The integral approach to therapy proposes to accommodate all the etiological factors of unipolar depression in its theory, as well as to make use of all existing therapies, both pharmacological and psychological, in the treatment of unipolar depression. Integral Therapy is compared to cognitive therapy to find evidence for its superiority over the cognitive approach. It appears that the cognitive therapy is more cost-effective than Integral Therapy as an individual approach in the treatment of depression, but that the integral perspective (...) accounts better for etiological factors. (shrink)

In the current hypothesis paper, we propose that focusing attention on silence can be used as a paradigm conceptually similar to sensory deprivation, to study consciousness without content. We briefly overview recent influential models of consciousness and consider how they assess the relationship between consciousness and contents. After discussing the strengths and weaknesses of current models, we suggest an extension based on the Sphere Model of Consciousness (SMC) and introduce new definitions for identification and self-awareness as states of consciousness. We (...) further compare Paoletti’s theoretical model for the development of self with other influential models, highlighting similarities and differences. We conclude with a discussion of how attentional focus on silence can be empirically tested. (shrink)

Review of Douglas S. Duckworth (2019). Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Transpersonal psychology first emerged as an academic discipline in the 1960s and has subsequently broadened into a range of transpersonal studies. Jorge Ferrer (2002) has called for a 'revisioning' of transpersonal theory, dethroning inner experience from its dominant role in defining and validating spiritual reality. In the current paradigm he detects a lingering Cartesianism, which subtly entrenches the very subject-object divide that transpersonalists seek to overcome. This paper outlines the development and current shape of the transpersonal movement, compares Ferrer's epistemology (...) with the heterophenomenology of Daniel Dennett, and speculates on the integration of the latter into transpersonal theory. (shrink)