Ph.D. in Psychology, concentration in Integral Transpersonal Psychology

CIIS’ Integral and Transpersonal Psychology Ph.D. is one of the few programs in the world that offers an online Ph.D. in whole-person approaches to psychology. It is a research-oriented program dedicated to systematic knowledge-building and the advancement of transpersonal psychology.

Whole-person psychologies expand the horizons of conventional Western psychology to include mystical and spiritual experiences that transform human consciousness.

Our approach engages a comprehensive framework that includes the living systems of body, community, society, and the world as interconnected processes of evolution in a living, breathing cosmos. From this perspective, it becomes possible to ask new and compelling research questions that lie close to the heart of what it is to be human.

Our doctoral graduates are trained for professional careers in education and academia, activism and organizing, psychology, and fields related to personal development, social change, and environmental protection. Our faculty have a wide range of research interests, among them: cultural and historical consciousness studies, spiritual experiences, tantric meditation, altered consciousness and unusual/anomalous experiences, neuroscience of hypnosis and meditation, brain architecture and neurorehabilitation, creative process and cognition, and somatic, developmental, psychoanalytic, and trauma-based psychological theories.

Every student at CIIS has the opportunity to transform.

Our distinguished programs are grounded in wellness, healing, social impact, and higher consciousness — and frankly, they are unlike most you will find in higher education today. We offer over 30 programs and professional certificates at the graduate and undergraduate level that span the fields of psychology, philosophy, spirituality, and the social sciences and humanities, while also transcending their disciplines.

Our Professional School of Psychology and Health offers programs in clinical psychology with an emphasis on depth psychology; integral counseling psychology that incorporates the body, mind, and spirit; somatic psychology and therapy, expressive arts therapy, drama therapy, and integrative health studies.

Our School of Consciousness and Transformation provides cutting-edge programs in philosophy, consciousness, and cosmology; ecology, spirituality, and religion; integral and transpersonal psychology, East-West psychology, and transformative leadership. Some programs were the first of their kind, such as our clinical master’s degree program in community mental health and PhD in human sexuality.

Our Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research was the first-ever university-affiliated certificate program, which continues to serve as the gold standard for safe, effective professional training.

Online Learning

CIIS’ online degrees combine personalized learning and state-of-the-art technology to provide a unique learning experience. Our online format allows students from all over the world to learn in an interactive and diverse learning environment, and for faculty to teach seamlessly across platforms and classes.

All of our online degrees (except for Applied Psychology taught in China) start each semester with a residential intensive in the San Francisco Bay Area. While on campus, students join faculty members for three to seven exciting days of workshops, presentations, advising, and collaborative learning. Students then continue their course of study in our multimedia online environment, taught by CIIS faculty – all thought leaders and innovators in their fields.

Mission Statement

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) is an accredited university that strives to embody spirit, intellect, and wisdom in service to individuals, communities, and the earth. CIIS expands the boundaries of traditional degree programs with transdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and applied studies utilizing face-to-face, hybrid, and online pedagogical approaches. Offering a personal learning environment and supportive community, CIIS provides an excellent multifaceted education for people committed to transforming themselves, others, and the world.

What is Integral Education?

Integral refers to understanding the whole of any system. Integral education responds to the growing desire for learning that integrates all aspects of the person: cognitive, emotional, physical, social, cultural, and spiritual. It is about opening the mind, engaging the body, and freeing the spirit to see and be seen. It also more fully facilitates internal transformation, allowing one to reach their potential and put it to use in the world.

Integral studies, as envisioned by CIIS’s founders, unites the highest values of East-West traditions for global impact. Gone are the confines of conventional academic disciplines, which silo students and thought. Instead, ours is an environment open to, and encouraging of, the synthesis of ideas and experience. The freedom to explore is how we forge a more just and resilient world.

The notion of "integral" has been a foundational principle that continues to shape CIIS' unique educational environment. The notion of "integral" has been a foundational principle that continues to shape CIIS' unique educational environment. Learn what integral education has meant to each of the University's eight presidents.

Here's some of what you can do here:

• Explore traditions of knowledge from many cultures and viewpoints, while you experience some of the most forward-looking visions of the future.
• Take courses that offer you expansive ways of looking at the world.
• Benefit from an interdisciplinary model of education.
• Enroll in one-of-a-kind graduate programs in the School of Professional Psychology and Health and the School of Consciousness and Transformation.
• Study online in graduate programs in the groundbreaking fields of Transformative Studies and Transformative Leadership.
• Meet on weekends in the BA completion program in Interdisciplinary Studies with close-knit cohorts.
• Provide therapy to the San Francisco community while interning under the supervision of the experienced clinicians in the CIIS counseling centers.
• Create practicums or capstone projects that immerse you in collaborations with the communities you study.