Conceptualization and Treatment Planning for Clients With Potentially Spiritually Transformative Experiences: An Integral Approach

Abstract

In this presentation, Jan will introduce some key concepts of Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory. Using a case example, she will illustrate how she uses Integral theory to conceptualize and plan treatment with clients who present for counseling with potentially spiritually transformative experiences. She will end with an ordered list of resources for audience members seeking to develop their understanding of Integral Theory and its application to counseling and psychotherapy.

Presenter Bio

Since completing her EdD in 1988, Janice Miner Holden has been a member of the University of North Texas Counseling Program faculty where she is currently professor of Counseling and chair of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education. Beginning with her doctoral dissertation, Jan’s primary research focus has been counseling implications of near-death and other transpersonal experiences—those that transcend the usual personal limits of space, time, and/or identity. With over 40 refereed journal publications and 100 national and international presentations, she also lead-edited the 2009 Handbook of Near-Death Experiences, lead-authored the 2015 Near-Death Experiences While Drowning, and is co-editor of the forthcoming Connecting Soul, Spirit, Mind, and Body: A Collection of Spiritual and Religious Perspectives and Practices in Counseling. Dr. Holden served six years on the board of directors of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), three as President; she serves currently as editor of IANDS’s peer-reviewed Journal of Near-Death Studies. She is a Texas LPC-Supervisor and LMFT, a National Certified Counselor, and an American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (ACISTE) Certified Mental Health Professional. For her career-long research on and advocacy for people who have had transpersonal experiences, Jan was awarded the ASERVIC 2013 Research Award and the American Counseling Association 2015 Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person.