Towards a transpersonal psychology of Daoism

Daoism (Taoism) is a collection of Chinese philosophical beliefs and psychospiritual practices with a history of thousands of years, and a living community that stretches throughout East Asia. I will argue that Daoism and its corresponding texts such as those included in the Daozang provide a wealth of material regarding trans-egoic experiences (e.g., unitive absorption in the Dao), that may enhance Western psychologists’ understanding of transpersonal phenomena. Curiously, however, despite the obvious points of intersection between Daoism and transpersonal psychology (e.g., a mutual interest in phenomena typically referred to as altered states of consciousness), to date transpersonal psychologists have neglected to investigate Daoism. Indeed, the majority of published research concerning the relationships between Daoism and Western psychology has been undertaken from within the Jungian analytic and humanistic psychological movements. After reviewing this literature, I will formulate various proposals for future empirical studies that may interest transpersonal psychologists.

Competing ethical paradigms in forensic psychiatry and forensic psychology: commentary for a special section of legal and criminological psychology

In her paper Gwen Adshead (2013) identifies the principle of respect for justice as the foundation for ethical practice in forensic psychiatry. This commentary discusses how forensic psychologists have approached a key aspect of the justice principle, the ethical imperative to promote the welfare of the individual client. The approaches of the psychiatric and psychological professions are compared and the role of psychologists as allied health professionals working in the forensic setting considered.

Barriers and enablers to clinical fieldwork education in rural public and private allied health practice

There is a need to maximise rural clinical fieldwork placement to build health workforce capacity. This study investigated allied health professionals' (AHPs) experience of supervising students as part of work-integrated learning in public and private rural health settings. An anonymous postal questionnaire with 30 questions was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data about the barriers and enablers that AHPs encounter when supervising students in their clinical setting. A total of 113 public and private AHPs from Southwest Victoria, Australia, returned the questionnaire. The AHPs were trained in the disciplines of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, dietetics, podiatry or psychology. The majority of respondents (75%) had previously supervised students. Most respondents had only provided fieldwork education in the public sector. Allied health professionals working in public and private sectors had positive experiences with clinical fieldwork education and often had increased job satisfaction while supervising students. They experienced similar enablers to involvement in clinical fieldwork education programs, however the barriers they encountered were different. The findings highlight the differing issues between rural public and private settings that need to be addressed for successful clinical fieldwork education and work-integrated learning. Strategies to address the identified barriers need to be specific to the work conditions of each setting.

The potential utility of Daoist theory and practice in psychology

This thesis attempted to demonstrate the potential for adaptation from the Chinese philosophical tradition of Daoism into modern psychology. The candidate was able to succesfully demonstrate a link between Daoist thinking style and reduced stress levels, especially in Chinese individuals.