Abstract
The holotropic mind perspective, an integral part of the framework of transpersonal psychology, has been considered a revolutionary approach to a certain spectrum of experiences in Non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC) which conventional approaches tend to treat indiscriminately as pathological processes, because PHM recognizes in these experiences their healing and evolutionary potential. This article describes the needs assessment, implementation, and evaluation of an experiential and educational program on the holotropic mind perspective and its praxis, Holotropic Breathwork® (HB), with students and professionals from the Group for Early Intervention in First-Episode Mental Crisis of a Psychotic Type of the University of Brasilia. The intervention aimed to establish change goals and objectives that would promote the adoption of the holotropic mind perspective’s elements, such as a framework to broaden and strengthen mental health programs that assist people experiencing NOSC. The stages developed, inspired by the Intervention Mapping protocol, included a needs assessment; elaboration of change objective matrices; selection and description of methods based on theory and their applications; conception, planning, and implementation of the intervention; and results evaluation. Participants reported that the intervention allowed the expansion of their theoretical-conceptual and technical frameworks, giving them a less pathologizing understanding of and approach to NOSC and allowing them to perceive and manage such states, not as indiscriminately pathological expressions, but as phenomena inherent to the human condition that can be accepted and cared for without the exclusionary and exhaustive bias of mental disorders. Limitations and practical implications are discussed.
Highlights
IntroductionIn every society and culture, a wide array of therapeutic approaches toward health and illness, including the psychological
Human history presents, in every society and culture, a wide array of therapeutic approaches toward health and illness, including the psychological
Result indicators were obtained through content analysis (Bardin, 2016) of what the participants’ said during the roundtable discussions, at the end of workshops, and their answers to the electronic interview sent by e-mail and WhatsApp to participants. This interview included questions related to conceptions of psychological distress, Non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC) experiences, theoretical anchorage of the participants’ clinical practice, and perceptions of the holotropic mind perspective (HMP) presented during the workshops and its praxis, Holotropic Breathwork® (HB), which they could experience during the program implementation
Summary
In every society and culture, a wide array of therapeutic approaches toward health and illness, including the psychological. While recognizing the importance of these early approaches, a large part of the theoretical and technical framework applied to the study and management of In this scenario, the holotropic mind perspective (HMP), proposed by Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, becomes important, as it advocates stepping back from this pathologization bias and taking a certain spectrum. Throughout 60 years of work and studies, the author, accompanied by a worldwide community of therapists and researchers, has been endorsing the dissemination of his theoretical framework and the outcomes of applying the technique developed by him, i.e., holotropic breathwork as a less pathologizing approach for the understanding, management, and therapeutic integration of NOSC experiences (Afanasenko, Emelianenko, & Emilianenko, 2014; Brewerton, Eyerman, Cappetta, & Mithoefer, 2012). Established in 2001, this group is inspired by the British model of early intervention in psychosis to welcome and care for people experiencing NOSC, even when only prodromes are present, to minimize or interrupt the psychological aggravation that commonly occurs and which grows the longer first intervention is delayed (Allard, Lancaster, Clayton, Amos, & Birchwood, 2018; Marshall & Rathbone, 2011; Reichert & Jacobs, 2018; Schmidt et al, 2015)
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