Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D., and Christina Grof, Ph.D._____________
Stanislav Grof is a psychiatrist with more than fifty years of research into non-ordinary states of consciousness (induced by psychedelic substances and various non-drug techniques) and one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology.He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he also received his scientific training - an M.D. degree from the Charles University School of Medicine and a Ph.D. from the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Grof 's early research in the clinical uses ofpsychedelic substances was conducted at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, where he was
Principal Investigator of a program systematically exploring the heuristic and therapeutic potential of LSD and other psychedelic substances. In 1967, he was
invited as Clinical and Research Fellow to the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
After completion of this two-year fellowship, he stayed in the US and continued his research as Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Henry Phipps Clinic of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where he lived until 1987 as Scholar-in-Residence writing, giving seminars, lecturing and developing Holotropic Breathwork with his wife Christina Grof. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Esalen Institute.
He is the founder of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA) and its past and current president. In this role, he has organized large international conferences in the United States, the former Czechoslovakia, India, Australia, and Brazil. At present, he lives in Mill Valley, California, conducting training seminars for professionals in Holotropic Breathwork and transpersonal psychology and writing books. He is also Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco and at the Pacifica Graduate School in Santa Barbara and gives lectures and seminars worldwide.
In 1993, he received an Honorary Award from the Association for Transpersonal Psychology (ATP) for major contributions to and development of the field of transpersonal psychology given at the occasion of the 25th Anniversary Convocation held at Asilomar, California.
In 2007 Stan was awarded the prestigious Vision 97 award from the Dagmar and Vaclav Havel Foundation for his pioneering work on the frontiers of human consciousness.
He has published over 140 articles in professional journals, as well as the following books, which have been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Russian, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Japanese, and Chinese:
1. Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research. Viking Press, New York, 1975. Paperback: E. P. Dutton, New York 1976.
2. The Human Encounter with Death. E. P. Dutton, New York, 1977 (with Joan Halifax).
3. LSD Psychotherapy. MAPS, Ben Lomond, CA, 2008.
4. Beyond Death: Gates of Consciousness. Thames & Hudson, London, 1980 (with Christina Grof).
5. Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science. State University New York (SUNY) Press, 1984 (ed.).
6. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. State University New York (SUNY) Press, New York , 1985.
7. The Adventure of Self-Discovery. State University New York (SUNY) Press, 1987.
8. Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution. State University New York (SUNY) Press, 1988 ( ed .).
9. Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis. J. P. Tarcher, Los Angeles, 1989, (ed. with Christina Grof ).
10. The Stormy Search for the Self: A Guide to Personal Growth Through Transformational Crises. J. P. Tarcher, Los Angeles, 1991 (with Christina Grof).
11. The Holotropic Mind: The Three Levels of Consciousness and How They Shape Our Lives. Harper Collins (1992), (with Hal Zina Bennett).
12. Books of the Dead: Manuals for Living and Dying. Thames and Hudson, 1994.
13. The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness. State University New York Press, Albany, NY, 1998.
14. The Transpersonal Vision: The Healing Potential of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. Sounds True, Boulder, CO, 1998.
15. The Consciousness Revolution: A Transatlantic Dialogue (two days with Stanislav Grof, Ervin Laszlo, and Peter Russell). Element Books, Rockport , MA, 1999.
16. Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research. State University of New York Press, Albany , NY , 2000
17. Call of the Jaguar. A science fiction novel available currently only in Russian translation (Institute of Transpersonal Psychology Press and K. Kravchuk Publishing House, Moscow, 2001) and Danish translation.
18. When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-Ordinary Realities. Sounds True, Boulder, CO, 2006.
Christina Grofis an author, teacher, artist, psychotherapist, founder of the Spiritual Emergence Network, and co-creator of Holotropic Breathwork. She is past-president of Grof Transpersonal Training, vice-president emeritus of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), and an advisor to the board of the Spiritual Emergence Network. For almost thirty years, she has been active in the field of Transpersonal Psychology, which includes the spiritual aspects of human nature, as well as the emotional, mental, physical, and social aspects, as essential to a full understanding of the whole person. On June 21, 2008, Christina Grof received an honorary Ph.D. from Wisdom University in Oakland, California.
Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Ms. Grof is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied with mythologist Joseph Campbell and poet Muriel Rukeyser. A mother and wife, she is a former teacher of art, writing, and hatha yoga. Since 1976, she has given workshops and lectures in North and South America , Europe , Australia , and Asia. From 1976 until 1988, Ms. Grof was in residence at The Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California, where she and her husband coordinated and led a series of 28 experimental month-long educational programs, as well as numerous workshops.
She also co-coordinated and participated in ten international professional conferences for the ITA (in Melbourne, Australia; Boston, Bombay, India; Davos, Switzerland; Santa Rose, CA; Killarny, Ireland; Eugene, OR; Atlanta, GA; Prague, Czechoslovakia; Santa Clara, CA; Manaos, Brazil), including "The Spiritual Quest, Attachment, and Addiction" (Eugene, Oregon, 1990) and "The Yearning for Wholeness: Addiction and the Spiritual Quest" (Atlanta, Georgia, 1991). Since 1986, she has taught at professional training programs in the United States and Europe, and training sessions for the staff at Sierra Tucson, an addictions treatment facility in Tucson, Arizona. In the last few years, she has focused on writing and lecturing.
Ms. Grof is the author of The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual Path (Harper San Francisco, 1993), the forthcoming memoir, The Eggshell Landing, and is currently working on a book of her paintings. Her other books, written with Stanislav Grof, M.D., are Beyond Death (Thames and Hudson, 1980), Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis (J.P. Tarcher, 1989), and The Stormy Search for the Self (J.P. Tarcher, 1990). Each of her books has been translated into many languages. Some of her published articles have appeared in Crossroads: The Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage , Louise Mahdi , Nancy Christopher and Michael Meade , Ed. (Open Court, 1997), Common Boundary , Re-Vision, the Spiritual Emergence Network Journal, Lotus Journal, and Honolulu Magazine. She has been interviewed on radio and television stations internationally and has been the subject of newspaper and magazine articles. She was also a consultant on the feature film, Brainstorm (1980) starring Natalie Wood and Christopher Walken. She is currently working on a book of her paintings.
Ms. Grof has presented at programs and conferences such as those sponsored by the New York Legislature ("Rites of Passage: A Comprehensive Approach to Adolescent Development"), International Committee on Alcoholism and Addictions (ICAA Ross Hospital Addictions Department (Ross, California), Hazelden/ Betty Ford Center Women's Conference, American Society of Addiction Medicine, The College of William and Mary (Project Taproot), University of Arizona Medical School, University of California Extension (Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Santa Clara), Santa Barbara City College Extension, John F. Kennedy Graduate School, The State of the World Forum, Marin Women's Services, US Journal/Health Communications, Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), Institute of Noetic Sciences, The Fetzer Institute, Claremont Jung Society, Association of Transpersonal Psychology (ATP), Association of Humanistic Psychology (AHP), International Transpersonal Association (ITA), Common Boundary, East-West Foundation, The Healing Woman, VOICES, and the Spiritual Emergence Network, as well as by various European, Australian, South American, and Asian groups.
