View source for Stanislav Grof

{{short description|American psychiatrist}}
{{more footnotes|date=May 2024}}
{{Third-party|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Stanislav Grof
| image             = Stanislav Grof by Anton Nossik crop.JPG
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1931|7|1}}
| birth_place       = [[Prague]], [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovak Republic]]
| fields            = [[Psychology]], [[psychiatry]]
| workplaces        = [[Johns Hopkins University]]<br />[[University of Maryland, Baltimore]]<br />[[Esalen Institute]]<br />[[California Institute of Integral Studies]]
| alma_mater        = [[Charles University]], [[Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences]]
| thesis_title      = 
| thesis_url        = 
| thesis_year       = 
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = [[Transpersonal psychology]], perinatal matrices, hylotropic and holotropic, spiritual emergency
| spouse            = [[Joan Halifax]] (m. 1972; div. approx. 1975), Christina Grof (m. approx. 1975; died 2014), Brigitte Grof (m. 2016)
}}

'''Stanislav Grof'''  (born July 1, 1931) is a Czech-born American [[psychiatrist]]. Grof is one of the principal developers of [[transpersonal psychology]] and research into the use of [[Altered state of consciousness|non-ordinary states of consciousness]] for purposes of psychological healing, deep self-exploration, and obtaining growth and insights into the human [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]].

== Early life and education ==
Stanislav Grof was born July 1, 1931 in [[Prague]], [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovak Republic]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grof, Stanislav, 1931- |url=https://archives.lib.purdue.edu/agents/people/1822 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=archives.lib.purdue.edu}}</ref> Grof received his M.D. from [[Charles University]] in Prague in 1957 and then completed his Ph.D. in medicine at the [[Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences]] in 1965, training as a [[Psychoanalysis|Freudian psychoanalyst]] at this time.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

== Career ==
Czechoslovakia was the centre of psychedelic research behind the Iron Curtain during the 1950s and 1960s. Grof’s early research in the clinical uses of psychedelic substances was conducted at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, where he was principal investigator of a program that systematically explored the heuristic and therapeutic potential of LSD and other psychedelic substances.{{sfn|Kaczorowski|2018}}

In 1967, he received a scholarship from the Foundations Fund for Research in Psychiatry in New Haven, Connecticut, and was invited by [[Joel Elkes]]{{sfn|Grof|1976|p=3}} to be a Clinical and Research Fellow at [[The Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic|Henry Phipps Clinic]], a part of [[Johns Hopkins University#Graduate education|Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], United States. In 1969, he went on to become Chief of Psychiatric Research for the [[Spring Grove Experiment]] at the Research Unit of [[Spring Grove Hospital Center|Spring Grove State Hospital]] (later part of the [[University of Maryland, Baltimore|Maryland Psychiatric Research Center]] where he worked with [[Walter Pahnke]]. In 1969, Grof also became Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

{{Integral theory}}

In 1973 he was invited to the [[Esalen Institute]] in [[Big Sur]], [[California]], and lived there until 1987 as a Scholar-in-Residence, developing his ideas and conducting month-long workshops.{{cn|date=May 2024}} In 1977, Grof was the founding president of the [[International Transpersonal Association]], serving as president for several subsequent decades. He went on to become distinguished adjunct faculty member of the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the [[California Institute of Integral Studies]], a position he remained in until 2018.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

In May 2020, he launched, with his wife Brigitte Grof, a new training in working with holotropic states of consciousness, the international Grof Legacy Training.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

==Thought==
===Psychedelics and breathwork===
Grof's early studies were of [[LSD]] and its effects on the [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]]—the field of [[psychedelic therapy]]. Building on his observations while conducting LSD research and on [[Otto Rank]]'s [[The Trauma of Birth|theory of birth trauma]], Grof constructed a theoretical framework regarding [[prenatal and perinatal psychology]] and [[transpersonal psychology]]. In Grof's view, LSD sessions reveal the [[psychopathology]] of an individual to reflect their experience of the stages of birth.{{sfn|Rowan|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=16uhwBOiNJkC&pg=PA39 39–42]}} He describes four stages: (1) embryonic peace and transpersonal connection, (2) inundation with bodily matter during fetal growth, (3) the stress of the prenatal period, and (4) the release of birth.{{sfn|Grof|1985|pp=102-127}} Various neuroses are mapped to traumas at particular stages, e.g. [[ennui]] could be caused by [[Caesarean section]], resulting in an individual feeling like they have little reason to exert effort.{{sfn|Grof|1985|pp=252-253}} [[Suicidal ideation]] is explained by the deep memory of prenatal suffering being terminated by release from the [[womb]] (transposed to an escape from life itself).{{sfn|Grof|1985|pp=263-267}} Chemical [[Addiction psychology|addiction]] could stem from the use of [[anesthesia]] during birth.{{sfn|Grof|1985|pp=267-268}} Religious belief (e.g. identification with the [[crucifixion of Jesus]]) is also linked to birth, with [[reincarnation]] explaining transpersonal experiences.{{sfn|Grof|1985|pp=239, 241, 274}}

Grof called a developed form of his theory an "expanded cartography of the human psyche". Following the suppression of legal LSD use in the early 1970s, Grof pursued this therapeutic direction without drugs, by codeveloping with his wife, Christina Grof, a combination of deep and rapid breathing, evocative music, focused bodywork, and mandala drawing.{{sfn|Cortright|1997|p=100}} Originally termed "[[Holotropic Breathwork]]", he now uses the trademark Grof Breathwork to describe this technique.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

===Interplay of hylotropic and holotropic impulses in the psyche===
Grof distinguishes between two modes of consciousness: the ''hylotropic'' and the ''holotropic''.{{sfn|Wilber|1998|p=165}} The hylotropic mode relates to "the normal, everyday experience of [[consensus reality]]".{{sfn|Grof|1988|p=38}} In contrast, holotropic is characteristic of non-ordinary states of consciousness such as meditative, mystical, or psychedelic experiences.{{sfn|Grof|1988|p=39}} According to Grof, contemporary psychiatry often categorizes these non-ordinary states as pathological.{{sfn|Grof|1988|p=39}} Grof connects the hylotropic to the [[Buddhist]] conception of [[Namarupa#Nāmarūpa in Buddhism|namarupa]] ("name and form"), the separate, individual, illusory lower self. He connects the holotropic to the Hindu conception of [[Atman-Brahman]].{{sfn|Butler|2014|p=9}}

===Hypothesis on near-death experiences===
In the late 1970s Grof proposed a psychological hypothesis to explain the [[near-death experience]] (NDE). According to Grof the NDE reflects memories of the birth process with the tunnel representing the [[birth canal]]. [[Susan Blackmore]] wrote that the hypothesis is "pitifully inadequate to explain the NDE. For a start the newborn infant would not see anything like a tunnel as it was being born."{{sfn|Blackmore|1991}} The psychologist [[Chris French]] has written "the experience of being born is only very superficially similar to the NDE" and the hypothesis has been refuted as it is common for those born by [[caesarean section]] to experience a tunnel during the NDE.{{sfn|French|2005}} [[Michael Shermer]] also criticized the hypothesis "there is no evidence for infantile memories of any kind. Furthermore, the birth canal does not look like a tunnel and besides the infant's head is normally down and its eyes are closed."{{sfn|Shermer|1997|p=80}} An article in the peer-reviewed APA journal ''Psychology of Consciousness'' suggested that Grof's patients may have experienced [[False memory|false memories]] of birth and before birth.{{sfn|Patihis|Younes Burton|2015}}

==Influence on other researchers==
Grof's collaboration with [[Richard Tarnas]] began in the early 1970s, when Tarnas moved to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur to write his dissertation on psychedelic therapy under the auspices of Grof. They would eventually research a new way of understanding the timing and content of experiences encountered in holotropic states of consciousness, which Tarnas refers to as "archetypal cosmology".{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

== Accolades ==
In 1993, Grof received an Honorary Award from the [[Association for Transpersonal Psychology]] for major contributions to and development of the field of transpersonal psychology, given at the occasion of the 25th Anniversary Convocation held in Asilomar, California.{{cn|date=May 2024}} He also received the VISION 97 award granted by the Foundation of Dagmar and [[Václav Havel]] in [[Prague]] on October 5, 2007.{{cn|date=May 2024}} In 2010, he received the Thomas R. Verny Award from the Association for [[Prenatal and perinatal psychology|Pre- and Perinatal Psychology]] and Health.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

== Documentaries ==
In 1962, Grof was in a short documentary about LSD called ''[[Looking for Toxin X]]''.{{sfn|Kaczorowski|2018}}

Grof was featured in the film ''Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within'', a 2006 documentary about rediscovering an [[Disenchantment|enchanted]] cosmos in the modern world.{{sfn|Mann|2006}}

The 2018 documentary ''Bufo Alvarius: The Underground Secret'' features Grof talking in detail about the effects of [[5-MeO-DMT]] on the brain and consciousness.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bufo Alvarius: The Underground Secret |url=http://www.bufoalvarius.com/en/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Bufo Alvarius: The Underground Secret |language=en-US}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=July 2024}}

In 2020, the documentary ''The Way of the Psychonaut'' was released, which explores Grof's lifework and contributions to transpersonal psychology.{{efn|{{cite web |title=The Way of the Psychonaut: Stanislav Grof's Journey of Consciousness |website=UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics |access-date=2024-05-30 |url=https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/resources/the-way-of-the-psychonaut-stanislav-grofs-journey-of-consciousness/ |quote=The Way of the Psychonaut explores the life and work of Stanislav Grof, Czech-born psychiatrist and psychedelic psychotherapy pioneer. Stan’s quest for knowledge and insights into the healing power of non-ordinary states of consciousness, influenced the discipline of psychology and profoundly changed many individual lives. One of those transformed by Stan is filmmaker Susan Hess Logeais. The documentary utilizes Susan’s personal existential crisis as a gateway to Grof’s impact, from the micro to the macro.}}
}}

== Works ==
* ''Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research''. New York: The Viking Press (1975).
* ''The Human Encounter with Death''. New York: E. P. Dutton (1977).
* ''Dimensions of Dying and Rebirth''. (1977).
* ''LSD Psychotherapy''. Hunter House (1980).
* ''Beyond Death: The Gates Of Consciousness'' with Christina Grof. (1981).
* ''East & West: Ancient Wisdom And Modern Science''. (1985).
* ''Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death And Transcendence In Psychotherapy''. (1985).
* ''Human Survival And Consciousness Evolution'', edited with Marjorie L. Valier. (1988).
* [https://archive.org/details/adventureofselfd00grof ''The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration'']. Albany: SUNY Press (1988). {{ISBN|978-0887065408}}.
* ''Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes A Crisis'', with Christina Grof. (1989).
* ''The Stormy Search For The Self: A Guide To Personal Growth Through Transformative Crisis'', with Christina Grof. (1990).
* ''The Holotropic Mind: The Three levels Of Human Consciousness And How They Shape Our Lives'', with Hal Zina Bennet. New York: Harper Collins (1993).
* ''Books Of The Dead: Manuals For Living And Dying''. (1994).
* ''The Cosmic Game: Explorations Of The Frontiers Of Human Consciousness''. (1998).
* ''The Consciousness Revolution: A Transatlantic Dialogue'', with Peter Russell and Ervin Laszlo. (1999).
* ''Psychology Of The Future: Lessons From Modern Consciousness Research''. (2000).
* ''The Call of the Jaguar''. (2002).
* ''Caterpillar Dreams'', with Melody Sullivan. (2004).
* ''When The Impossible Happens: Adventures In Non-Ordinary Reality''. (2006).
* ''The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness And The Mystery Of Death''. (2006).
* ''LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious''. (2009).
* ''Holotropic Breathwork: A New Approach to Self-Exploration and Therapy. (2010).
* ''Healing Our Deepest Wounds: The Holotropic Paradigm Shift''. (2012).
* ''Modern Consciousness Research and the Understanding of Art: Including the Visionary World of H. R. Giger''. Santa Cruz: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (2015). {{ISBN|9780979862298}}.
* ''The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Volume One)''. Santa Cruz; Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (2019). {{ISBN|9780998276595}}.
* ''The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Volume Two)''. Santa Cruz: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (2019). {{ISBN|9780998276557}}.
* ''[https://www.spirituality-studies.org/dp-volume1-issue2-fall2015/#2 The Experience of Death and Dying: Psychological, Philosophical, and Spiritual Aspects]''. ''[https://www.spirituality-studies.org Spirituality Studies]'' 1 (2): 3-31 (2015).
* ''[https://www.spirituality-studies.org/dp-volume2-issue2-fall2016/#2 Ken Wilber’s Spectrum Psychology: Observations from Clinical Research]''. ''[https://www.spirituality-studies.org Spirituality Studies]'' 2 (2): 2-19 (2016). 
* ''[https://www.spirituality-studies.org/dp-volume2-issue1-spring2016/2/ Psychology for the Future: Lessons form Modern Consciousness Research]''. ''[https://www.spirituality-studies.org Spirituality Studies]'' 2 (1): 3-36 (2016).

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite magazine |author-link=Susan Blackmore |last=Blackmore |first=Susan |date=1991 |title=Near-Death Experiences: In or out of the body? |magazine=Skeptical Inquirer |volume=16 |pages=34–45 |url=https://ruccs.rutgers.edu/images/personal-zenon-pylyshyn/docs/TreismanReadings/11-Blackmore.pdf |access-date=2024-05-30}}
* {{cite book |last=Butler |first=Renn |year=2014 |title=Pathways to Wholeness |publisher=Muswell Hill Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-908995-04-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Cortright |first=Brant |title=Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy |year=1997 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3466-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/psychotherapyspi0000cort |url-access=registration}} 
* {{cite book |author-link=Chris French |last=French |first=Chris |year=2005 |title=Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Survivors |series=Progress in Brain Research |volume=150 |pages=351–367}}
* {{cite book |last=Grof |first=Stanislav |year=1976 |title=Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research |place=New York |publisher=E. P. Dutton |isbn=978-0-525-47438-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/realmsofhumanunc0000grof |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Grof |first=Stanislav |year=1985 |title=Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-87395-899-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/beyondbrainbirth00grof |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Grof |first=Stanislav |year=1988 |title=The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-540-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/adventureofselfd00grof}}
* {{cite web |last=Kaczorowski |first=Aleksander |translator=Joanna Figiel |date=May 12, 2018 |url=https://przekroj.pl/en/society/a-communist-lsd-trip-aleksander-kaczorowski |title=A Communist LSD Trip: The Story of Czechoslovak Acid |website=przekroj.pl}}
* {{cite video |last=Mann |first=Rod (Director) |title= Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within |url= http://www.entheogen.tv/ |year= 2006 |format= DVD video |publisher= Critical Mass Productions |access-date= November 19, 2012 |oclc= 181630835 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121111070217/http://www.entheogen.tv/ |archive-date= November 11, 2012 |df=  }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Patihis |first1=Lawrence |last2=Younes Burton |first2=Helena J. |title=False memories in therapy and hypnosis before 1980 |journal=Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice |pages=153–169 |volume=2 |issue=2 |doi=10.1037/cns0000044 |year=2015 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Rowan |first=John |author-link=John Rowan (psychologist) |title=The Transpersonal: Spirituality in Psychotherapy and Counselling |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-58391-987-3}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Michael Shermer |last=Shermer |first=Michael |year=1997 |title-link=Why People Believe Weird Things |title=Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |isbn=0-8050-7089-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilber |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Wilber |title=The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad |year=1998 |place=Boston & London |publisher=Shambhala |isbn=978-1-57062-345-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/eyeofspiritinteg0000wilb |url-access=registration}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |last=Butler |first=Renn |year=2009 |title=Archetypal Astrology and Transpersonal Psychology: The Research of Richard Tarnas and Stanislav Grof |url=http://www.stanislavgrof.com/pdf/Richard%20Tarnas%20and%20Stan%20Grof.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630221951/http://www.stanislavgrof.com/pdf/Richard%20Tarnas%20and%20Stan%20Grof.pdf |archivedate=June 30, 2014 |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Howe |first1=M. L. |last2=Courage |first2=M. L. |date=2004 |title=Demystifying the beginnings of memory |journal=Developmental Review |volume=24 |number=1 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.1016/j.dr.2003.09.006 |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jacobson |first1=B. |last2=Eklund |first2=G. |last3=Hamberger |first3=L. |last4=Linnarsson |first4=D. |last5=Sedvall |first5=G. |last6=Valverius |first6=M. |date=1987 |title=Perinatal origin of adult self-destructive behavior |journal=[[Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica]] |volume=76 |number=4 |pages=364–71 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0447.1987.tb05620.x |pmid=3425362 |ref=none}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|Stanislav Grof}}
* {{Official website|http://www.stanislavgrof.com/}}
* [https://archives.lib.purdue.edu/agents/people/1822 Archives and Special Collections] at [[Purdue University]]
* {{cite video |title=The Way of the Psychonaut |url=https://www.thewayofthepsychonaut.com/}}
*{{IMDb name|1795741}}

{{The VIZE 97 Prize}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grof, Stanislav}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American parapsychologists]]
[[Category:American psychedelic drug advocates]]
[[Category:Breathwork practitioners]]
[[Category:Charles University alumni]]
[[Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins University faculty]]
[[Category:Physicians from Prague]]
[[Category:Psychedelic drug researchers]]
[[Category:Psychonautics researchers]]
[[Category:Transpersonal psychologists]]
[[Category:University of Maryland, Baltimore faculty]]