Led by licensed psychologist Dr. Mark Forman, this 90-minute session will introduce participants to a subject crucial for our times: The relationship between childhood developmental trauma and transcendent forms of spirituality. If we are a person with the experience of childhood trauma and also a drive to grow spiritually, what must we do differently than the typical person to address both? What paths, practices, and obstacles are laid out before us? In this first session we will take a big picture view that begins to answer these questions. Should this introductory session garner enough interest, we will transition to a more detailed series of meetings which explore the step-by-step relationship between the two, relying on lecture, journaling, and dialogue. The material will be based on Dr. Forman’s recent book on this subject, The Monster’s Journey: From Trauma to Connection.

MEET MARK FORMAN, PhD

Mark Forman, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist with over twenty years experience working with individuals, couples, teens, and families. His text – A Guide to Integral Psychotherapy Complexity, Integration, and Spirituality in Practice – is one of the seminal works in the field of Integral Psychotherapy.

Dr. Forman is more recently the author of The Monster’s Journey: From Trauma to Connection, which is a reimagining of the The Hero’s Journey archetype for those who have suffered early childhood trauma. It is a book meant primarily for clients who are trauma survivors.

Dr. Forman has studied philosophy and religion and is a long-term practitioner of yoga, reiki, martial arts, and meditation. He has trained in a wide variety of therapeutic settings and with a number of different clinical populations over the past two decades. His areas of training in psychotherapy include Integral-developmental, Jungian, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, multicultural, transpersonal, trauma-based, and attachment-based psychotherapies.