Javier Charme Marticorena

Track: Transpersonal Psychology, Psychotherapy and Clinical Studies

Principles of holotropic therapy to enhance  and deepen conventional psychological practice.

Holotropic breathwork and psychedelic states can magnify, deepen and broaden dramatically the therapeutic process by amplifying the communication and synthesis between conscious and the unconscious. We can observe in them how the different experiential and processing levels (somatic, energetic, emotional, intellectual, imaginal, archetypal, spiritual) of the person become enhanced and engaged in a totally unique process and configuration in a particular experience. The powerful multidimensional nature of these experiences and unconscious dynamics in holotropic states, including spiritual crisis, requires from the therapist an expanded understanding of the psyche and psychodynamics behind symptoms and some particular strategies and attitudes to allow and facilitate the unfolding of psychotherapeutic processes in general. From these practical clinical understanding of the psyche and the nature of psychogenic symptoms we can look at the therapeutic encounter and process in conventional psychotherapy and suggest some concrete clues that may help therapist to better understand the therapeutic process , it´s general dynamics and direction and some strategies to allow it to deepen and resolve. The exposition would touch upon the levels of the unconscious, the multidimensionality of human experience and processing, an understanding of the intrinsic healing mechanism behind psychogenic symptoms, COEX systems, the deep trust we can have in the benevolence of the unconscious and the unknown, an open multidimensional experiential approach to therapy centered on the body and the present moment, a co-explorer attitude for the therapist and others. The idea is to reflect on the gap between therapeutic work in holotropic states and conventional experiential psychotherapy in a transpersonal Framework.

I´m a 42 years old clinical psychologist from Chile. I received a Master in East -West Psychology with specialization on Spiritual counseling and Transpersonal Psychology from CIIS 2003. I have been Co-Director and  teacher  for the Grof Transpersonal Training in Transpersonal Psychology and Holotropic Breathwork here in South America for 9 years. I  have facilitated close to 300  Holotropic Breathwork workshops in many cities the last 20 years . For 10 years I taught a course on Transpersonal Psychology, one of Integral Visions and one on Transpersonal Psychotherapy at Universidad del Pacifico here in Chile, which was the first Transpersonal Psychology program in South America. I have been invited to  transpersonal talks and events as a speaker here in South America, and as a teacher  in  different programs. I have organized   international events and workshops  in Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Ecuador  in which Dr S.Grof,  R.Tarnas,  J.Ferrer,  C.Naranjo and others have participated. Currently I am trying to implement together with MAPS  and other organizations a phase 2  research protocol for PTSD with MDMA here in Chile.