2.

4 Transpersonal and Integral Psychology

This section is divided into two smaller chapters. First comes a short presentation
of contemporary intersubjective and relational theories on transpersonal states,
including the concept of ‘surrender’, which is relevant for the study of strong
experiences in music therapy. Then follows a short introduction to the American
philosopher Ken Wilber and his ‘integral psychology’, a coherent theoretical
contribution to the understanding of psychological developmental processes, from
the very basic to the most unfamiliar and enigmatic.

2.4.1 Intersubjectivity and ‘Surrender’

Katarina Mårtenson Blom

The process of surrender and mental health

The concept of surrender (in Swedish: överlåtelse) is historically rooted in religion
and the psychology of religion, frequently occurring in all religious traditions, and
characterising a crucial state or step on paths towards transcendence and spiritual
development (Geels and Wikström 1999). In that sense, surrender as a phenomenon
can be found universally in the religious traditions of most cultures (Eliade 1957, 1987).
Within psychology and psychotherapy, surrender as a psychological concept
has been illuminated by relational psychoanalysts and psychotherapists (Benjamin
1995, 1998; Ghent 1990; Mitchell and Aron 1999; Sanders 2002). There is a growing
awareness of how people searching psychotherapy often carry a deep longing for
transcendence, embedded in their problems and sufferings. The intersubjective
turn in psychotherapy has brought forth how intersubjectivity and subjectivity
challenge a more traditional Western concept of individuality and autonomy. Ghent
Copyright © 2019. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. All rights reserved.

and Benjamin have contributed through stating how genuine subjectivity rests on
the relational mode of receiving or giving in to ‘the third’, something transcending
the self. The capacity to do so enhances mental health (Ghent 1990). Emmanuel
Ghent writes:
In many people in our culture the wish for surrender remains buried; in some it is
expressed in creative and productive ways, and in others its derivatives appear in
pathological form, deflected away from normal channels by that most unwelcome
price-tag: dread. (Ghent 1990, p.219)
Within the field of relational psychotherapy (Benjamin 1998; DeNora 2007; Mitchell
2000; Mitchell and Aron 1999), the central issue concerns how therapists and

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A Comprehensive Guide to Music Therapy, 2nd Edition : Theory, Clinical Practice, Research and Training, edited by Stine Lindahl Jacobsen, et al.,
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ualberta/detail.action?docID=5751478.
Created from ualberta on 2023-10-25 05:09:04.