowing who you are in the "real world" even though you currently appear to be experiencing the "imaginal world" as fully real, (3) knowing that the environment you seem to be in is not the actual physical environment of your physical body at the time of the experience, (4) being able to fully sense the "imaginal world" via seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and moving, and (5) being able to terminate the simulation at will and become aware once again of the physical environment of the physical body.

The best way to understand this state of consciousness is to do the following exercise right now: look in front of you and then turn your head and look in back of you, listen to any sounds that are present, see if you can smell anything, become aware of any taste in your mouth, pick up an object on the table, feel what it feels like, and put it down. Next, stand up, walk over to an object, pick it up, put it down, and return to your seat. Now, imagine that this is all in your imagination, and even though it seems real, you know that your physical body is really sitting elsewhere in a chair with closed eyes or in bed sleeping. Of course, that doesn't seem possible, because everything is so realistic. And that's the point. The lucid imaginal environment is a completely realistic multisensory experience. It is different from waking physical reality as it is fully imaginal, it is different from a typical dream because you have full awareness of its imaginal nature and of your own identity, and it is different from a pathological or drug-induced hallucination because you have full insight into who you are, what it is, and you are able to terminate it at will.

This imaginal environment, accessed through trance and lucid dream states, has the potential (though research is needed) to serve as a platform for:

lucid imaginal exposure therapy for anxiety;
lucid imaginal behavioral rehearsal to improve skills in music, sports and other areas;
lucid imaginal behavioral activation (lucid imaginal pleasant activity scheduling) for depression; and
lucid imaginal schema therapy for emotional difficulties rooted in early childhood.

This integrated approach also hold great potential for ameliorating quality of life for individuals with mobility limitations due to paralysis, chronic illness or advancing age, as it allows for realistic, multisensory experience (e.g., travel, sports or intimacy) that are physically impossible or otherwise inaccessible.

It should be noted that Lucid Visioning and the induction of the lucid imaginal state is not advisable for individuals with impaired reality testing, such as those experiencing psychosis, hallucinations or delusions. Its use at this point in history is mostly associated with spiritual practices, dreamwork and therapy for nightmares. However, given its great potential, interested clients without the above risk factors are invited to include Lucid Visioning Training in their individualized Integrated CBT protocol.

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