Institute of Transpersonal Psychology Issues Statement Condemning Use of Torture
Palo Alto, CA -------- The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) issued a statement today condemning the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners.
“As an organization that values the inherent unity of our world, and values love, empathy, and concern for the welfare of all, we are strongly moved to speak out against the use of torture in any form, under any circumstances,” declared ITP President, Dr. Thomas Potterfield. “We stand with and commend the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association for their strong positions against the use of torture, and with the American Psychological Association for its detailed listing of abuses that shows we have not forgotten the lessons of the past..”
A member of the ITP faculty, Dr. Marius Koga, is himself a former political prisoner and torture survivor from Communist Romania who has worked for several years with Bosnian war refugees suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders. Dr. Koga explains, “It has taken many years of personal transformation and healing to make the journey from being a political refugee traumatized by imprisonment and torture to a place of insight in cross-cultural and transpersonal psychology.” Dr. Koga is working with a number of other ITP faculty members on the development of a treatment center for trauma victims that is grounded in the theories and practices of transpersonal psychology.
About The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology
ITP is a private, non-sectarian graduate school accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. For over 30 years the Institute has remained a leader at the forefront of psychological research
and education, probing the mind, body, spirit connection. The Institute's challenging and transformative educational program attracts students from around the world.
What is Transpersonal Psychology?
Transpersonal Psychology is a specialization of general psychology that extends psychological studies into consciousness studies, spiritual inquiry, and body-mind relationships. Transpersonal Psychology encompasses the full range of human experience, from abnormal behavior to healthy normal functioning, to spiritually embodied and transcendent consciousness.
The Mission of ITP
Through disciplined scholarly inquiry into the frontiers of spirituality and psychology, ITP seeks to foster the development of individuals, organizations, and societies toward their fuller potential for wisdom, health and wholeness.
For more information: Institute of Transpersonal Psychology www.itp.edu.
