In today’s episode of the Being Well Podcast, Dr. Rick and Forrest explore the lessons we can learn from two of Humanistic psychology’s more challenging branches: existential and transpersonal psychology. Existential psychology asks what it means to build a meaningful life in the face of death, while Transpersonal psychology wonders if the individual self is what we should be so focused on. Forrest and Rick focus on the work of Rollo May, Irvin Yalom, Abraham Maslow, and Stanislav Grof, and major themes include freedom, agency, anxiety, the limits of the “self,” and how confronting these can lead to a fuller and more meaningful life.

Rick’s Self-Worth Course: Starts this week! In this 6-week online course, Rick will guide you in practical, research-backed ways to release old patterns and grow a lasting sense of confidence, kindness toward yourself, and genuine self-worth. Learn more at RickHanson.com/worthy and use coupon code BeingWell25 to receive a 25% discount.

Key Topics

• 0:00: Intro and recap of humanistic psychology
• 6:12: History and context of existential psychology
• 12:04: Three important lessons from existentialism
• 26:03: Agency and meaning making within existential psychology
• 38:38: Overview of transpersonal psychology
• 1:00:43: Three important lessons from transpersonal psychology
• 1:11:14: Closing reflections, and a one word summary
• 1:14:07: Recap

Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there.