The author argues that an integration of ecopsychology and transpersonal psychology is useful for both. Empirical research on nature-based transpersonal experiences is cited, and the contributions of Fox (1990) and Wilber (1995) are discussed. Nondual transpersonal states are found to be at the core of both fields. However, misunderstandings of nonduality have hampered this integration. A description of nondual dimensions of Being is presented, followed by discussion of ways to bring transpersonal practices into ecopsychology.Many have recognized transpersonal experiences in natural settings and found qualities of peace, joy, love, support, inspiration, and communion with the natural world that are exemplars of the spiritual quest. Similarly, some people in both the psychological and the environmental action communities sense that ecopsychology can be a path to the spiritual as well as a necessary element in sustainable environmental work and effective psychotherapy. Spirituality has been part of the deep ecology and ecopsychology literatures from their beginning, though not without hesitation. For the most part, however, the transpersonal elements of ecopsychology have not been clearly articulated, nor have they led to the realization of ecopsychology as a basis for spiritual practice.A few years ago, upon accepting a position as chair of the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Department at the Naropa This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

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An overview of transpersonal psychology is provided with specific focus on a number of its central themes (nonduality, intrinsic health, self-transcendence, and inclusivity) and practices (meditation, ritual, and inquiry). The relationship of transpersonal psychology to both mainstream psychology and spiritual wisdom traditions is discussed. The field's implications for diversity issues, research, and service applications are also considered. Some thirty years after its birth as a semi-autonomous field of study, transpersonal psychology is moving into a new level of maturity. Its central interests are becoming both more well-defined and more broad-ranging. Its applications in clinical and counseling psychology, health care, social services, education, business settings, and community development are growing in number and depth (Boucouvalas, 1999). Its research base is more substantial and mature, contributing not only research findings, but useful instruments and research approaches. The work of Wilber (1999) on integral psychology, and critiques to his work such as those by Washbum (1995), has given transpersonal psychology a stronger and more substantial theory base. However, transpersonal psychology is also a field ripe for more maturity, integration, and contribution to the world. Those involved with transpersonal psychology can feel both accomplishment and challenge to do more. Those new to transpersonal psychology and those skeptical about it might want to take a closer look at its contributions and potential.This article offers an overview of transpersonal psychology. After defining transpersonal psychology, it touches on four broad issues I feel are central to this field's ongoing development: its relationships to mainstream psychology and spiritual wisdom traditions, cultural diversity (including cultural misappropriation), transpersonal research and research methods, and its application to service. This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

Respondents reported on whether they had had a peak experience, how many people they had told, and the reasons they had not told more people. Out of 246 respondents, 79% reported having had a peak experience but most had told only a few people about it. The most common reasons respondents gave for not discussing a peak experience were that it was a special and intimate personal experience which they did not want to discuss, that they felt it might be devalued or put down, and that they could not adequately describe it.

Although experiences of positive psychological states such as self-actualization, love, happiness, meaning, authenticity, and spiritual connection are of interest to a number of psychologists, they are also difficult to study with rigorous scientific methods. This article argues that a complementary approach, or methodological pluralism, is appropriate and adequate for such study. The underpinnings of two approaches to psychological research methods, natural science and human science, are reviewed. Although these two approaches typically lead to different research strategies, quantitative and qualitative methods respectively, they have common values in assessing the truth-value of research claims, consistency of research findings, and neutrality of scientific conclusions. Three examples of research using complementary approaches are given: life satisfaction, meditation, and nature-based peak experiences.Among the questions of interest to psychologists are those having to do with optimal mental health, self-actualization, love, happiness, meaning, authenticity, altruism, awe, a sense of the mystical and the sacred, and the so-called ''farther reaches'' of healthy human experience (Maslow, 1971). As well, these interests may extend to an array of related difficulties and challenges, such as apathy, alienation, existential emptiness, despair, and transpersonal ''pathologies.'' These, and many related concepts, share a quality of being difficult to quantify and capture for research purposes. Of course, such hard-to-define topics have been a focus of psychology off and on since