International Institute for Consciousness Exploration and Psychotherapy

Info

International Institute for Consciousness Exploration and Psychotherapy
Headquaters: Freiburg, Germany

Geschichte

Teachers of various therapeutic schools
At our Institute, we house teachers from numerous countries with many years of experience, and from different psychotherapeutic schools of thought. They each represent their own unique approaches, built on a combination of diverse techniques. In most other institutes, this is not the case; usually an educational institute will be affiliated with one particular school of thought.

International representatives and connections
The fact that our Institute has such an international character is very important to us. We view the diversity of our cultural roots and clinical methods as an expression of creativity, and, like members of an orchestra, we are all playing a symphony together. We are appreciative of the music we create and the people we teach and guide. We join together to find our true selves and come home.

Transpersonal psychotherapy as a framework
Although team members incorporate their own unique approaches and clinical styles, we place our methods within the framework of transpersonal psychotherapy. This form of psychotherapy brings together modern consciousness research, ancient spiritual traditions, and individually orientated psychotherapy methods.

International standards of quality
We uphold international standards of quality in all of our training courses and seminars. Currently – even in our Institute – there is no exact, single definition of transpersonal psychotherapy. But there are many transpersonal principles that are important in our work: the initiatory nature of self-exploration and training; perinatal experiences; spiritual and existential crises; encounters with reason and madness; inner death and being reborn.

Foundation of our therapeutic understanding
The foundation underlying our therapeutic understanding is for deep and authentic living, creativity, opening to our collective roots, a consciousness of our all-encompassing connection, and gratitude for life and joy. We actively encourage curiosity and openness -- and exploration into our deepest shadows and our most shining inner light.

In every process of healing, our psychotherapeutic work shows how the mental (reason, spirit), the emotional, and the physical all come together and become intertwined. Such a core connection represents the very depth and mystery of human existence… that some may refer to as God.

EUROTAS Educational Institute
We are an Educational Institute within the EUROTAS (European Transpersonal Association). As such, we are linked with other European Educational Institutes and we incorporate multiple psychotherapeutic approaches, which offer alternatives to restrictive guidelines frequently put forth by lobbyists and one-sided science. Our Institute does not promulgate any particular methodology, technique, religious or spiritual practice, and is open to a One world consciousness.

Our Identity
We live in a time of radical social change, in which there is a great upheaval of our concepts of living, as well as of our moral values. The challenges that emerge from all this are immense. For a growing number of people it is becomingly increasingly clear that these challenges cannot be overcome with the traditional concepts, relationship patterns and old familiar ways of behavior. A new kind of being, of thinking, of relating to one another is necessary. We are profoundly convinced that the basis of this lies in how we deal with ourselves, with our own inner, struggles, strengths, and weaknesses.

Pioneering Work
And as always, when it is time to discover something new, pioneers are necessary. In many ways, the Institute and its team members are pioneers: the Institute aims to bridge gaps between the dualities and splits that plague society: between West and East, between the findings of modern psychotherapy and the wisdom of older spiritual and indigenous traditions, between the scientifically-based concepts of psychiatry and the alternative views of madness. As pioneers, we try to know our own inner strength, to make the necessary decisions to let go of certain things and keeping a clear view of our inadequacies and limitations. Being a pioneer also requires a constant curiosity of all that currently is and an expectation of the surprises coming towards you. We attempt to recognize that there are always wrong turns and detours that occur in the developmental process. And even – in frantic moments when it can feel like we lose ourselves room needs to be made for building a constantly deeper trust in life. Team members have in their individual ways gained clarity through often painful experiences of living over many years.

As teachers, educators and psychotherapists, it is our fervent wish to pass on this understanding. Our greatest and constant challenge is to embody what we teach in our everyday lives.