The Inward Arc: Healing in Psychotherapy and Spirituality

Rating:
Summary: Review from Dr. Barbara Sinor
Review: I first read this title while a student of Vaughan at JFKU in 1986. I found it to be most informative and well written book on transpersonal psychology published at that time. Now re-reading it, it is still the best title on the subject. I highly recommend this book to anyone learning the ropes in the field of psychotherapy. My newest book "An Inspirational Guide for the Recovering Soul" compliments Vaughan's work in self-healing and spirituality -- please review at www.drsinor.com.
Dr. Barbara Sinor, Psychospiritual Therapist and Author

Rating:
Summary: Review from Dr. Barbara Sinor
Review: I first read this title while a student of Vaughan at JFKU in 1986. I found it to be most informative and well written book on transpersonal psychology published at that time. Now re-reading it, it is still the best title on the subject. I highly recommend this book to anyone learning the ropes in the field of psychotherapy. My newest book "An Inspirational Guide for the Recovering Soul" compliments Vaughan's work in self-healing and spirituality -- please review at www.drsinor.com.
Dr. Barbara Sinor, Psychospiritual Therapist and Author

Rating:
Summary: Toward Psychological and Spiritual Maturity
Review: The Inward Arc by Frances Vaughan

This is a book ahead of its time. First published in 1985, with a second edition in 1995, it is a gift of service.

“The Inward Arc” refers not only to the individual’s spiritual journey through states of consciousness, but to the ultimate unity demanding conscious attention to our relationship with all that is. Hence, suffering in all forms, including our environment, is intimately bonded in the maturity of spiritual unity. Its subtitle “Healing in Psychotherapy and Spirituality” aptly describes the three parts – historical, philosophical, and spiritual - that provide a sound foundation for those new to the transpersonal world, the curious, and those long familiar with a variety of transpersonal experiences and thought.

This is a work of powerful authenticity, informed by solid scholarship in comparative religion on the one hand and formal psychology on the other. The two are integrated by the direct spiritual experience of the author as well as the psychospiritual growth she facilitates with her psychotherapy clients. Vaughan herself continues to be a potent force and spokesperson in shaping the visibility of the transpersonal movement and humanistic psychology. Newly discovered by mainstream academic psychology as “positive psychology,” the tenets of the evolution of the human psyche and transcendence beyond ego are offered by Vaughan as a map for the spiritually emerging individual and collective psyche. Here is the confluence of spirituality, psychotherapy, and healing in our time – Vaughan’s aspiration and passion as well as a vision of the possible.

This seminal work is a masterful example of the very principles the author is delineating. With generosity she shares her knowledge, her thoughts, her experience, and her hopes for us as individuals and as a global community. Her liberal use of direct quotations and meticulous credit to colleagues and predecessors, as well as citing original sources, is a model of integrity. This further enhances the credibility and usefulness of the work in its accuracy and access to information.

“The Inward Arc” is thoroughly satisfying and inspiring across multiple levels. Read it. The time is now.

5/13/01

Rating:
Summary: An incredible book!
Review: This book is absolutely incredible! It explains the development of human consciousness in such a comprehensive way that it is a must read for people interested in personal growth from a transpersonal perspective. Many writers have written about transpersonal experiences before but this author brings it all together and presents it as a very nice package. I also found the author's application of these ideas to psychotherapy very interesting and thought provoking. As a psychotherapist using the transpersonal approach, I find this book quite exquisite! The only other book on this topic that I would really recommend is "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. Sato explains these ideas in the simplest ways that it makes us think, "Why didn't I understand that before?" He uses the most creative analogies to explain our experiences, including transpersonal ones that you are simply left in awe.

Rating:
Summary: An incredible book!
Review: This work speaks for itself. It is a must have for any transpersonal psychologist and transpersonal psychology class.

Rating:
Summary: Best One Out There
Review: Vaughan has written a super book with much to offer. She essentially presented integral psychology with this book in that it integrates body, emotions, mind and spirit. She uses many of the concepts of Ken Wilber's earlier works, but unlike him, she is not merely a theorist. She has been a psychotherapist for many years, and allows the reader to choose for themselves what is true. Refreshingly, she does not have an agenda like so many writers, except for one to discover who they are at a deep level in their own way. This book is probably the best applied book in transpersonal and integral psychology available. If you have to own only one book, this is that book.

Rating:
Summary: Best One Out There
Review: Vaughan has written a super book with much to offer. She essentially presented integral psychology with this book in that it integrates body, emotions, mind and spirit. She uses many of the concepts of Ken Wilber's earlier works, but unlike him, she is not merely a theorist. She has been a psychotherapist for many years, and allows the reader to choose for themselves what is true. Refreshingly, she does not have an agenda like so many writers, except for one to discover who they are at a deep level in their own way. This book is probably the best applied book in transpersonal and integral psychology available. If you have to own only one book, this is that book.