About
Philosophical/Theoretical Background
The ideas behind the Concord Institute’s work are rooted in many ancient psycho-spiritual traditions, East and West. They also spring, more immediately, from the thinking of the Transcendentalists of mid-19th century America, particularly that of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. John Dewey’s thinking and the work of Progressive Education in the first half of the twentieth century is another source. And, more recently, in the latter half of that century, the emergence of Existential/Humanistic/Transpersonal Psychology in North America and Europe has informed this work.
The work of Carl Jung has also been particularly influential, and, within this larger framework of Depth Psychology, the principles and practices of Roberto Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis. More recently my own development of Spiritual Psychology and Soul Process Work (1990-2020) has also contributed. All these approaches share in common an exploration of the spiritual dimension of human experience within a secular philosophical/ psychological context and its usefulness as a resource for human healing, growth, and maturation.
Organizational History
The Concord Institute was founded in 1990 and its work has evolved in phases so far.
1990 – 2005
2005 – 2020
2020 – Today
The first has been as a highly active professional training institute, with programs in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Russia.
The second has been a less active period of smaller training programs locally, European summer institutes, and individual mentoring/supervision of helping professionals, conference keynotes and workshops, and writing projects.
The third phase, beginning in 2020, is this present development of an Archive and Resource Center.
*(There was also a preliminary phase in a professional training program I ran from 1980 to 1990. This program was titled “Psychosynthesis for the Helping Professional” and was held in the San Francisco and Boston areas. There are some materials here from that period also.)
Collaboration
During the first two phases the Concord Institute worked closely with the Harmony Institute in St Petersburg Russia on the founding and development of the International School for Psychotherapy, Counseling, and Group Leadership, a three year post graduate professional training program in Existential/ Humanistic/Spiritual Psychology.
Initial collaboration started in 1990 and the School opened in 1995. This collaboration continues to this day, and from the beginning the Concord Institute has certified this post-graduate training program in Russia, and all students receive a certificate of completion from the Concord Institute.
The Concord Institute also worked closely with the Meta-Center in Kristiansand, Norway in holding annual summer training institutes for helping professionals from Norway and other European countries (1988- 2015). It was also instrumental in the founding of the Helen Dowling Institute, a cancer research and treatment center in Rotterdam, Netherlands (1992). It collaborated as well during this period with the Psychosynthese Haus in Southern Germany in group leadership training and the Psykosyntes Akademin in Stockholm, Sweden on teaching and training programs, including most recently a residential summer training institute (2018).
University Archives
Finally, my professional work from 1970 to the present is also archived at the Main Library at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the Humanistic Psychology Special Collections.