The Integral Stage

Layman meets with integrative psychotherapist, spiritual practitioner, and musician, Willow Pearson Trimbach, to talk about her early experiences of the significance of dreams; her concept of dreams as nested and ongoing; the importance of protecting the unconscious; the relationship of the natural states to the classically sacred dimensions of reality; the nature of the dreaming self and its relation to the waking self; her use of the concept of the caesura - a kind of bidirectional membrane - to indicate the nonseparateness of waking and dreaming life; and much more.   Dr. Pearson is a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and a nationally board-certified music therapist (MT-BC). In fall 2017, Dr. Pearson joined the full-time faculty in the Clinical Psychology Department at NDNU. In May 2018, Dr. Pearson became Director of Clinical Training. Previously, she taught doctoral students at Alliant International University in San Francisco, undergraduate and graduate students at Naropa University, and graduate students at John F. Kennedy University. Dr. Pearson’s 18 years of licensed clinical work includes experience in private practice, as well as at medical centers and hospitals (serving inpatients and outpatient clients), community clinics, and mental health centers. In these settings, she has worked with adults, children, adolescents, couples and groups.  Her clinical background includes training in psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, integral, relational, humanistic, cognitive behavioral, expressive arts, somatic, existential, contemplative and transpersonal therapy, and brief approaches with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and groups. Across a range of clinical settings, Dr. Pearson has provided crisis intervention, assessment, brief therapy, group therapy, music therapy and depth psychotherapy, from an integral relational perspective. Dr. Pearson’s private psychotherapy practice is in Oakland, on the border of Emeryville, in the East Bay.   Professional website https://drwillowpearson.com/  The Spiritual Psyche in Psychotherapy (book) 

Layman meets with Martin Ucik to talk about his new book, Integral Relationship Practice.  At 800 pages, and with abundant exercises and illustrations, the book is a manual for singles and couples who are interested in the theory of integral relationships, but also in the deep understanding that can only be gained through embodied practices and experiences.   From the book's description: "[Integral Relationship Practice] is for those who realize that to become fully human means to develop the capacity to be simultaneously whole in ourselves AND part of healthy, sustainable love relationships and nuclear families, who then form the foundation for thriving communities and flourishing societies. And it is for those who understand that cultural and biological evolution are intertwined—that we need to raise conscious children if we want to raise consciousness on the planet to create a better world and a peaceful, sustainable future for humanity. This manual is also intended for helping professionals who want to support their clients in co-creating healthy love relationships, and for group facilitators who feel called to lead events, workshops, and trainings in which the participants sharpen their relationships skills together with others in their local communities through experiential exercises."   Martin Ucik is the author of Integral Relationships: A Manual for Men and Sex, Purpose, Love: Couples in Integral Relationships Creating a Better World, which Ken Wilber calls “terrific,” as well as Sex Purpose Love.  He now trains Integral relationship practitioners, professionals, and group facilitators, and offers private trainings and consultations for singles and couples.   Integral Relationship Practice book https://www.amazon.com/Integral-Relationship-Practice-Professionals-Facilitators/dp/B0B5KVD6DH/ Integral Relationship website https://integralrelationship.com/  Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Layman Pascal talks with author and expressive arts therapist, Sally Adnams Jones, about the integral dimensions and the transformative, healing power of creativity.  How does it show up across the quadrants, and across the stages of the spiral of development?  How is it related to Eros and kundalini?  How are we to better cultivate and develop it, in ourselves and our children, and what are the risks of its greater expression?   Sally Adnams Jones is Director of TransformArta and has taught art education at The University of Victoria, Canada. Her PhD research explored how survivors of the HIV/AIDs pandemic in Africa transformed through their art practice.  Currently she participates on Integral forums on Clubhouse, leads retreats and workshops, offers counselling and creative coaching, and is an artist and author.   Professional website http://sallyadnamsjones.com/

In this special Integral Stage episode, Layman meets with feminine empowerment and leadership teacher, and Integral Semantics facilitator, Adriana Forte, to talk about the menstrual cycle -- the ways it is misunderstood, repressed or denied; its cosmic, biological, and psychospiritual dimensions; and the power and transformation that can attend aligning more closely and consciously with its rhythms.  Together they explore the dimensions and dynamics of cyclical life; the importance of attending to cycles in embodiment practice; indigenous wisdom on the menstrual cycle; the stages of reclamation of menstrual consciousness; the 'magic' and subtle states associated with the menstrual cycle; the possible forms future society might take when we learn to better align with individual and natural cycles; and much more.   Adriana has been teaching workshops on feminine empowerment and leadership for years. In the last years she has been focusing her work and studies on Adult Development and Vertical Growth. One of her main areas of interest is on the cross-over between the feminine aspect of consciousness and Adult Development: how it shows up in the later stages (as a natural bi-product of growing up) how it flowers in men and women and how it can be used to spark/deepen the process of both waking up and growing up. She has a Bachelor Degree in Communication, a Diploma in Holistic Kinesiology and in Shamanic Womancraft.  She is a coach and a qualified Integral Semantics Facilitator and is now training to become a scorer of the Stages Assessment (still unavailable in Portuguese). Her work (both with individuals and groups) is deeply influenced by Integral Theory (Wilber), Stages (O'Fallon), Action Inquiry (Torbert) and by the work of pioneers on Feminine Wisdom as Janine Parvati Baker and Jane Collings. She currently facilitates developmental retreats in Brazil.    Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

What is the Enneagram?  Where did it come from, and what the heck happened to it?   In a special Integral Stage episode, Marshall Æon, a student of the Diamond Approach & creator of a popular online Enneagram test, sits down with Layman (who is notoriously skeptical about typologies) to discuss the origins of the Enneagram, the twists and turns of its development, the problem or hidden purpose of its watering down, some of its strongest or most useful formulations, and much more.   At the end of the talk, Marshall gives an overview of the 9 types.   Marshall's Enneagram Test https://enneagramtest.net/  Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Layman is joined by Sean Kelly to discuss his book Becoming Gaia.   They take a deep dive into the themes of the book, discussing the possibilities of considering Gaia not only as a hyperobject, but a hypersubject; the nature of the ecological and other crises confronting us at this time; the notion of planetary shamanism and the initiatory threshold our planetary crisis represents; the key ideas of Complex Thought; the gaianthropocene and the emergence of Axial Age 2.0; how to speak to children and others about the potential losses we confront; the paradoxical nature of time; the conceptual resources and gifts offered to our time by Nietzsche, Hegel, Morin, Bhaskar, and Wilber; and much more.   Sean Kelly received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Ottawa in 1988. Before coming to CIIS, he taught religious studies at the University of Windsor, the University of Ottawa, and Carleton University (Canada). He is the author of Coming Home: The Birth and Transformation of the Planetary Era and Individuation and the Absolute: Hegel, Jung, and the Path toward Wholeness. Sean is also co-editor, with Donald Rothberg, of Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers and co-translator, with Roger Lapointe, of French thinker Edgar Morin's book, Homeland Earth: A manifesto for the New Millennium.  Along with his academic work, Sean has trained intensively in the Chinese internal arts (taiji, bagua, and xingyi) and has been teaching taiji since 1990. Along with his abiding interest in the work of Jung, Hegel, and Morin, his current research areas include the evolution of consciousness, integral ecologies, and transpersonal and integral theory.   Becoming Gaia https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Gaia-Threshold-Planetary-Initiation/dp/1947544284

Stuart introduces his Aliens and Artists project and discusses the inspiration behind it, and the interview then quickly turns into a conversation, as Layman and Stuart share experiences and reflections, riffing on shamanic consciousness, the nature of time, Western esotericism, Terrence McKenna and Alan Watts, encounters with UFOs and "alien intelligences," paranormal phenomena, nature mysticism, the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for accessing the unconscious and healing trauma, and much more.   STUART DAVIS is a contemporary musician, songwriter, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has been performing throughout the United States and Europe since 1993. Davis regularly works with music producer Alex Gibson, who produced his last five studio albums.  In 2009, TV channel HDNet broadcast the first six-episode season of "Sex, God, Rock 'n Roll," a comedy sketch show written, directed, and hosted by Davis; a second season with Davis and co-host Kandyse McClure began airing in 2012.  Davis is a contributing member of philosopher Ken Wilber's Integral Institute, and appears as a fictionalized character in Wilber's novel Boomeritis. His single Already Free (2008) was featured as the end theme of the Showtime series I Can't Believe I'm Still Single, and was also used in the feature film Drillbit Taylor. A precursor to the HDNet series "Sex, God, Rock 'n Roll" existed in the form of a 12-part web series, The Stuart Davis Show (2007), select episodes of which were co-written with Steven Brill.   Stuart is currently the host of the Aliens and Artists podcast.  Links and Resources  Stuart Davis:  https://www.stuartdavis.com/Aliens & Artists podcast:  https://aliensandartists.podbean.com/Man Meets Mantis:  https://youtu.be/Zi_8W0qCUH0The Art of Is:  https://youtu.be/q3cpAS9xU8o

How do we cultivate robust, ethical, convivial human beings who have access to their full cognitive, emotional, and motivational resources?  How can we better live functional, enjoyable lives, contribute to our societies' health and evolution, keep growing internally, and maximize the potentials of our best states?   Layman is joined by Integral practitioner, author, and therapist, Mark Forman. After discussing Mark's journey to becoming an integral psychotherapist, they explore the unique contributions of Integral Theory to psychology and therapeutic practice, the indispensability of reflective listening, the particular importance of states and stages, shadow work and the unconscious, dream work, the challenge of healthy development in the internet age, and much more.   Dr. Mark Forman provides psychotherapy in San Jose and online throughout California, as well as developmental consulting for individual adults worldwide. He is the founder and lead trainer of the Certified Integral Psychotherapist (CIT) Global Training Program and actively teaches and supervises both therapists and coaches interested in the direct application of Integral Theory.  He is also the organizer of several previous Integral Theory Conferences, and the author of several books on integral psychology.  Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible!  Professional Website www.drmarkforman.com

Drawing inspiration from the Salon des Refusés, the French "exhibition of the rejected," The Integral Stage brings you Salon of the Banned.  In this series, we check in with individuals who have been kicked out, de-platformed, or threatened with suppression in ostensibly advanced philosophical, spiritual, or political discussion forums, or putatively free modern communication media.  In the age of cancel-culture and anti-cancel-culture, we explore the thorny questions of who should be in which conversations, and why?   In Episode 3 of Salon of the Banned, Layman Pascal welcomes systems thinker and Game B co-creator, Jim Rutt, to The Integral Stage to discuss his recent banning from Facebook.  Several weeks prior to this recording, Jim and other administrators of a Game B Facebook group found their accounts suddenly suspended, without warning, explanation, or chance for appeal...until a sizable protest led to their reinstatement.   In the following conversation, Jim talks with Layman about the problematic AI technology likely responsible for these mass bannings; the inability of present-day AI to differentiate ungrounded conspiracy or hate speech from actual thinking; his choice words for Zuckerberg for deploying such indiscriminate hunter-killers; his efforts to create an alternative social media platform based on Game B principles; his history with the origins and evolution of the world wide web and the internet; his work with Jordan Hall and others to create or foster various Game B ventures and communities; his thoughts on religion, spirituality, mystical experience, and consciousness; and much more.   The Jim Rutt Show https://www.jimruttshow.com/

In episode sixteen, Layman Pascal convenes with the six witches of High Pitch -- Bonnitta Roy, Nora Bateson, Ria Baeck, Miriam Mason Martineau, Schuyler Brown, and Ece Utkucan Anderson -- to talk about their new podcast series on the Stoa.  Together they feel into just what it is they are brewing in their magical dialogical cauldron, where boundaries are porous and much of what happens, happens between.   The Stoa's "High Pitch" Series https://youtu.be/YBnG_rsqOEw