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AQAL

AQAL [pronunciation: ah-qwal] is a term coined by Ken Wilber, and it stands for “all quadrants, all levels, all lines, all states, all types.” It is a basis of Wilber’s current version of Integral Metatheory and Practice. Wilber’s work has attracted a lot of interest internationally, and practitioners and researchers of this AQAL-based Integral approach can be found on awarenow platform, from different countries of the world.

The basic idea of the AQAL approach can be summarized as follows: Any given modality, if it aims at being truly holistic or comprehensive, must enact or at least take into account all these elements and factors (i.e., the four quadrants, all developmental levels, all developmental lines, all states, all types). Usually, less-than-integral approaches focus only on one or two elements. 

All these parameters taken as a whole are also known as “the AQAL matrix.” Simultaneous awareness and enactment of the full AQAL matrix is the essence of Wilber’s Integral vision and is known as Integral Methodological Pluralism. 

This Integral—that is, comprehensive, non-reductionistic and wholeness-based—approach can be applied to any human discipline—not just psychology and psychotherapy but also business, economy, politics, ecology, spirituality, etc.

The AQAL matrix (mainly applied to Integral Psychology and Integral Psychotherapy) includes: 

• all quadrants (four fundamental dimensions of reality: interior subjective self/consciousness; internal intersubjective culture/relationships; exterior objective brain/organism; exterior inter-objective social systems/environment); 

• all levels—or “waves”—of development (pre-rational to rational to trans-rational; pre-conventional to conventional to post-conventional; body to mind to spirit, etc.—see the psychology of Adult Development); 

• all developmental lines—or “streams” (multiple intelligences which include cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, spiritual intelligence, somatic intelligence, etc.);

• all states of consciousness and being (the varieties of ordinary and non-ordinary mental states, from gross to subtle to causal to witnessing to non-dual; in terms of brain and physiology it is the dynamism of mind and physiological states); 

• all types of personality and events (in terms of human beings it is various typological differences, such as sex, gender, personality type, etc.);

• and self (that is which navigates, grows through and makes sense of all these various factors).

In other words, any truly holistic—or “Integral”—psychology, and any genuinely Integral psychologist or psychotherapist for that matter, must take into account all these quadrants, levels, lines, states, types, and self in their dynamics. 

Thus, AQAL-based psychologies and therapies may utilize—and expand—knowledge of classical theories of psychological functioning (such as shadow formation and treatment), vertical adult development, spiritual models of consciousness evolution, embodiment theories and practices (often including subtle/bioenergetic approaches), use of mindfulness meditation and altered states of consciousness as methods of awareness cultivation as well as therapeutic intervention, application of both alternative and biomedical methods of healing (especially when in the context of Integral Medicine), neuroscientific discoveries, and so on. 

See also: Integral Psychology, Integral Psychotherapy, Integral Meditation.

This entry was written initially for the awarenow wiki.

Author:

Eugene Pustoshkin https://awarenow.io/eugene

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Bioenergetic Analysis

Bioenergetic Analysis practitioners believe that body and mind function as one. This is a type of therapy that focuses on the connection between body and mind, and the energy that flows between them. Bioenergetic techniques include psychoanalysis and physical body work. This type of therapy can be offered individually or in group settings, and it is common among people who want to achieve physical and emotional wellbeing.


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Ericksonian Hypnosis

Ericksonian Hypnosis, or Ericksonian Hypnotherapy is a very specific type of hypnosis in which therapists use techniques such as indirect suggestion, metaphor, and storytelling, instead of the classic method of suggestion.


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Feldenkrais Method

The Feldenkrais method is a body-focused approach that helps people reconnect with their bodies, increase vitality, and improve wellbeing. This method is primarily physical, but body improvements have positive effects on all areas in life. The Feldenkrais method can be used in combination with other approaches that are more focused on mental health.


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Focusing

Focusing is a method used in therapeutic treatment that teaches people how to direct their attention to their bodily sensations to uncover information about events, thoughts, and feelings. The goal is to focus on these sensations, stay with them, listen to the messages they convey, and gain self-awareness.



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Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the present moment. Therapists help individuals understand what is is going in their lives—and not what they think it’s happening based on the past. Clients are encouraged to experience again feelings and emotions related to past events to become aware of the negative patterns that are preventing them from being happy.



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Hakomi

The Hakomi Method is used to treat a variety of mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD). This approach has also been shown to be effective in the treatment of unresolved trauma. Hakomi is a popular method among people who want to achieve personal growth.

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Holoscendence

Holoscendence is an Integral meta-practice of therapy, shadow work, psychological and contemplative development, spirituality, and multidimensional communication. It was developed by Sergey Kupriyanov, MD, Ph.D. in Medicine, a Helsinki-based therapist with 40 years of professional experience, and is taught to students in Finland and Russia (where it is co-taught by Eugene Pustoshkin, a clinical psychologist from St. Petersburg).


Holoscendence is based on seamlessly uniting nonordinary (nonlocal and timeless) dimensions of consciousness, being and communication with more ordinary (local and temporal) states and ways of interaction. It fully enacts body, mind, spirit, and their subtle dimensions in self, intersubjective relationships, and nature.


It is a way to practice heightened states of consciousness dialogically, during daily mundane activities, which brings forth radical transformations to one's self-sense, personal and professional relationships, and a general way of life.


Modus operandi of Holoscendence is abiding in profound silence (which is beyond conceptual mind) and embracive luminous awareness even in processes of speaking and otherwise communicating with others, and its striking feature is the practice of continuous meditative presence with open eyes. Therefore, it can be used in all sorts of contexts, at work, in business and personal life.


Holoscendence is a pragmatic embodiment of the Integral AQAL view (as developed by Ken Wilber), and it also integrates essential aspects of dozens of different approaches, from classical psychotherapies and depth psychology to narrative approaches to communicative skills training to mindfulness and sophisticated bioenergetic approaches.


So far there are only a few certified teachers of Holoscendence in the world due to the specificity of training in the method (which requires a significant degree of personal embodied realization of the essential principles of this approach, which is taught only in direct intersubjective transmission in a long-term transformative process).

Author: Eugene Pustoshkin

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Integral Meditation

Integral Meditation is an overall approach to mindfulness and contemplative practice that is based on AQAL Integral Framework as developed by Ken Wilber. (This approach is described, e.g., in his book Integral Meditation.) It is a holistic practice that engages a person in cultivating contemplative awareness of body, mind, spirit in self, interpersonal relationships, society at large, and nature with its ecology.


Integral Meditation combines the paths of Waking Up (towards deeper, transpersonal states of awareness, which may include experiences of boundless peace, calm, joy, etc.), Growing Up (towards greater maturity and personality integration), Cleaning Up (shadow work aimed at reintegration of unconsciously repressed potentials), and Showing Up (manifesting mindful activities in all essential areas of life).


In its advanced and more sophisticated forms, Integral Meditation may involve bioenergetic work, intersubjective meditation, group work, conscious work with peak experiences, and any combination of meditation techniques. One example of such an advanced form of Integral Meditation is when it is practiced as a part of the Holoscendence process.

Author: Eugene Pustoshkin

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Integral Psychology

Integral Psychology—and Integral Psychotherapy, being interrelated fields of inquiry and practice (see also the entry on Integral Psychotherapy)—aim at integrating, healing and deepening our connection with body, emotions, mind, spirit as they present themselves in self, culture, and nature, utilizing a diverse yet profoundly unified set of methods, tools, and practices. The term “Integral” here means “comprehensive,” “holistic,” “wholeness-based.”

The most known version of both Integral Psychology and Integral Psychotherapy nowadays is outlined in the works of Ken Wilber, the founder of Integral Metatheory (such as in his book Integral Psychology as well as various chapters and articles), and his colleagues (see, e.g., Elliott Ingersoll and David Zeitler’s book Integral Psychotherapy: Inside Out/Outside In and Andre Marquis’ book Integral Psychotherapy: A Unifying Approach). This modality is based on what Wilber introduced as the “all quadrants, all levels” approach—or AQAL Integral framework (see the entry: AQAL).

Such a comprehensive perspective (AQAL Integral framework) allows activating the full spectrum of human experience and conditions. It offers a panoramic and comprehensive vision of human consciousness, psyche, mind-body connection, and individual as well as collective evolutionary processes. 

Thus, the Integral framework (as applied to psychological disciplines, but it can be applied to any other human discipline, from business to ecology, from spirituality to politics) is an overall meta-approach to theoretical and practical psychology and psychotherapy that aspires to integrate within a seamless synthesis Western and Eastern, Northern and Southern psychologies/therapies, including the best of premodern, modern, postmodern, and metamodern approaches—while overcoming their limitations (i.e. it is transcultural and global in its essentially integrative meta-perspective). 

Integral Psychology, in this vision, is a metaparadigm of psychology which necessarily takes into account the full spectrum of consciousness, being and activities in their multiple forms as they are present in our life considered in its uttermost fullness. In terms of Wilber’s Integral Metatheory, the complete fullness of our life manifests as the “all quadrants, all levels” (AQAL) matrix, where any given element of this matrix cannot be reduced to another (i.e., the Integral approach operates without reducing everything to just brain chemistry or only consciousness or just social construction and environmental influences and so on). 

A striking feature of any genuinely Integral psychology or psychotherapy is its acceptance and profound understanding of the spiritual (or transpersonal) dimensions of human consciousness and reality while being very serious about understanding more common, material and economic aspects of life. 

See also: AQAL, Integral Psychotherapy, Integral Meditation

This entry was written for awarenow wiki

Author: Eugene Pustoshkin https://awarenow.io/eugene

Clinical psychologist, Integral scholar-practitioner and consultant, group work facilitator, Holoscendence & Integral Meditation teacher/practitioner 

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Integral Psychotherapy

Integral Psychotherapy is an approach to psychotherapy (both medical and psychological) that encompasses the full spectrum of human consciousness and its potential pathologies (as well as treatment) as well as its embodiment in the organism and neurophysiology and embeddedness in the networks of sociocultural, environmental, and economic relationships. 

This multidimensional integrated condition of human beingness-in-the-world is called “the AQAL matrix” (as famously conceptualized by Ken Wilber). Integral Psychotherapy fully implements this AQAL perspective in its understanding of a human being (for further information on the AQAL approach see the entries: Integral Psychology, AQAL; see also, e.g., Elliott Ingersoll and David Zeitler’s book Integral Psychotherapy: Inside Out/Outside In and Andre Marquis’ book Integral Psychotherapy: A Unifying Approach). 

The application of this approach is up to a particular individual or school of psychological thought. Sometimes this is accompanied by an actual synthesis of various practical methods and modalities that encompass more or less a full spectrum of levels of consciousness and practices aimed at all quadrants (as, for example, in Holoscendence). Generally, Integral Psychotherapy goes beyond mere eclecticism into an integrative meta-synthesis that is grounded in the Integral AQAL Framework.

Integral Psychotherapy is mostly developmental and based on an understanding how various dysfunctions, “addictions” and “allergies” can be created during the process of human development and unfolding both through (vertical) stages of maturity and (horizontal) states of consciousness.

There is a difference between integrally-informed psychology/therapy and a truly Integral psychology/therapy. 

An integrally-informed approach is that which takes into account and is cognitively aware of the AQAL matrix though continues to gravitate to a particular method which might be limited to a single quadrant (for instance, a phenomenological consciousness dimension) or level (for example, working only with and/or within the rational stage of consciousness), and attempts to contextualize it within an overall all-quadrant understanding (possibly referring their clients, when needed, to other experts who specialize in a different dimension of the AQAL matrix). 

A truly Integral psychology/therapy is a set of integrated practices which intentionally takes into account and enacts the full AQAL matrix while its practitioners have access at least to what is called holistic and integral stage or stages (or levels) of consciousness development. 

The integral stage of consciousness in its most mature form can embody a holistic transcultural and metahistorical vision (thus significantly transcending the limitations of any given culture-specific and time-specific era). Generally, representatives of this later stage of maturity are engaged in an ongoing inquiry into most profound existential and spiritual questions of what it means to be a human being. In this search, they have been looking for a whole experience of humanity, transcending but including shared knowledge, sanctioned in a given society, while gaining a profound insight into how our human experiences are constructed. Such people also tend to practically work on integrating virtually dozens of different paradigms (approaches and perspectives), being interested in diversifying their methods to life rather than sticking only to a limited set of aspects of modalities. 

This level and scope of awareness (i.e., the Integral stage) are necessary if one aims at comprehensively co-enacting and co-constructing a better and more wholeness-based reality which transcends more narrow views which are limited merely to one quadrant or level or line or state or type, etc. Only genuinely transpersonal stages of consciousness development surpass the Integral stage (or stages) in the depth of wholeness that they are capable of handling, enacting, and embodying.

A striking feature of any genuinely Integral psychology or psychotherapy is its acceptance and profound understanding of the spiritual (or transpersonal) dimensions of human consciousness and reality, while being very serious about understanding more common, material and economic aspects of life. 

See also: Integral Psychology, Integral Meditation, AQAL 

This entry was written initially for awarenow wiki

Author: Eugene Pustoshkin www.awarenow.io/eugene

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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) incorporates mindfulness practices into cognitive therapy. This method helps individuals recognize and break negative patterns that can cause depression in the long term.



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Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) takes the strategies used by successful individuals and applies them to others to accomplish life goals. It analyzes thoughts, language, and behavioral patterns related to specific outcomes and uses them to help individuals. NLP practitioners see human actions in a positive light. They believe that if a plan does not succeed, it is not a negative experience, but a way to get useful information for the future.


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Psychomotor Therapy

Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP), also known as psychomotor, psychomotor therapy is an interactive model that analyzes the impact of traumatic memories on the present and helps people to create new positive memories that slowly can replace the negative experiences. BPSP incorporates different techniques including body and movement-oriented methods, theories and techniques from psychodynamic therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy.



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R
Reichian Breathwork

Reichian breathwork uses breathing techniques to achieve a state of relaxation and calm. This approach is often incorporated in different fields including medicine, chiropractic medicine, bodywork, and behavioral health. Reichian breathwork helps people to isolate distractions and disturbances to achieve relaxation and maintain awareness.



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S
Somatic Healing

Somatic experiencing is a form of alternative therapy aimed at relieving the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental and physical trauma-related health problems by focusing on the client's perceived body sensations. It was created by trauma therapist Peter A. Levine.

Somatic Therapy

Somatic therapy is a form of body-centered therapy that looks at the connection of mind and body and uses both psychotherapy and physical therapies for holistic healing. In addition to talk therapy, somatic therapy practitioners use mind-body exercises and other physical techniques to help release the pent-up tension that is negatively affecting your physical and emotional wellbeing.

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Structural Bodywork

Structural Bodywork, also known as Structural Integration, or Rolfing, is a type of therapy that focuses on deep tissue manipulation and movement education. When practitioners work on the tissue, they release the tension, rebalance the body, and realign it with the earth's gravitational field. This approach aims at increasing energy levels, eliminate chronic pain, and promote a sense of general well-being.


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