I would like to share with you my experiences from this year's EUROTAS International Transpersonal Conference in Oxford, UK, September 4-8, 2024, entitled "Creative Bridges - Embodied Consciousness, Psyche and Soul in Research and Practice."
The University of Oxford is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world. Its history dates back to the 12th century, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Its facilities now serve as an inspiring meeting place for professionals in transpersonal psychology and related fields. It was a gathering of both "old-timers" in the field as well as of young scientists, psychologists, psychotherapists and other enthusiastic people who see the importance of exploring human consciousness and its transcendence of individual human experience, in experiences that can be called holotropic, transpersonal, mystical or spiritual.
Two of us were to travel from Holos to Oxford: myself - Tomáš Váňa and Milan Hrabánek. However, Milan had to cancel his trip at the last minute due to a family emergency - a sick dog he needed to take care of. So I went alone and we agreed that I would also present his conference paper.
In Oxford I was welcomed by the history and the beautiful atmosphere of the place. I met a number of people I knew from previous conferences and had the opportunity to present our experience at the International Transpersonal Centre Holos in the Czech Republic.
The conference was preceded by the annual meeting of EUROTAS, an international organisation that has in recent years expanded beyond Europe and is a global organisation with a transpersonal focus. It provides certifications in transpersonal psychotherapy, engages in research and education. It now has national delegates in each country, and I have taken up this position for the Czech Republic and decided to develop the activities of this organization in our country.
On behalf of Holos we presented two papers at the conference. The first was the results of our research concerning our week-long self-discovery retreats, where we used questionnaires to measure their effect on depression, anxiety and other selected indicators. This confirmed our expectations, i.e. that our retreats have a significant effect on reducing levels of depression, anxiety, somatization and hostility, while increasing levels of self-compassion. At the same time, the stays are based on the application of transpersonal psychotherapy methods, using Grof Breathwork and other complementary techniques.
The second paper, which I presented on behalf of Milan Hrabánek, concerned our experience with the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using transpersonal psychotherapy methods. The combination of Grof breathwork, Sandplay therapy and supportive psychotherapy has been successful in achieving significant positive shifts in psychological state in a short time for adults and children who have experienced a traumatic event beyond the normal scope of life events. Several case studies were presented, including our care for people who were present at the shooting attack in the waiting room of the University Hospital Ostrava in 2019, in which 7 random victims died. Thus, we have repeatedly confirmed the great healing potential of Grof breathwork when performed in a therapeutic setting by trained professionals.
The conference featured a number of interesting contributions from experts from different parts of the world. I was interested in research on the clinical use of ketamine in India, research on psilocybin users in the UK, the experience with Sandtray and symbol work in Australia, and Performance as a transpersonal therapy method being developed in Lithuania.
I was then most interested in Chris Bache's paper on mapping consciousness through systematic work with LSD, which he has done for several decades. His experiences are described in detail in a book that has recently been published in Czech laguage as well, "LSD and the Mind of the Universe".
During the breaks and evenings in local bars there was plenty of space for discussion with other conference participants, ideas for joint projects, cooperation of the new generation of transpersonal psychologists and maybe even the return of the International Transpersonal Conference to Prague? We shall see :-) The next EUROTAS conference is already planned and preparations are in full swing, and for the first time it will be outside the European continent, in Mexico, in October 2025. https://www.instagram.com/xolotl2025/
I will look forward to further meetings, enrichment, cooperation... Whether in the Czech Republic or in the global EUROTAS network.
Tomáš Váňa
International Transpersonal Centre Holos
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