Corey deVos and Dr. Keith Witt explore one of the most common yet misunderstood aspects of human interaction: the tension between drama and problem-solving. They dive deeply into the “Drama Triangle,” a psychological framework that reveals how the roles of victim, rescuer, and persecutor trap us in cycles of dysfunction. These dynamics, while often personal, are also embedded in cultural systems, politics, and even therapy itself.
Spiritual Intelligence: 21 Skills for Wisdom, Compassion, and Love in Action
Cindy Wigglesworth, John Dupuy and Roger WalshCindy Wigglesworth, trailblazer in the field of spiritual intelligence, has created an assessment tool that identifies our spiritual strengths and weaknesses — qualities that fall outside the traditional IQ or emotional intelligence (EQ) parameters — in order to provide a guide for determining which skills we as individuals need to develop in order to show up in the world as love in action.
The Integration of Defenses
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosHow can we become more aware of our defensive reactions as they arise? Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos explore the intricate world of psychological defenses, presenting them as a critical line of intelligence and development. Dr. Witt introduces his pioneering concept of an “integration of defenses” as a developmental line, illustrating how our defensive mechanisms evolve and manifest across various stages of growth.
Ready, Steady, Grow! The Art and Science of Vertical Development
Beena Sharma and Corey deVosCorey deVos and Beena Sharma explore the concept of vertical development and its importance in today’s world. Beena, with over 30 years of experience in the field, shares her journey and evolving understanding of vertical development.
Radical Wholeness and the Five Paths of Transformation
Ken Wilber and Andrew HolecekKen Wilber and Andrew Holecek explore the frontiers of integral theory and human consciousness. Ken shares some of the key insights from his latest book, “Finding Radical Wholeness,” offering a novel and deeply insightful perspective on the nature of reality and human development.
The Many Within: Understanding IFS and Self Integration
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos discuss Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, an approach developed by Richard Schwartz in the 1980s that recognizes the multiplicity of the human psyche. IFS works with the different parts of the personality to promote psychological health, wholeness, and ongoing development.
The Art of Integral Conversation: How to Have a Turquoise Dialectic
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos explore the concept of “turquoise dialectic” – a sophisticated form of integral discourse that emerges at the later stages of human development. Drawing upon their deep understanding of adult development and integral theory, they explore the feeling and transformative potential of the turquoise “we-space”, and how we might create the conditions for this type of conversation to unfold.
CANCELLED: The Battle for Free Speech in the Integral Age
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosKeith Witt and Corey delve into the complex and contentious issue of cancel culture, examining its implications for free speech, academic freedom, and social cohesion. They explore why understanding the nuances of cancel culture is crucial in today’s polarized environment, and how an Integral perspective can provide a more comprehensive view that embraces complexity, encourages growth, and seeks balance.
The Psychology of Splitting
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith and Corey explore the psychological process of splitting, revealing how awareness and regulation of these processes can lead to a more health and healing, as well as to a more integrated and resilient self. By acknowledging the nuanced nature of our emotional responses and learning to navigate them with compassion and mindfulness, we open the door to deeper self-understanding and more harmonious relationships with others.
Developmental Engagement Field Theory
Dr. Keith WittThis article explores how social engagement is central to human functioning and development, and how it potentially provides agentic access to intersubjective and interobjective energy fields. An integrally informed developmental engagement field theory is described, with practical suggestions for applying it to living, parenting, and psychotherapy. The article concludes with a lifespan case study that embodies the presented research.
An Integral Taxonomy of Therapeutic Interventions
Andre MarquisGiven that therapists are confronted with literally hundreds of techniques or interventions to potentially utilize in their clinical practice — and a growing chasm separating research and practice — how do therapists dispel the confusion that so many of us feel as we confront this fragmented heap of techniques? In short, how do therapists decide which interventions to use with a given client?
From the Cambrian Explosion to the Human Explosion
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore the parallels and differences between the Cambrian explosion and the rapid evolution of human consciousness, discussing the profound impacts of technological and cultural advancements on our collective development.
Why Greater Depth Means Greater Responsibility
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos delve into the profound interdependence between human development and responsibility, exploring how our deepening self-awareness shapes our relationships and societal roles in an ever-evolving world. At the heart of the discussion is the compelling notion that as we evolve in our understanding and self-awareness, we bear a greater onus to guide, uplift, and positively influence those around us. This responsibility is especially important in the realm of relationships, where the path to trust and understanding is often fraught with challenges, yet rich with opportunities for growth.
Sentio Ergo Sum: The Emotional Line of Development
Joanne RubinIntegral Theory is described as a “nondual” developmental paradigm, where ontology and epistemology are paired constructively, and in which developing consciousness is sourced by thought, feeling, and states of consciousness. Emotional and cognitive development intertwine within ego development, and ego is defined by its coordinating and self-identifying functions. Following a review of the literature on emotions and emotional development, criteria are proposed for preconventional, conventional, and post-conventional levels of emotional development.
Integral Perspectives on Alcoholism
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosAlcohol addiction is a deeply entrenched issue that affects a significant portion of the population, with around 10% of children being raised in a family with at least one alcoholic parent as of 2019. In this episode of Witt and Wisdom, Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos undertake a comprehensive exploration of alcohol addiction, its effects, and the recovery process through the lens of Ken Wilber’s integral theory, which encompasses all four quadrants – individual (internal and external) and collective (internal and external).
Developmental Experiments in Individual and Collective Movement to Second Tier
Terri O'FallonThis article describes seven years of research on an ongoing experiment that fosters the development of individuals and groups through an integrally informed educational program called Generating Transformative Change (GTC). A progressively targeted developmental action research project involving seven cohorts is described and the conclusions about three of these participant groups, involving a total of 30 people, are presented.
Toward an Integral Meta-Psychotherapy
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosImagine a therapy where everything is interconnected, where every moment is a golden opportunity, and where the journey is as transformative as the destination. Whether you’re a therapist, a seeker, or just curious about the intricacies of the human psyche, this episode promises a journey of discovery, connection, and evolution.
When Therapists Go Woke
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey examine a troubling new trend in psychotherapy, where woke ideologies are being imposed in the therapist’s office and interfering with client-based approaches to mental health. Prompted by Lisa Davis’s insightful article “How Therapists Became Social Justice Warriors” in The Free Press, Keith and Corey delve into the evolving role of therapists in the current sociopolitical climate.
Shadow, Trauma, and Attachment: Why Do Spiritual Teachers Keep Messing Up?
Keith Martin-SmithIf spiritual teachers are so “awake” and “enlightened”, why do so many of them get caught with their shadow hanging out? Watch as Keith Martin-Smith offers a stunning overview of shadow, trauma, and attachment disorders, and how they can corrupt both our mental health and our spiritual awakening.
Mastery, Collaboration, and Finding Your Unique Healing Style
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos explore the multifaceted nature of integral psychotherapy, emphasizing the importance of therapists finding their own healing style and the role of personal cosmologies in shaping therapeutic practice. They delve into the complexities of blending different integral systems, highlighting potential blind spots in integral cosmology and the challenges of extending beyond one’s mastery. The conversation also touches on the impact of generational events and the internet on mental health and societal norms.
Shadows of Development
Kim Barta and Keith Martin-SmithJoin Keith Martin-Smith and Kim Barta for an exclusive discussion as they delve into the world of shadow and ego development. Kim is a seasoned therapist, coach, and educator with over 40 years of experience who has dedicated his career to the resolution of shadow material. His unique perspective on the intersection of development, trauma, and attachment disorders combines the best of developmental psychology with depth psychology.
What Makes Us Happy? Growing Toward Anti-Fragility
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosJoin Keith and Corey in this enriching dialogue, as they bring forth an integral perspective on the pressing issue of mental health and resilience among youth, and explore the transformative potential of anti-fragility and the happiness strategies that can empower us to create a brighter future for ourselves and the generations to come.
How Self-Hatred Can Lead to Self Transformation
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore how feelings of self-hatred and self-loathing, when combined with compassionate self-awareness and the natural resilience of Witness consciousness, can help us overcome our resistance to change and put us back on the path of increasing wholeness, happiness, and self-acceptance. It’s an incredibly powerful discussion that we hope will help you better navigate some of these darkest corners of your own psyche.
How Attachment Theory Can Improve Your Relationships
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosAs Dr. Keith often reminds us, “Everything is relationships.” And the earliest relationships we form in our lives often set the tone and cadence for all the other relationships we will ever form in our lives. The coping strategies we learn in preadolescence become our inner compass later in life, and our efforts as grownups can often be seen as expressions, compensations, or substitute gratifications for the sense of security we may or may not have felt as children.
Perspectives on Development: Introducing the STAGES Model
Terri O'Fallon and Keith Martin-SmithTerri O’Fallon takes us on a guided journey through her STAGES model, an integrally based development model that charts human development from infancy to the highest levels of development that humans are capable of. Terri’s research is based in the number of perspectives a person can take (1st through 7th) – and she explains how different levels of fluency with these perspectives can often cause us to talk “past” or “over” one another, and how familiarizing ourselves with these perspectives can help us stop doing that.
Escaping the Comfort Zone: Motivation, Shame, and the Will to Transform
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore the complex psychology of motivation — the various sticks and carrots we use to get out of bed in the morning and keep ourselves moving forward in our lives, sustaining the inertia we need to push us through any number of hardships, setbacks, and growth opportunities.
Psychedelic Therapy and the Politics of Consciousness
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosIn the recent 2022 midterm elections, Colorado joined the state of Oregon in its decriminalization of psychedelic substances for therapeutic use. Here Dr. Keith and Corey explore some of the major implications of this profound legal shift, both in terms of our overall emotional, psychological, and spiritual health, as well as our rapidly evolving “politics of consciousness” — those states of consciousness that are sanctioned by the state, versus those that are not.
The Maturing Test: How Developed Is the World’s Most Advanced AI?
Robb Smith, Corey deVos and Susanne Cook-GreuterWe just assessed GPT-3, the world’s most advanced sentence-generating Artificial Intelligence, using Susanne Cook Greuter’s testing methodology. What did we learn, and what are the possible consequences for humanity? Watch to find out!
How Change Works: Supporting Vertical Development
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore some critical strategies to help support ongoing growth to increasing wholeness in ourselves and in other people: finding a psycho-spiritual framework to help organize our knowledge, experiences, and practices (e.g. Integral metatheory), engaging in change work (psychotherapy, coaching, consulting, etc.), and seeking communities of people who we recognize as more developed than ourselves.
Therapy & Awakening: A New Integration
Chad Bennett and Keith Martin-SmithKeith Martin-Smith speaks with Chad Bennett, a psychotherapist and ordained Zen priest, about why our existing ideas of therapy are often limited and keep us bound inside of the therapeutic relationship, unable to learn the skills necessary to continue our own growth towards psychological wholeness.
How Healthy Relationships Manage Conflict
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey discuss “post-issue relationships” — relationships where both partners have the awareness and skill to stay connected in warmth and acceptance all the time, where challenges such as irritation, anxiety, doubt, guilt, and frustration can be transmuted into problem solving and warm feelings towards each other.
The Momentous Leap to Integral Consciousness
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosKen Wilber and Corey deVos explore some of the unique challenges that come with the transition to Integral stages of development — “the momentous leap” as it is often called. Watch as Ken and Corey try to bring a little bit more light to this particular path of transformation, and maybe leave a few signposts for fellow travelers along the way.
Personality as the Base Note of Change Work
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith offers a “Psychotherapy Masterclass” that helps us work with various personality types as a foundation for healing, change, and self-actualization. While intended for other psychotherapy professionals, this discussion offers valuable insight for all of us, and can be immediately applied to our personal transformational work, whatever that may be.
Making Sense of Madness: Personality Disorders and Mass Formation Delusions
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore an Integral understanding of personality disorders, and how they fit into the mass formation distortions that currently seem to be happening all around us in our culture.
An Integral Approach to Parenting in the First Three Years of a Child’s Life
Miriam Mason MartineauThis article provides an introduction to the possible span and depth considered when applying an Integral approach to parenting during early childhood. The relationship between Integral Theory and the practice of parenting is addressed, and key principles and concepts that underlie Integral Parenting are discussed. The task of parenting is placed within an evolutionary context and presented as a possible Integral practice. Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory serves as an inspiration and organizing matrix.
Authoring Your Life Story: The Hero’s Journey and You
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith and Corey take a deep dive into the human superpower of self-authorship, and how we can use that superpower to construct a more resilient, more forgiving, and more integrated sense of “self”.
Adverse Childhood Experiences: Overview, Response Strategies, and Integral Theory
Heather LarkinResearchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been involved in an ongoing collaboration with Kaiser Permanente’s Department of Preventive Medicine, where they have designed a large and epidemiologically sound study exploring the role of “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs) on social and health outcomes later in life. This research brings a distinct and compelling relationship between ACEs, health risk behaviors, and physical and mental health into awareness. This article outlines these research findings, pointing also to the role of ACEs in homelessness and criminal justice involvement and addressing service delivery implications. Integral Theory is used to explain ACEs as an underlying syndrome, and Integral Restorative Processes is presented as a useful and flexible intervention model to guide a comprehensive and effective response.
How to Teach Kids About Sex and Gender
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWhat exactly are “developmentally appropriate, age-appropriate” ways to teach kids about sex, gender, and identity, not only for kids in kindergarten through third grade, but throughout the rest of childhood and adolescence? Which aspects are more appropriate to teach at home, and which are appropriate to teach at school? Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey share their thoughts.
Healing Collective Trauma: We Are All Shareholders in a Traumatized World
Thomas Hübl, Roger Walsh and John DupuyThomas Hübl, renowned spiritual teacher, author, expert on collective trauma, and creator and facilitator of The Collective Trauma Integration Process, shares fascinating, life changing information about the dynamics of collective trauma — how it is embodied and perpetuated in the language we use, and how we are bound together in a sort of “mutual collusion” that predisposes us to repeat our past, and to repeat over and over the things we would much rather leave behind.
An Integral Understanding of Narcissism and Gaslighting
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosIn this episode, Dr. Keith and Corey take a careful look at the strategies and intended results of gaslighting (the effort to make you question your very sanity by convincing you that your memories and perception of reality are somehow incorrect, inconsistent, or unreliable) in our personal and professional relationships, as well as in media, marketing, politics, and society at-large. How can we can better inoculate ourselves from this pernicious form of psychological manipulation? Watch to find out!
Trauma to Transcendence: Using Life’s Wounds to Grow
Dr. Keith Witt and Jeff SalzmanDr. Keith Witt and Jeff discuss a powerful realization emerging at the leading edge of culture regarding the role of trauma in our lives. Dr. Keith is writing a book on the subject and has mined various psychotherapeutic modalities to create an integral approach to using trauma as a portal to health and higher consciousness.
How We Can Hack Our Brain to Become Happier, Healthier, and More Transcendent
Rick Hanson, John Dupuy and Roger WalshIn this inspiring and empowering conversation, Rick Hanson spells out how we can use positive, self-directed neuroplasticity to hardwire our brains in order to become happier, cultivate virtues, deal with cravings, become deeply grounded, turn our desired states into stable traits, and more.
The Awakened Brain: The Neurobiology of Spiritual Experience
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith takes a close look at the physiology of spiritual experience. What parts of the brain are being activated when we are having one of these powerful state experiences, and what does this tell us about the critical intersection between growth (both biological and psychological development) and awakening?
From Codependence to Interdependence
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosCodependent relationships — those relationships where one person needs another, and the other person needs to be needed — are surprisingly common in our lives, regardless of our overall stage of development. In fact, there is a good chance that you have dealt with codependent relationships in the past, or are maybe even struggling with one right now. This discussion will help you to transform those relationships into genuinely interdependent relationships that can transcend and include both healthy dependence and independence.
Transforming Trauma Into Resilience
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as we take a look at several different kinds of trauma — micro-traumas, big traumas, “pre-verbal” traumas, generational traumas, etc. — and explore how we can shift into a “post-traumatic growth” mindset which, like the kintsugi vase in the image above, allows us to remake ourself into a more resilient, unique, and elegant vessel.
A Brief Overview of Integral Social Work
David KerriganThis article seeks to explore Integral Social Work — its meaning and applications. This goal is achieved by exploring the nature of social service in the context of Integral Theory’s AQAL (all- quadrant, all-level) approach. The essence of Integral Social Work is to serve the whole person and the whole of society with the whole of one’s being. This requires that social workers develop themselves, while simultaneously helping others, and society, to develop in as full, complex, and healthy a way as possible.
Social Work as an Integral Profession
Heather LarkinThis article introduces the reader to the profession of social work and its evolution over time. By simultaneously attending to both the person and the environment, social work has been a more comprehensive profession. Although social work has been inherently striving for a more integrative approach from the beginning, it has lacked a meta-theory that could address people, their environments, and integrate previously competing theories. Integral Theory is that meta-theory. Social workers are invited to consider this meta-theoretical approach to the service they provide.
Finding Resilience in a Flood of Disinformation
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore multiple strategies to help us maintain our mental and emotional well-being as our informational terrains become increasingly disrupted and distorted by a constant flood of disinformation.
Jane: An Integral Psychotherapy Case Study (Depression, Identity, and Intimacy in Young Adulthood)
Paul LandraitisTo illustrate the value of the AQAL model for therapists, Paul presents a case study that demonstrates some features of Integral Psychotherapy. He introduces the client and explore three treatment episodes of various lengths. By following the unfolding journey of one client working with an integrally informed psychotherapist, the reader gains a felt sense of at least one way the AQAL model can be clinically applied. Lastly, the client’s situation and progress are explored through an AQAL analysis using the five elements of Integral Theory.
Integral Psychotherapy: An Introduction
Bert ParleeIn this article Bert introduces and explores some of the diverse schools of psychotherapeutic thought. He then argues that Integral Theory or the “all-quadrant” approach provides a method of organizing and uniting these competing schools of psychotherapy into a coherent whole. The result, as we will see, is a more inclusive, adaptive clinical assessment and treatment.
20th Century Background for Integral Psychology
Susanne Cook-GreuterThis paper introduces Integral Psychology (IP) as a mature embrace to the question of what is human nature and how do we best explore it. Historically, wave after wave of various trends and movements have attempted to give psychology a focus and scientific status. After decades of specialization and segmentation (APA has over 50 divisions), IP aims at a mature synthesis of the field. IP mines and integrates the lasting contributions to our understanding of human nature and potential from all psychological schools of thought, disciplinary divisions, and methods of investigation—paying attention to both research and applications. In this paper I explore six of the major historical predecessors to IP: behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic-existential, transpersonal, constructivist-developmental, and positive psychology.
An Introduction to Integral Psychology
Elliott IngersollThis article explores how Integral Theory can serve the discipline of psychology in its current, parochial state by offering a framework for unification. While psychology has evolved as a science, the trend toward specialization has rendered it fragmented. Numerous efforts at unification have failed to draw the many specializations together. Until now, no unification theory has offered a sufficiently broad and deep framework to include all aspects of psychology. This paper offers a view of how Integral Theory can serve as a uniting framework for psychology as well as its individual disciplines.
Inhabit: Your Humility
Corey deVos and Ryan OelkeCorey and Ryan discuss the importance of cultivating and inhabiting a “confident humility” with relation to our own physical bodies, mental processes, and spiritual health. We also have a fun segment at the end designed to put your own humility to the test, by looking at 10 common integral caricatures — stereotypes that many of us fall into at one point or another during our Integral lives.
Integral Psychiatry: Five Elements of Clinical Theory and Practice
Baron ShortPharmacological treatments are the mainstay of current psychiatric practice as effective treatments for a variety of mental disorders. Many recognize the inadequacy of a purely biological treatment for most patients. The psychiatric field appears to be shifting into a more integrative stance with biological and psychosocial treatments. With the vast array of therapies, the Integral approach attempts to embrace all schools of treatment into a coherent whole. Two elements of the AQAL framework — quadrants and levels — are introduced as relevant aspects for Integral Psychiatry.
Honesty, Humility, and Reality Distortion Fields
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey discuss “the H Factor” — a variation of the Big 5 personality typology that adds a critical sixth trait, honesty and humility. Watch as we take a deep dive into the psychological benefits of honest self-reporting, a healthy epistemic humility, and the sorts of “reality distortion fields” that seem to emanate from certain personalities.
How to Manage Passive Aggression
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith and Corey explore the many ways passive aggression, anger, and codependence create more separation between people and degrade our capacity for love, while assertive processing of anger creates more intimacy and safety. Learning how to take a pause before aggressive or passive-aggressive action gives the opportunity to cross-validate through all four quadrants, and to take our overall kosmic address into account.
Martial Arts and Psychotherapy
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore the fertile intersection between martial arts, psychotherapy, and integral living. Watch as Keith shares the deep wisdoms he has received from his own lifelong martial arts practice, and how those wisdoms directly inform his approach to his own psychotherapy practice and the various healing strategies he draws upon.
Escaping Narcissism
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosIn this episode of Witt & Wisdom we take a careful look at these narcissistic tendencies and how they express themselves in all four quadrants, and at every major stage of development. We hope that this discussion will help you identify whatever narcissistic traits you may be carrying with you, and to consciously wield your positive self-esteem without being seduced by our own self-importance.
Into the Dreaming
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosOur dreams are often drenched in meaning, significance, and symbolism. But it is often very difficult for us to make sense of our experiences in the dream world, and to hoist these treasures out of the surreal and into the real. Our dreams typically communicate to us in the language of the bizarre, and more often than not we need some guidance in order to better understand them and extract whatever wisdoms they may offer us. Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey explore the murky depths of our own unconsciousness, and try to shine some light upon some of the common features we experience in the dream world.
Overcoming Confirmation Bias
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore the two primary forms of reasoning — confirmatory reasoning, otherwise known as “confirmation bias”, and exploratory reasoning, which considers multiple perspectives and anticipates criticism and objection to one’s views and positions.
Love, Conflict, and Play
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosKeith and Corey talk about how all play is an abstracted version of fighting, and how we can always draw upon our evolutionary capacity to transmute our basic animal drives into art, goodness, and greater understanding.
Unpacking the Integral Enneagram
Corey deVos and Lisa FrostWhat exactly is the Enneagram, and what makes it such a helpful tool when it comes to our ongoing growth and awakening? Watch as Lisa and Corey offer a broad introduction to the Integral Enneagram, as well as to the many Enneagram offerings we currently have available on Integral Life.
The Invisible Audience
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith and Corey have a fascinating discussion about the “Invisible Audience”, helping you make these unconscious observers just a bit more visible to you.
Putting the Pieces Back Together
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosCorey and Keith discuss the psychological and cultural aftermath of the 2020 Presidential Election, and the integral work ahead of us to help put the fragmented pieces of our society back together in the post-Trump era.
Illuminating Shadow: Family, Community, and Relationship
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosCorey and Keith are joined by a very special guest, Keith’s daughter Zoe Witt, for this tremendously touching exploration of shadow in family, in relationships, and in the Integral community itself.
Your Enneagram Type: An Introduction
Integral LifeWelcome to the Integral Enneagram Practice series! On this page you can find some introductory material by practice leader Lee Mason to help familiarize yourself with the Integral Enneagram and the nine different personality types it describes.
Just Breathe: How to Manage Your Stress and Find Your Flow
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosYour breath is a direct channel to the flow state. Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey explore this elegantly simple practice, one that can bring you more joy, more fulfillment, and more anti-fragile strategies to manage and master the outrageous pressures of our lives.
An Integral Tour of Consciousness Studies
Allan Combs and Sean Esbjörn-HargensConsciousness is not only found in the Upper-Left quadrant in Integral Theory, which concerns itself with individual subjectivity and experience; rather consciousness is located in each of the four quadrants. This short essay examines how consciousness reveals itself and is studied in each of the four quadrants within Integral Theory.
Consciousness as Embodied, Embedded, Enmeshed
Sean Esbjörn-HargensConsciousness is all too often understood purely in subjective terms. An Integral approach recognizes that subjectivity is only one of four dimensions to consciousness. This article proposes that consciousness (subjectivity) cannot be understood independent of its co-arising with bodies (objectivity), cultures (intersubjectivity), and systems (interobjectivity).
Inhabit: Your Shadow
Ryan Oelke and Corey deVosRyan and Corey explore ways to bring more embodiment to your shadow practice, allowing you you to recognize your shadow in 3rd person, to relate with your shadow in 2nd person, and to finally reclaim and inhabit your shadow in your own 1st-person experience.
Mindfulness, Psychotherapy, and Politics
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey lead a fascinating discussion that brings us to the heart of psychotherapy, mindfulness, and spiritual awakening, and then apply this transformational wisdom to the social and political challenges we are surrounded by.
Integrating Shadow
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosKen and Corey offer a stunning overview of the psychological shadow. Ken describes several different kinds of shadow, how shadow can show up differently in all four quadrants, and the relationship between shadow, violence, and social transformation.
Integral Mastery
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosThe mastery process has been heavily researched — from the initial ignition of passion that makes us want to excel is some area, to embracing growth as progress as the ongoing goal, independent of outcomes. Join us for a fascinating exportation of integral growth and mastery that goes far beyond the typical discussion of “10,000 hours”.
COVID-19 Through the Lens of the Enneagram
Leslie Hershberger and Corey deVosHow are different Enneagram types dealing with these new life conditions that are being imposed upon us all? What are the different coping strategies and pain points and opportunities for transformation? How can the Integral Enneagram help us bring more care, compassion, and connection to our own integral family? Watch this very special episode to find out.
Supporting Development in Adolescents
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith and Corey take a close look at a critical phase of our own development, noting all of the things that can go right (and many of the things that can go wrong) during this period of growth, and how we can be more supportive and responsive to the needs of our own children as they navigate this turbulent period of their lives.
Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making
Beena Sharma, Susanne Cook-Greuter and Corey deVosWatch as Beena Sharma and Susanne Cook-Greuter offer a must-see presentation to help us understand the many healthy and unhealthy responses we are seeing to the coronavirus pandemic, all the way up and down the spiral of development.
Working With Collective Trauma
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosCollective trauma is more than the sum aggregate of all our our individual traumas. It is a trauma that exists between us, rather than within us individually, and requires different kinds of interventions and rehabilitations in order to treat.
How Defensive States Prevent Self-Knowledge
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey navigate the psychological minefield of defensive states and shadow impulses that often diminish our capacity for wisdom, empathy, and self-knowledge.
The Meaning of Coincidence
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey take an integral look at synchronicity, exploring this elusive phenomena through the lenses of the four quadrants, the major states of consciousness, the twenty tenets, and Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of morphic resonance. It is a fun and fascinating discussion, and one that will hopefully help you pay a bit closer attention whenever you feel your own four quadrants falling into perfect and seamless symmetry.
Time, Consciousness, and Development
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey discuss how our relationship with time lies at the very root of consciousness, and explore how our perceptions of time affect our overall psychological health and sense of well-being. We are also joined by our good friend Jeremy Johnson in a fascinating discussion of how Jean Gebser describes our ever-evolving enactment of time.
Integrating Shadow Up and Down the Spiral
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey shine some light on the many sorts of shadow material we can encounter during our developmental journey, and how we can use our own shadows to help guide us toward the light.
100 Reasons Not to Have an Affair
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey discuss why extramarital affairs happen, what the consequences of infidelity are to your relationship, your family, and your own mental well-being, and why you should probably never, ever have one.
Creating a Coherent Life Story
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey discuss the primary goal of psychotherapy — to help people experience themselves every day as living a happy ending to their life so far, and at the very beginning of a wonderful and exciting new chapter. This goal, of course, requires a more integrated self in order to meet the inevitable challenges, triggers, and opportunities that we will encounter on the path of growing up, and for us to be able to create a cohesive and coherent life story for ourselves as we move forward
The One Moment That Can Make or Break Your Relationship
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore how to better manage conflict in our relationships, focusing on one critical moment in these conflicts — the moment a defensive state arises. How that moment is handled is a massive determinant of how a relationship will progress, as discussed by Keith and Corey in this episode.
A More Unifying Psychotherapy
Andre Marquis and Ken WilberAndre Marquis, PhD, is associate professor of counseling and human development and author of several books and scholarly articles in the field of Integral Psychology. Today Andre talks to Ken Wilber about his most recent book, Integral Psychotherapy: A Unifying Approach, which explores how a more comprehensive understanding of the self can greatly enhance, enrich, and energize the therapeutic experience for both patient and practitioner.
The Other World: Integrating Psychological and Spiritual Health
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos explore the bottomless source of deep wisdom that exists at the intersection between the spiritual and psychological realms.
Shadow Work for Couples
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore how shadow practices can help couples resolve conflict and deepen their intimacy.
How Emotional Coaching Makes Us Better Parents
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore how the integral approach and emotional coaching can profoundly transform our ability to show up as parents for our children.
The Many Ways We Grow
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosHuman development is uneven, which means that we are better at some things than we are at others. Some skills come more naturally to us, and others are more difficult to acquire. Watch as Ken and Corey explore each of these developmental capacities in detail, offering a powerful summary of human potentials, talents, and intelligences — a comprehensive map of the territory of “you” that will help guide your own ongoing growth and development.
Affluenza and the College Admissions Scandal
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith and Corey explore the recent college admissions scandal through the lens of integral psychology, typology, and the intimate interplay between culture, genetically influenced personality traits, and personal choice.
The Psychology of Kink: Transforming Sexual Drives Into Art
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosLOT of adults are into kink, and studies show those people are happier, more resilient, and more conscientious. Join Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos as we explore kink as a one way to transform our sexual drives into art and add to the sum total of love in the universe.
Integral Mindfulness and the Evolution of Shame
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosIntegral mindfulness gives us the tools to make our moral discernments more visible and influenceable. Integral mindfulness can organize our relationships with shame and moral disgust (as well as with moral approval and all forms of pleasure) to use them as sources of enhanced horizontal and vertical health.
Staying Attuned in an Entangled Universe
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore ways that people can stay attuned with one another even while our defensive states are being activated.
The Art and Practice of Happiness
Dr. Keith Witt, Jeff Salzman and Corey deVosWatch as Dr. Keith Witt, Jeff Salzman, and Corey deVos take an in-depth look at the art of happiness, exploring some of the central perspectives and practices that can lead to a more happy, wise, and fulfilling life.
Is Free Will an Illusion?
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosIn this episode of The Ken Show we explore one of the oldest and, in many ways, most profound and consequential philosophical questions in history: what is the nature of “free will”, and is it ultimately just an illusion?
An Integral Understanding of Suicide
Dr. Keith Witt, Jeff Salzman and Corey deVosSuicide has been in existence as long as self-aware consciousness has been in existence. The gift of self-aware consciousness included the capacity for humans to anticipate and understand the inevitability of their own deaths, and all gifts come with a price. In this series of videos, Dr. Keith Witt talks to Jeff Salzman and Corey deVos about bringing a more integral understanding and compassion to the topic of suicide.
Patterns of Projection: Reclaim the Best of You
Helen PalmerWorld-renowned Enneagram teacher Helen Palmer explores some of the primary patterns that our projections take, each pattern corresponding to our own Enneagram type. She also describes some simple techniques to help us identify and integrate our own psychological projections, helping us to fully own our unconscious shadows and reclaim the very best parts of ourselves.
The Butterfly and the Hawk: How “Dual Focus” Can Help You Overcome Pain, Anxiety, and Trauma
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosA common element of many trauma treatments, most psychotherapy, and much spiritual practice is something called “dual focus” — our capacity to anchor ourselves in the feeling of being safe, capable, and worthy in the present moment, while simultaneously extending our awareness to distressing feelings, thoughts, memories, impulses, judgments, and events.
Why Be Normal?
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith discusses how the concept of “normal” profoundly effects our development and functioning, and how he has dealt with these issues over the decades in therapy sessions and groups.
How to Level Up Your Parenting
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosBeing a superior parent is the goal of pretty much all parents. Join us as we explore the many dimensions of integral parenting and the many advantages that come with it.
Themes of Emergence: Awareness, Responsibility, and Mutuality
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosCulture wars and cognitive dissonance. Consensus trance on climate change. #MeToo and emergent mutuality. Tantric sexuality and karma yoga. Self-awareness and personal responsibility. Join us as Keith explores some of these converging themes, as well as questions from the audience around social trauma, education, and broken-hearted enlightenment.
For the Love of Chaos: What Does Complexity Theory Have to Do with Intimacy and Healing?
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosIn a world as complex and chaotic as ours, how can we raise our level of awareness and attunement in order to meet the great challenges of our time? Watch as Dr. Keith explains how chaos can be used as an incredibly effective driver of growth, healing, and love.
Finding Greater Resilience in the Trump Era
Dr. Keith Witt and Jeff SalzmanDr. Keith Witt talks to Jeff Salzman about the ramifications today’s polarized politics are having upon people’s psychological health, and the strategies you need to become more resilient — and less reactive — to the many stresses of our time.
Heal Thyself: How to Repair Interpersonal and Cultural Injuries
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosThe Buddha had it right with “life is suffering”! We all regularly feel injured by other people, our own interior struggles, cultural events, or random chance. Repairing these injuries is a big deal! Luckily, Integrally informed psychology can help us recognize and repair injuries. In this upcoming episode of Live with Dr. Keith we’ll talk about how we all become injured and the steps we often need to take for effective repair.
Politics, Addiction, and Mental Health: The Path to Recovery
Chris Grosso and David RiordanIn this interview Chris recounts some of the surreal feelings he’s having as the Trump administration continues to disrupt the social, political, and cultural status quo. He speaks to the impact Trump is having on the mental health communities that he serves — as safety net budgets for social services are eliminated, those with mental health issues are often the first to feel the pain.
Normal Crazy vs. Extra Crazy: Disarming Your Defensive States
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWhen we feel safe, we are usually comfortably social with ourselves and others. When we feel threatened, our nervous systems (our adaptive unconscious, our Shadow selves) can generate defensive states to protect us. These states amplify or numb emotions, distort perspectives, pump out destructive impulses, and diminish self-reflection and empathy. Watch as Dr. Keith Witt offers some valuable guidance to help you disarm these defensive states whenever they arise for you.
Monkey Mind (And Other Kinds of Animal Intelligence)
Jeff Salzman and Corey deVosHow much consciousness do animals possess?
Finding Sanity in the Post-Truth Era
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith Witt talks about our shared emotional reactions to the election and ongoing cultural upheavals, and some strategies help us not only cope, but actually grow through these times.
Lifestyle and Mental Health: Restoring Sanity in the 21st Century
Roger WalshRoger Walsh describes eight of the most crucial lifestyle-based approaches to help restore balance and sanity to our frantic 21st-century lives.
Race, Rooted Cosmopolitanism, and Hope in the 21st Century
Greg Thomas and Mark FormanThe political storm that has visited the United States over the past few years have exposed a number of crises: cultural, political, and environmental. One of these crises is our society’s ongoing struggles with how we define and treat one another according to our ideas of “race.” The moment is ripe for bringing together healthier understandings of ethnic identity that can replace the largely toxic idea of race from our past. In this episode of Psychology Now, special guest Greg Thomas joins co-host Mark Forman to discuss these issues.
Growing, Relating, Connecting: An Integral Tour of Couples Therapy
Dr. Keith Witt and Mark FormanIn this episode of Psychology Now, Dr. Keith and Dr. Mark dive into the wide world of couples therapy and relationships, using the Integral lens to locate some of the deeper principles and key insights that leading couples therapists’ employ to help couples develop loving, growth-orientated, grounded relationships. Includes six key practices that you can try right now to enhance your relationship.
Psychedelics in Psychotherapy
Elliott Ingersoll, Mark Forman and Dr. Keith WittSpecial guest Dr. Elliott Ingersoll joins Doctors Keith Witt and Mark Forman to share their personal and professional experiences with psychedelics while reviewing relevant research, current practices, and the amazing potentials of these treatments. Therapists need as many tools as possible to remediate symptoms, enhance health, and support development. The way we see it therapies utilizing psychedelics will become increasingly available and likely useful in the years to come.
Into the Void and Back Again: Understanding and Recovering From Depression
Dr. Keith Witt and Mark FormanDepression is a powerful mood disorder and – after anxiety – the most prevalent of all mental health challenges. In this episode of Psychology Now, Dr. Witt and Dr. Forman dive deeply into the topic of depression, and how our struggles with depression can lead to deepened commitment to change, heightened self-understanding, and increased empathy for the suffering of others.
The Universal Dream: Seeing Dreams In Multiple Perspectives
Mark Forman and Dr. Keith WittDr. Witt and Dr. Forman dive deeply into the world of dreaming, exploring the neurobiology and function of dreams, the history and basics of dream work in psychotherapy, and some useful tips to help you interpret your own dreams.
What Is Your Native Perspective?
Integral LifeA big part of having better relationships is clear and meaningful communication. If you’re interested in improving how you communicate and listen to others, this exercise can provide you with a fresh perspective on the way you communicate and how it shapes your instinctual way of being, seeing, and doing in the world.
Putting “Meta” Into Practice: A Look at Integrally-Informed Psychotherapy
Mark Forman and Dr. Keith WittHere we explore the emerging art and science of Integrally-informed psychotherapy – an attempt to integrate the best of the major approaches to therapy into a single cohesive model of human psychology.
Relationships in Therapy, Relationships in Life
Dr. Keith Witt and Mark FormanIn this episode of Psychology Now, Dr. Witt and Dr. Forman dive specifically into the therapeutic relationship and describe how it functions as the medium of healing and transformation in psychotherapy.
The Spectrum of Brokenness: What to Do When You’re Dealing With a Personality Disorder
Dr. Keith Witt and Mark FormanNearly 1 in 10 people possess some form of personality disorder. Which means there’s a very good chance that you will encounter someone with this disorder at some point in your life… if you haven’t already. They might be your boss, your lover, your parent, your spiritual teacher, or even your presidential candidate. How can we engage these personalities with care and compassion, while remaining fully attentive to our own personal boundaries? Listen to find out!
Human 101: The Psychology of the Future
Ken WilberHow can we formulate an approach to psychology that honors and embraces every legitimate aspect of human consciousness and pulls these multiple aspects together into a single coherent model of the human mind? Watch as Ken Wilber offers one of the finest and most complete summaries of an Integral approach to psychology he has ever recorded, while suggesting how a more comprehensive understanding of human consciousness can help shape a better, kinder, and more sustainable future.
In The Belly of The Whale: Joseph Campbell and The Hero’s Journey
Dr. Keith Witt and Jeff SalzmanIn this conversation with Dr. Keith Witt and Jeff Salzman we explore the gift of Campbell’s formulation of The Hero’s Journey — Campbell’s name for the basic pattern of the great myths, which turns out to be a guide for our own lives.
Knowing Your Shadow: Healing the Broken Self
Robert Masters and Ken WilberExploring the full spectrum of disassociated shadow material in our lives (pain, shame, guilt, dark emotions, sexual shadows, spiritual shadows, etc.) and the ways that we can begin cleaning up and reintegrating these splintered pieces of our psyche, Robert Augustus Masters talks to Ken Wilber about his recent audio course, Knowing Your Shadow.
In Over Our Heads: Development as a Lifelong Journey
Robert Kegan and Ken WilberDr. Kegan talks with Ken Wilber about his landmark book In Over Our Heads, exploring the many ways our cultural lack of developmental perspectives is actively inhibiting development itself, leaving the majority of us ill-equipped to meet the demands of our 21st century lives.
Spiritual Intelligence: Measuring the Infinite
Cindy Wigglesworth and Ken WilberCindy Wigglesworth and Ken Wilber explore the history of human intelligence research, beginning with the well-known ideas of IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence), noting their impact on our personal relationships and careers.
Albert Murray’s Lines of Cultural Development
Greg ThomasGreg Thomas explores the fascinating intersection between the work of Albert Murray and Integral Theory.
Atlas Evolved: The Life and Loves of Nathaniel Branden
Nathaniel Branden and Ken WilberNathaniel Branden, Ayn Rand’s former lover and the inspiration for her famous John Galt character, was at ground zero during the rise of the Objectivist movement. Listen as Nathaniel offers an intimate insider’s view of the origins, major contributions, and inevitable limitations of Rand’s philosophy and the intellectual movement it sparked. Masterfully hosted by Ken Wilber, this talk offers invaluable insight into Ayn Rand’s legacy, the human potential movement, romantic love, self-esteem, self-transcendence, and the art of conscious living.
The Shadow Vignettes: A Tale of Reintegration in Six Parts
Ken WilberKen Wilber offers what’s got to be one of his most hilarious teachings to date. His focus is on shadow, but this time he adopts a more practice-oriented perspective, offering examples of shadow at each of six levels of development—featuring conversations with a stripper, a monster, a man burning in eternal flame, a radiant being, an oil tanker, and Gaia. As for what these conversations entail, you’ll just have to experience them yourself….
The Seeker’s Guide to Self-Deception
Ken WilberKen Wilber discusses the many kinds of self, the nature of identity and enlightenment, and the spectrum of deceit that keeps us from knowing who we really are.
Perls of Wisdom: Introflection, Retroflection, and Other Games People Play
Ken WilberKen Wilber offers insight into the high-level features of two major therapeutic approaches, the role that a defense called “retroflection” plays in the process of projection, and some of the ways in which we can objectify the role-based psychological games we play while interacting with each other.
Consciousness Explained Better
Allan Combs and Ken WilberAllan Combs, a pioneer of Integral thought and practice whose name may be familiar if you’ve ever heard of the “Wilber-Combs lattice”, speaks with Ken about a better way to explain the mystery of consciousness.
The Power of Premonitions
Larry Dossey and Ken WilberMore than an examination of case studies, The Power of Premonitions reveals the world of science and research that proves the human capacity for knowing the future. Experiments consistently show that human beings are as wired to know what’s coming next as we are to see, feel, hear and think. Dossey uses cutting-edge science to prove the value of what had long been considered the provenance of mystic charlatans and to show readers how to cultivate their natural abilities.
Indigenous Cultures in the Modern World
Tim Black and Ken WilberA published author in the areas of trauma, group counseling, and applied Integral theory in counseling ethics engages Ken Wilber on why it’s so difficult to find Integrally-minded individuals in the indigenous peoples of his native British Colombia—an issue experienced globally, but expressed here as deep interest and care for those living in a modern Canada.
Telling the Story of Development
Susanne Cook-Greuter and Ken WilberSusanne Cook-Greuter, one of the most important developmental psychologists working today, shares her path from a working-class family in Switzerland to academic excellence and innovation at Harvard University, exploring the higher stages of consciousness available to us all. She then shares her thoughts on the current state of academia and the culture at large, and why it‘s so important to encourage flourishing at every stage of development alongside the invitation to keep growing.
Introduction to Ego Development
Susanne Cook-GreuterSusanne Cook-Greuter is an internationally recognized researcher in mature ego development and self-actualization. You may have noticed her name alongside Robert Kegan’s, Clare Graves’, and Jane Loevinger’s in Ken’s book, Integral Spirituality. Her sentence completion tests are sophisticated enough to tease out the subtle differences between Teal, Turquoise, Indigo, and Violet altitudes of development.
The History of Voice Dialogue
Hal Stone, Sidra Stone and Bert ParleeThe pioneers of Voice Dialogue (a major component of Genpo Roshi’s Big Mind Process) discuss aging, relationships, and their very first experimental sessions together.
The Evolving Self
Robert Kegan and Ken WilberDr. Robert Kegan, the author of The Evolving Self and In Over Our Heads, explores the vital role of interior development in creating a more inclusive and integrated world, as well as the importance of the appropriate use of discriminating awareness.
A Natural History of Supernormal Powers
Mike Murphy and Ken WilberMike Murphy is the leading integral theorist of his generation; Ken Wilber is the leading integral theorist of his. Their conversations are unlike anything you will hear anywhere else. These dialogues are warm, witty, loving, and vibrant. They are not, however, for the intellectually faint of heart.