Transpersonal Psychology (Master's)

Continue to explore transpersonal approaches to personal and professional growth around a particular theme. Meet transpersonal psychology faculty, classmates, and staff in person. Experience transpersonal speakers, workshops, and activities. Expand awareness of transpersonal education where the epistemologies of our hearts and intellect are embraced, embodied, and held with equal importance.

APA Style is a writing format developed by the American Psychological Association that is typically used in creating academic or professional papers at a graduate level. This course explores APA Style to learn this standard method of communication utilizing a common format for presenting information and a method of highlighting works cited in academic papers to give appropriate credit to the author(s) of that work and to avoid the risk of accidental plagiarism.

Become familiar with the concepts and theories of transpersonal studies. Learn the origins of transpersonal psychology, the contributors to the field, the research that is being conducted, and the applications of transpersonal studies to personal growth and academic fields. Discuss contemporary perspectives, counseling, education, society, and human well-being. 

This course explores the psychological, spiritual, and cultural dimensions of military and high-stakes service through a transpersonal lens. Students examine how trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, military sexual trauma, and moral injury shape identity, relationships, and the search for meaning. The course frames these challenges not as fixed pathologies but as invitations into integration, reconnection, and post-traumatic growth. Core themes include grief, belonging, moral conflict, and the experience of soul wounding as dimensions of the veteran journey.

A three day in-person immersion introduces storytelling practice, ritual, contemplative inquiry, and peer witnessing as approaches that foster embodied understanding and communal healing. Students begin to translate their insights into early forms of peer leadership, space holding, and community engagement, laying the foundation for the leadership capacities developed later in the concentration.

This course supports veterans in rediscovering a sense of purpose beyond military service through the archetypal framework of the Hero’s Journey. Students examine how the Warrior and Protector archetypes evolve after service, transforming action and sacrifice into renewed expressions of leadership, compassion, and integrity. Emphasis is placed on understanding the transition from role to purpose, and how post-military identity can be informed by personal growth, community engagement, and transpersonal awareness.

Through inquiry, somatic practices, and reflective exercises, students explore mission redefinition, personal mythmaking, and the development of a leadership legacy that integrates wisdom gained through service. Students also begin developing skills in values-based decision making, relational presence, and purpose-driven action within their communities. A three-day in-person immersion focuses on embodied visioning, storytelling for impact, values mapping, and practices that align authentic leadership with wholeness and purpose across the lifespan.

This course develops the interpersonal and embodied leadership capacities essential for veterans who wish to support others through peer engagement, group facilitation, and community presence. Students explore foundational principles of relational leadership, including trauma-informed communication, authentic relating, nervous system attunement, and clear relational boundaries.

Through a transpersonal and relational lens, the course addresses the profound realities of death and dying within the veteran community, including suicide, survivor’s guilt, grief, and the loss of identity that can accompany transition from service. Students analyze how these experiences shape meaning-making and belonging in both individual and collective contexts.

A three day in-person immersion provides experiential learning in relational presence, co-regulation, ritual, and community-based practices for collective grieving and integration. Through structured dialogue, story witnessing, and somatic exercises, students learn to hold difficult conversations with empathy, grounded awareness, and integrity. Emphasis is placed on peer leadership that extends beyond the veteran community. Students develop the capacity to support loved ones, families, and broader communities touched by trauma, loss, or transition, and they practice offering non-clinical peer support that honors agency, boundaries, and the well-being of all participants.

This course introduces students to the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted therapy and its implications for veteran healing and leadership. Emphasis is placed on understanding the ethical, legal, and logistical considerations surrounding access, preparation, and integration. Students examine U.S.-based treatment models such as ketamine-assisted therapy, explore international retreat programs serving veterans, and analyze the evolving impact of research, policy reform, and decriminalization movements.

Core topics include informed consent, best practices for preparation and integration, and the role of peer support in non-clinical settings. The course also provides a critical overview of key organizations—including VETS, Heroic Hearts Project, and The Mission Within—that operate at the intersection of psychedelic work and veteran well-being.

Designed as a content-intensive seminar, this 1.0-unit course may be offered online or in person. Coursework includes assigned readings, guided discussions, and a brief reflective project on ethical leadership and future directions in the field.

This practicum provides students with an initial opportunity to apply developing leadership skills within real-world or community-based settings. With faculty and peer support, students design, implement, or assist in the facilitation of veteran-centered offerings such as peer groups, circle processes, retreats, or community initiatives.

Emphasis is placed on reflective learning, ethical presence, and the integration of relational and transpersonal principles introduced in prior coursework. Students receive guidance in shaping their project or engagement and begin identifying their personal leadership style and the contexts in which their strengths and values most naturally align.

A three-day in-person immersion offers a supportive environment to refine facilitation skills, receive feedback from peers and faculty, and reflect on how lived experience informs authentic leadership and community engagement.

 (Prerequisite completion of MTP7701 – MTP7704)

This practicum provides students with an initial opportunity to apply developing leadership skills within real-world or community-based settings. With faculty and peer support, students design, implement, or assist in the facilitation of veteran-centered offerings such as peer groups, circle processes, retreats, or community initiatives.

Emphasis is placed on reflective learning, ethical presence, and the integration of relational and transpersonal principles introduced in prior coursework. Students receive guidance in shaping their project or engagement and begin identifying their personal leadership style and the contexts in which their strengths and values most naturally align.

A three-day in-person immersion offers a supportive environment to refine facilitation skills, receive feedback from peers and faculty, and reflect on how lived experience informs authentic leadership and community engagement.

 (Prerequisite completion of MTP7701 – MTP7704)

This practicum provides students with an initial opportunity to apply developing leadership skills within real-world or community-based settings. With faculty and peer support, students design, implement, or assist in the facilitation of veteran-centered offerings such as peer groups, circle processes, retreats, or community initiatives.

Emphasis is placed on reflective learning, ethical presence, and the integration of relational and transpersonal principles introduced in prior coursework. Students receive guidance in shaping their project or engagement and begin identifying their personal leadership style and the contexts in which their strengths and values most naturally align.

A three-day in-person immersion offers a supportive environment to refine facilitation skills, receive feedback from peers and faculty, and reflect on how lived experience informs authentic leadership and community engagement.

This practicum provides students with an initial opportunity to apply developing leadership skills within real-world or community-based settings. With faculty and peer support, students design, implement, or assist in the facilitation of veteran-centered offerings such as peer groups, circle processes, retreats, or community initiatives.

Emphasis is placed on reflective learning, ethical presence, and the integration of relational and transpersonal principles introduced in prior coursework. Students receive guidance in shaping their project or engagement and begin identifying their personal leadership style and the contexts in which their strengths and values most naturally align.

A three-day in-person immersion offers a supportive environment to refine facilitation skills, receive feedback from peers and faculty, and reflect on how lived experience informs authentic leadership and community engagement.

 (Prerequisite completion of MTP7701 – MTP7704)

This practicum provides students with an initial opportunity to apply developing leadership skills within real-world or community-based settings. With faculty and peer support, students design, implement, or assist in the facilitation of veteran-centered offerings such as peer groups, circle processes, retreats, or community initiatives.

Emphasis is placed on reflective learning, ethical presence, and the integration of relational and transpersonal principles introduced in prior coursework. Students receive guidance in shaping their project or engagement and begin identifying their personal leadership style and the contexts in which their strengths and values most naturally align.

A three-day in-person immersion offers a supportive environment to refine facilitation skills, receive feedback from peers and faculty, and reflect on how lived experience informs authentic leadership and community engagement.

(Prerequisite completion of MTP7705)

This advanced practicum invites students to embody the principles of trauma-informed and transpersonal leadership through the design and facilitation of a peer-based offering, group process, or community initiative aligned with the Veteran Leadership concentration. Building on the foundation of Veteran Leadership in Action I, students take greater ownership of their facilitation presence, community engagement, and leadership development.

Coursework includes individualized mentorship, guided reflection, and group supervision as students apply relational and ethical leadership principles in live settings. Emphasis is placed on integrity, adaptability, and the ability to lead from presence rather than performance.

A three-day in-person immersion features advanced leadership labs, collaborative feedback circles, and integration of insights gained through real-world application and community impact.

(Prerequisite completion of MTP7701-MTP7706)
This capstone course invites students to synthesize academic learning, practicum experience, and personal transformation into a culminating integration paper that reflects their understanding of transpersonal leadership within a veteran context. Students articulate how lived experience and the tools acquired throughout the program can be applied in service to others—through peer support, community initiatives, public leadership, or personal development.

The integration paper demonstrates each student’s evolving leadership philosophy and outlines a practical vision for applying these insights within veteran and civilian communities. A three-day in-person immersion includes peer presentations, collaborative reflection, and ceremonial recognition of the cohort’s collective learning journey.

This course may be taken either as an elective or the practicum requirement for the MATP. If taken as the practicum, the student must have completed all Year 1 courses.
Identify what it means to bring consciousness to the second half of life and the dynamic roles of creativity, spirituality, and transformation in affirming and expressing the inherent gifts to be found. Design and implement a practicum experience relevant for your Second half of life, focusing on service and aliveness. The practicum can have a personal focus on Self and Soul and/or it can be one of outreach into the community, local, national, global. There is a required zoom meeting in Week 1.

Although dream science can explain many important aspects of dreams and dreaming, experiencing dreamwork and dream-arts are helpful doorways to individual and group creativity, which leads to healing and personal growth. This practicum course offers various methods of dreamwork and creative dream expression for both individual and group work. Lectures and discussions will lead to experiential group and individual activities. Over the term we will cultivate a respectful, ethical space for creative dream exploration, and you will gain valuable new tools for dreamwork. Background for this course includes an overview of dream studies drawing upon the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Kilton Stewart’s contributions and Senoi-inspired dreamwork, Montague Ullman’s Appreciating Dreams group method (aka The Ullman Method), Fritz Perls’ Gestalt Dreamwork, Gayle Delaney’s Dream Interview Method, Wilma Scategni’s Dream Psychodrama, and Angel Morgan’s Dream-Bridging Method with Dream-Arts.

Reflect on the value and application of a range of contemplative practices within personal and professional life. Engage in self-selected contemplative practices as well as designated practices in the areas of embodied, nature centered, and mindfully focused contemplation. Delve into Eastern and Western approaches. Envision/create a plan for the integration of contemplative practice within a personally relevant setting in society. Reflect on research evidence related to the benefits of various contemplative practices. 
A required Year 2 course in the Spiritual Psychology specialization, to be taken after Year 1 courses have been completed.

The course spans Transpersonal Psychology, Consciousness Studies, Spirituality, and Human Potential. This graduate-level course provides an in-depth exploration of consciousness in transpersonal psychology, a field that integrates psychological theory with spiritual, mystical, and transcendent aspects of human experience. Drawing from the pioneering work of scholars like Abraham Maslow, Stanislav Grof, and Ken Wilber, the course focuses on consciousness expansion, altered states, meditation practices, and the application of transpersonal principles.

Reflect on learning, transformation and personal growth over the certificate program. Consider one concrete way to enhance eco-consciousness in your own community. Gather resources that support earth-centered awareness; make a commitment to ecological consciousness. This is the capstone for the Transpersonal Ecopsychology Certificate and must be taken at the end of the program. Prerequisites include: MTP/GPHD 8205, MTP/GPHD 8206, MTP/GPHD 8207 & MTP/GPHD 8208.

To conclude the Dream Studies certificate, students will write an integration paper and give an artistic presentation in this course. One virtual session will be scheduled at the beginning of the course where students will have the opportunity to share their insights and experiences in the Dream Studies Certificate program and discuss their ideas for artistic presentations. Students will work on their integration papers and artistic presentations independently during the term. At the end of the term the final virtual gathering will include all DSC students sharing their artistic presentations. The integration papers and artistic presentations will uniquely express what the students have learned about studying dreams throughout this certificate program at Sofia.  

Use of the expressive arts to facilitate community healing, empower voice, and support social change. Case studies illustrate the use of community art, and performance as a way toward empowerment and social transformation.

Explore creative, transpersonal, and collective ways of knowing. Engage more flexibly with professional life and learn to lead others as they develop self-awareness and professionally apply skills, methods, and processes in a fully embodied, multimodal fashion. Broaden their ability to access information, express themselves, and to work with others.
A required Year 2 course for both the Spiritual Psychology Specialization and the Creativity and Innovation Specialization

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and experience. Psychological trauma can lead to a constellation of persistent disorders including anxiety, depression, and recurring nightmares. This constellation, labeled Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), is a condition that follows experiencing or witnessing life- threatening events that exceed one’s coping capacity, emotional resources, and/or existential worldviews. Western mental health workers apply this socially constructed label to noticeable changes in someone’s behavior, attitudes, and/or values after an accident, natural disaster, armed combat, rape, torture, abuse, or a variety of other assaults. When the person who suffered the trauma has not been able to recover, gain equilibrium, and “get on with life,” this dysfunction is typically attributed to the traumatic experience. The problem of PTSD has increased, as an increasing number of combat veterans return to the United States in need of healing and re-integration with society. However, PTSD survivors extend well beyond combat veterans. The phenomena of cultural PTSD and intergenerational PTSD persist around the globe accompanied by a great need for transpersonal healing. There are many effective treatments for PTSD survivors, ranging from conventional to transpersonal and various combinations. This course will emphasize both the current scientific “evidence based” treatments for PTSD, and other healing methods for PTSD including alternative, holistic, cross-cultural, creative, arts-based, humanistic, existential, and transpersonal approaches.

Use Intuitive Inquiry to explore spiritual listening, spiritual companioning, and theories, models, and diverse perspectives related to spiritual unfolding. Explore a growing awareness of the ways embodiment in our community and world is an integral aspect of our spirituality and world consciousness. Exercise skills in self-reflection, discernment, deep listening, and research through inquiry into a personally relevant question related to spiritual embodiment. Write a final paper that addresses shifts and developments in thought processes and assumptions on a topic of interest based on their inquiry.

 A required Year 2 course in the Spiritual Psychology specialization, to be taken after Year 1 courses have been completed.

Receive a foundation in the theories, principles, ethics, and practices of transformative coaching. Explore the roots of coaching in psychology and other fields, and inquire into the ways in which our interpretations of reality shape that reality. Participate in skill lessons needed to be an effective transformative, transpersonal coach and practice coaching strategies with faculty and peer feedback. This low-residency course begins as part of the seminar and continues in an online and teleconference format for the duration of the term.

Entrepreneurial spirit is living from the future and allowing for unknown possibilities and opportunities to emerge in the moment. Work from personal vision to develop inner and outer resources to align, ground, and manifest your intention and create a practice or business that serves the community. Learn professional strategies for vision and mission clarification and write a strategic business plan. Develop marketing strategies through multiple venues such as websites, social media, and collaborative alliances. Execute and present a prototype project to test your venture.

Work collaboratively with peers, guided/supervised by the instructor, and practice core competencies associated with professional coaching organizations. Meet online and through synchronous teleconferences to discuss coaching scenarios, personal experiences as coaches, and participate in 5 live observed coaching mini sessions. Begin coaching practice with actual clients and peers outside of class. 

Focus on the relationship between coach and client, including the responsibilities of the coach, as well as client’s role and process before, during, and after the coaching experience. Deepen awareness of core competencies, the psychology of coaching, and ethics related to personal and professional coaching. Participate in 7 hours of synchronous group mentoring to hone skills.

Master coaching ability under the supervision of a qualified coaching instructor. Receive more in-depth guidance of the coaching process by building upon and assessing competencies practiced in Practicums I and II. Master coaching ability under the supervision of a qualified coaching instructor. Receive more in-depth guidance of the coaching process by building upon and assessing competencies practiced in Practicums I and II. Participate in three 1:1 synchronous mentoring sessions to prepare for final coaching evaluation and submit a passing recorded session required to earn your coaching certificate.

Reflect on the value and application of a range of contemplative practices within personal and professional life. Engage in self-selected contemplative practices as well as designated practices in the areas of embodied, nature centered, and mindfully focused contemplation. Delve into Eastern and Western approaches. Envision/create a plan for the integration of contemplative practice within a personally relevant setting in society. Reflect on research evidence related to the benefits of various contemplative practices.

反思一系列冥想实践在个人和职业生活中的价值观和应用。参与自我选择的冥想练习以及在具体、以及进行以自然为中心和专注冥想领域的指定练习。深入研究东方和西方的冥想方法。反思与各种冥想练习的好处相关的研究证据。计划将冥想实践整合到与个人相关的社会环境中。