Beyond the Brain 2024

Speakers

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  David Lorimer Writer, Lecturer, Poet, Editor
  

  David Lorimer

  Writer, Lecturer, Poet, Editor

  David Lorimer, MA, PGCE, FRSA is a visionary polymath – writer, lecturer, poet and editor who is a Founder of Character Education Scotland, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network  and former President of Wrekin Trust and the Swedenborg Society. David is also the Editor of Paradigm Explorer, and Chair of the Galileo Commission, which seeks the expand the evidence base of science of consciousness beyond a materialistic world view.

  Originally a merchant banker then a teacher of philosophy and modern languages at Winchester College, he is the author and editor of over a dozen books, including Survival? Death as Transition (1984,2017) Resonant Mind (originally Whole in One) (1990/2017), The Spirit of Science (1998), Thinking Beyond the Brain (2001), The Protein Crunch (with Jason Drew) and A New Renaissance (edited with Oliver Robinson). He has edited three books about the Bulgarian sage Beinsa Douno (Peter Deunov): Prophet for our Times (1991, 2015), The Circle of Sacred Dance, and Gems of Love, which is a translation of his prayers and formulas into English. His book on the ideas and work of the Prince of Wales – Radical Prince (2003) – has been translated into Dutch, Spanish and French. His most recent books are A Quest for Wisdom and his collection of poems, Better Light a Candle.

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  Oliver Robinson Professor in Psychology, Author
  

  Oliver Robinson

  Professor in Psychology, Author

  Dr Oliver Robinson is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Greenwich. His research focuses principally on the changes, transformations and transitions of adulthood, and he has written a textbook on this topic entitled Development through Adulthood: An Integrative Sourcebook. He also writes about the relationship between science, philosophy, history and spirituality, and has recently written a book on this topic entitled Paths Between Head and Heart: Exploring the Harmonies of Science and Spirituality. He co-organises an annual conference for the Scientific and Medical Network entitled Beyond the Brain. His interests include painting, meditation, dancing and spending time with his wife and young daughter.

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  Kim Penberthy Clinical Psychologist, Researcher
  

  Kim Penberthy

  Clinical Psychologist, Researcher

  Dr. J. Kim Penberthy, Ph.D., ABPP, is a distinguished clinical psychologist and researcher.  She holds the Chester F. Carlson Professorship in Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine, where she is also a member of the Division of Perceptual Studies. Her research and clinical work focus on mindfulness, contemplative practices, and their applications in treating chronic illnesses, addictions, and mental health disorders. She also researches altered states of consciousness and extraordinary experiences such and near death and out of body experiences and after death communications. Throughout her career, Dr. Penberthy has integrated contemplative practices into her therapeutic approach. She has developed and tested innovative interventions for various conditions, including a contemplative intervention for patients with lupus, aimed at improving both psychological and physiological outcomes. Dr. Penberthy has also contributed significantly to the field through her work on the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) and her research on mindfulness-based therapies for smoking cessation and other addictions. In addition to her clinical and research work, Dr. Penberthy is dedicated to education and has published extensively. She has co-authored books, including “Living Mindfully Across the Lifespan: An Intergenerational Guide,” and has presented her findings at conferences worldwide. Her contributions to psychology have been recognized with numerous awards, including being named the Virginia Psychologist of the Year in 2023. Dr. Penberthy’s holistic approach to treatment emphasizes the importance of addressing both the mind and body, and she is committed to advancing the use of contemplative practices in healthcare to enhance overall well-being. This includes exploring extraordinary experiences such as near death experiences, after death experiences, and other mystical and transcendent experiences to understand the implications for theories of consciousness, as well as, the impact on health and wellbeing in those who experience them.

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  Vasileios Basios Physicist, Senior researcher
  

  Vasileios Basios

  Physicist, Senior researcher

  Dr Vasileios Basios is a physicist, conducting interdisciplinary research on the foundations of complexity science and nonlinear systems, self-organization and complex matter. During his formative years, he was tutored by Ilya Prigogine (Nobel Laureate) at the Solvay Institutes in ULB and by Emilios Bouratinos on meditation and philosophy. He is interested in the complex interface between action and information and the history of ideas in science and their role in the transformation of science beyond the prevailing naïve materialistic reductionistic world-view. With others from PEAR Lab, he initiated the Mind-Matter-Mapping Project and has since published essays for ICRL where he now serves as a Trustee. He is a member of the Board of the Scientific and Medical Network and the Steering Team of the Galileo Commission.

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  Marjorie Woollacott Researcher, Author
  

  Marjorie Woollacott

  Researcher, Author

  Marjorie Woollacott, PhD is an Emeritus Professor of Human Physiology, and member of the Institute of Neuroscience, at the University of Oregon. She was chair of the Human Physiology Department for seven years. In addition to teaching courses on neuroscience and rehabilitation, she taught courses on complementary and alternative medicine and meditation. She is Research Director for the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS) and is President of the Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences (AAPS). 

  Marjorie has published more than 200 scientific articles and written or co-edited eight books. Her latest book, Infinite Awareness describes her research as a neuroscientist with her self-revelations about the mind’s spiritual power. Between the scientific and spiritual worlds, she breaks open the definition of human consciousness to investigate the existence of a non-physical and infinitely powerful mind. She is Co-Chair of the Galileo Commission, co-editor of Spiritual Awakenings and an Honorary Member of the SMN.

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  Bruce Greyson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences
  

  Bruce Greyson

  Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences

  Bruce Greyson, MD is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a co-founder and President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies and Editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies.

  His research for the past four decades has focused on near-death experiences and particularly their after-effects and implications. His academic work has been translated into twenty languages and used in hundreds of studies worldwide. Dr Greyson has published more than a hundred scholarly articles about near-death experiences and gives regular addresses at international conferences on the matter. ‘AFTER’ is his first book to bring his ground-breaking research to general readers.

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  Federico Faggin Physicist, Engineer, Inventor, Entrepreneur
  

  Federico Faggin

  Physicist, Engineer, Inventor, Entrepreneur

  Federico Faggin received a Laurea degree in Physics, summa cum laude, from the University of Padua, Italy, in 1965, and moved to Silicon Valley in 1968. He developed the MOS Silicon Gate Technology in 1968; the world’s first microprocessor, the Intel 4004 in 1971, and several highly successful microprocessors, like the Intel 8080 and the Z80 produced by Zilog, his first startup company. Faggin was CEO of several high-tech startup companies he founded and directed since 1974. He is currently president of Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation, dedicated to the science of consciousness. Faggin has received many international awards, including the 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, from President Barack Obama. In 2021 he published his autobiography Silicon.

• 

  Joan Borysenko Psychologist, Cell Biologist
  

  Joan Borysenko

  Psychologist, Cell Biologist

  Joan Borysenko, PhD is a world-renowned expert in the mind-body connection. A licensed psychologist and a Harvard-trained cell biologist, Joan synthesizes cutting edge science with deep humanity. A New York Times bestselling author of 17 books and numerous audio programs for meditation and stress management, Joan’s work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, on Public Television, and on many websites. Dr. Borysenko’s warmth and credibility plus her lively sense of humour make her one the most popular and sought-after speakers in the fields of health, healing, and spirituality. Joan’s work integrates science, positive psychology, spirituality and epigenetics in a deeply inspiring and uplifting way. President of Mind-Body Health Sciences, LLC, Joan lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband, Gordon Dveirin, EdD and their two standard poodles, Mitzi and Lola. Find out more at www.joanborysenko.com or join the lively conversation at www.facebook.com/joanborysenkocommunity.

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  Gary Lachman author of several books about consciousness, culture, and the Western esoteric tradition
  

  Gary Lachman

  author of several books about consciousness, culture, and the Western esoteric tradition

  GARY LACHMAN is the author of twenty-two books on consciousness, culture, and the western esoteric tradition including Lost Knowledge of the Imagination, The Secret Teachers of the Western World, The Quest for Hermes Trimegistus, and Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius.

  He writes for several journals in the US, UK and Europe, his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he lectures around the world.

  In a former life Lachman was a founding member of the pop group Blondie and in 2006 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He can be reached at www.garylachman.co.uk

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  Edi Bilimoria Engineer, Pianist, Author
  

  Edi Bilimoria

  Engineer, Pianist, Author

  Born in India and educated at the universities of London, Sussex and Oxford, Edi Bilimoria presents an unusual blend of experience in the fields of science, the arts and philosophy.

  A student of the perennial philosophy for over half a century, Edi has published extensively in the disciplines of science, engineering and the esoteric philosophy. In 2007, his book The Snake and the Rope was awarded the Book Prize by the Scientific and Medical Network (SMN). In 2023, his four-volume work Unfolding Consciousness: Exploring the Living Universe and Intelligent Powers in Nature and Humans was awarded the SMN’s Grand Prize. Edi serves as an Advisor to Board, a Trustee of the SMN, and an Adviser to the Galileo Commission of the Network. He is also a Trustee and a Council Member of the Francis Bacon Society.

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  Les Lancaster Professor
  

  Les Lancaster

  Professor

  Prof Les Lancaster is a Founding Director and Dean of the Alef Trust. He is Professor Emeritus of Transpersonal Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, an Honorary Research Fellow in Religions and Theology, University of Manchester, UK, and Associated Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, US. He has previously served as Chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, as President of the International Transpersonal Association, and as a Board member of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. Les’ research interests focus on the cognitive neuroscience of consciousness and the connections between this topic and mysticism, specifically focusing on Kabbalistic Psychology. His published works include The essence of kabbalah and Approaches to consciousness: The marriage of science and mysticism.

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  Jessica Bockler PhD, Deputy CEO
  

  Jessica Bockler

  PhD, Deputy CEO

  Jessica Bockler, PhD is an applied performance artist, a transpersonal psychologist and a co-founding director of the Alef Trust. She serves as Deputy CEO and works across Alef Trust’s academic and applied portfolios. Jessica specialises in integral theory, creativity, transpersonal research methods, and the application of transpersonal psychology in service of paradigm change and global regeneration. Jessica is the lead of Alef Trust’s Conscious Community Initiative and the Nurturing the Fields of Change programme, which supports an international community of change facilitators in their projects for social transformation. She is an academic advisor for the Inner Development Goals initiative which aims to promote inner work to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She is also a member of the UN’s Conscious Food Systems Alliance and an active researcher in the network of the Presencing Institute exploring awareness-based systems change. She is on the editorial board for the International Journal of Presencing Leadership & Coaching, and she acts as a reviewer for the Journal of Awareness-based Systems Change.

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  Shulamit Elson Healer, Mentor, Spiritual Teacher
  

  Shulamit Elson

  Healer, Mentor, Spiritual Teacher

  Shulamit Elson is a profoundly gifted healer, mentor and spiritual teacher. She guides individuals in the use of the vibration of their own voices to a deepening self-awareness and an expanded consciousness using MediSounds®, a powerful meditative practice based on an ancient system described in 13th century literature.

  She offers a revelatory connection to other worlds, and enables an insight into the interconnection of all things, bringing the peerless gift of joyous living.

  Shulamit works with private clients throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Holy Land, and she has taught at seminars and workshops in venues as diverse as Esalen and Omega Institutes, as well as Tibet House, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and the Ronald McDonald House in New York City.

  She is the author of the highly acclaimed book Kabbalah of Prayer~Sacred Sounds and the Soul’s Journey, published by Anthroposophic Press, and is the creator of several apps to encourages sleep, as well the audio CD Vibration ~ Shulamit & the Drepung Gomang Monks. She holds an MA and a BA from New York University.

  Visit www.shulamitelson.com and www.greatoctave.com for more information and YouTube.com/@medisounds for audio and video clips.

• Deborah Erickson Dr
  Deborah Erickson

  Dr
• 

  Kristin Hoffmann Singer, Conscious musician, Producer
  

  Kristin Hoffmann

  Singer, Conscious musician, Producer

  Kristin Hoffmann is a Juilliard trained singer, conscious musician, and producer. A strong advocate for peace and Earth/Ocean conservation, Kristin opens sonic-emotional heart spaces in which powerful new awareness, connection and healing can flourish. She works regularly with other thought leaders and change-makers to amplify important wisdom for our times through the powerful vehicle of music.

  Kristin trained in opera with acclaimed teachers Lorraine Nubar and Zehava Gal and composition with Rob Mathes and Behzad Ranjbaran. After spending multiple years in her early career on major labels, Capitol Records and Interscope Records, Kristin concluded that in order to be in highest alignment with her life’s mission, she would need to think outside of the traditional music industry box and embark on a road less travelled. Fascinated with music’s regenerative and transformational capabilities, she went on to study with French sound healing pioneer, Fabian Maman, and in most recent years with legendary harmonic overtone singer, Timothy Hill (of the Harmonic Choir).

  Kristin has performed throughout the world, from environmental concerts to peace symposiums. Her Song for the Ocean was performed at Sydney Opera House by a choir of 800 Australian children. She is currently an active member of The Evolutionary Leaders, and a musical ambassador for the organization UNITY EARTH.

  Most recently, Kristin composed and produced the new anthem for The Holomovement, supporting radical collaboration in action, and welcomed a brand-new album into the world entitled, RainShine ~ Sonic Alchemy for Soul Awakening. She hosts an inspirational online event on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 6pm ET called SONIC SOUL FAMILY GATHERINGS, combining live music and deep dialogue around a theme. All are invited to join by becoming a “Core Member” on her website: https://kristinhoffmann.com

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  Stuart Kauffman MD, PhD, FRSC
  

  Stuart Kauffman

  MD, PhD, FRSC

  Prof Stuart Kauffman MD, PhD, FRSC (Canada) is an American theoretical biologist and complex systems researcher who studies the origin of life on Earth. Kauffman graduated from Dartmouth in 1960, was awarded the BA (Hons) by Oxford University (where he was a Marshall Scholar) in 1963, and completed a medical degree (MD) at the University of California, San Francisco in 1968. After completing his residency in Emergency Medicine, he moved into developmental genetics of the fruit fly, genetic regulatory networks, and origin of life, holding appointments first at the University of Chicago 1969-1973, National Cancer Institute 1973-1975, then at the University of Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1995, where he served as Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Kauffman held a MacArthur Fellowship, 1987–1992. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He also holds an Honorary Degree in Science from the University of Louvain; and was awarded a Gold Medal of the Accademia Lincea in Rome.

  Recently, Kauffman and Andrea Roli have published “The World is Not a Theorem”, in Entropy (2021), and “A Third Transition in Science?”, J. Roy. Soc. Interface 4/14/2023, maintaining that the evolving biosphere is a propagating construction, not an entailed deduction, and that no mathematics based on set theory can be used to deduce the diachronic emergence of adaptations in evolution. The implication is that there can be no Final Theory that entails the becoming of the universe. Dr. Kauffman has published over 400 articles and 6 books: The Origins of Order (1993), At Home in the Universe (1995), Investigations (2000), Reinventing the Sacred (2008), Humanity in a Creative Universe (2016) and A World Beyond Physics (2019). He is an Honorary Member of the Scientific and Medical Network.

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  Mary Neal Surgeon
  

  Mary Neal

  Surgeon

  Dr. Mary C. Neal is a board-certified orthopaedic spine surgeon who drowned while kayaking on a South American river. She experienced life after death. She went to heaven and back, conversed with Jesus and experienced God’s encompassing love. She was returned to Earth with some specific instructions for work she still needed to do. Her life has been one filled with miracles and intervention of God. Her story gives reason to live by faith and is a story of hope.

  Dr. Neal was born and raised in Michigan and graduated from the University of Kentucky before attending the UCLA medical school. She completed her orthopaedic surgery training at the University of Southern California after which she lived in Sweden, Switzerland, and Los Angeles while undergoing 1 1/2 years of specialty training in spinal surgery before becoming the Director of spine surgery at USC. Five years later, she left the University for private practice.

  She currently lives and works in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where she and her family enjoy everything the outdoor world offers, especially all forms of skiing, bicycling, boating, and hiking.

• 

  Marieta Pehlivanova PhD
  

  Marieta Pehlivanova

  PhD

  Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences within the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Marieta earned her PhD in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from American University. Her research primarily focuses on near-death experiences and children who report past-life memories. She is interested in various aspects of these experiences, including factors contributing to their occurrence, their effects on individuals, cross-cultural comparisons, and the development of support resources for those who undergo such experiences within healthcare settings.

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  Gregory Shushan PhD, Author
  

  Gregory Shushan

  PhD, Author

  Gregory Shushan, PhD, is the author of Near-Death Experiences in Indigenous Religions (winner of the Parapsychological Association Book Award), The Next World: Extraordinary Experiences of the Afterlife, and Near-Death Experience in Ancient Civilizations (forthcoming from Inner Traditions), and editor of Mind Dust and White Crows: The Psychical Research of William James. Dr Shushan is Visiting Research Fellow at University of Winchester’s Centre for Death, Religion and Culture, Adjunct Professor in Thanatology at Marian University, Research Fellow of the Parapsychology Foundation, and candidate for a second PhD at Newman University, Birmingham, with a project on near-death experience in Classical antiquity. He is also the founder and commissioning editor of Afterworlds Press, an imprint of White Crow Books.

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  Marina Weiler Assistant Professor, Neuroscientist
  

  Marina Weiler

  Assistant Professor, Neuroscientist

  Marina Weiler is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), University of Virginia. She’s a trained neuroscientist with a background in neuroimaging, brain stimulation, and basic neuroscience. Marina’s contributions to the field have earned her prestigious awards from institutions such as Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil), the Brazilian Academy of Neurology, the National Institutes of Health (NIH, U.S.), the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Research.

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  Marc Wittmann PhD
  

  Marc Wittmann

  PhD

  Marc Wittmann, Ph.D., studied Psychology and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich, Germany. He received his Ph.D. (1997) and his Habilitation (2007) at the Institute of Medical Psychology, Medical School, University of Munich. Between 2004 and 2009 he was Research Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego. Since 2009 he has been employed at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Freiburg, Germany. His research in the field of Cognitive Neuroscience is focused on the perception of time in ordinary states of consciousness, such as related to cognition, emotion and bodily feelings, as well as in altered states of consciousness such as induced through meditation, Floatation-REST, and psychedelics. He is author of the books Felt Time (2016) and Altered States of Consciousness (2018), both published by MIT Press.

• 

  Adrian Parker Professor
  

  Adrian Parker

  Professor

  Prof. Adrian Parker is a clinical psychologist educated at the Tavistock Clinic and with a medical education from the University of Gothenburg where he is now professor emeritus. While the recipient of the Perrot Warrick Scholarship from Trinity College Cambridge, he became the first at Edinburgh University to gain a doctorate with a thesis on psychic phenomena and altered states of consciousness. This led him to being a co-founder (with Charles Honorton and William Braud) of the now standard laboratory technique for inducing dream-onset states known as the ganzfeld technique.

  Having received state funding, he went on to develop the current “state of the art” version of the technique whereby remarkable correspondences between dream imagery and external events are recorded in real time. Adrian has a wide interest in altered states of consciousness, medical psychology and the mind-body relationship. He is author of the book States of Mind and co-author with Annekatrin Puhole of Shakespeare’s Ghost Live. He received in 2014 the Gothenburg Student Award in Pedagogics for teaching open-minded scepticism and in 2019 was an Axel Munthe scholar at San Michele, Capri. Adrian is currently the President of the Society for Psychical Research and is on the faculty of the Scandinavian International University, Örebro, as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

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  Ellis Linders Core Faculty Member
  

  Ellis Linders

  Core Faculty Member

  Ellis Linders PhD was born in the Netherlands and lives in the UK. She trained as a theatre-maker at Dartington College of Art, then worked as a holistic therapist, before embarking on an MSc in Consciousness Studies and Transpersonal Psychology followed by doctoral studies at Liverpool John Moores University. She is a Core Faculty Member with the Alef Trust. Her particular areas of interest are contemporary spirituality, the meaning of spiritual self-agency, spiritual emergency, the role of embodiment in spirituality, and the Sacred Feminine. These concerns are born from her personal experiences, specifically after undergoing an extended period of spiritual emergency in her mid-thirties. Her principal inquiry both in relation to research and in her teaching-approach concerns the complexities involved in finding a meaningful spirituality that meet the unique needs of the individual whilst being relevant and in service to the Collective. Central to this inquiry is how we might evaluate spiritual pathways which are outside the norm or possibly newly emerging, and whether our understanding of what spirituality means and what purpose it serves is changing, or needs to change, to meet the challenges of our life and world.

• David Furlong Dr
  David Furlong

  Dr

  David Furlong graduated with a BA (Honors) Open Degree (UK), an MSc (Distinction) in Consciousness, Spirituality, and Transpersonal Psychology (UK), and a PhD inTranspersonal Counselling (USA). With a lifelong interest in transpersonal and psychic experiences, he is the author of six books, including The Healer Within, Healing Your Ancestral Patterns, Develop Your Intuition and Psychic Powers, and Illuminating the Shadow. He is one of the founding tutors of the College of Healing established in 1981, and has been running inner development, healing, and meditational training courses since the mid-seventies. Trained in regression therapy, his current therapeutic practice focuses on helping clients to process and clear disturbing anomalous psychic, emotional, and transpersonal experiences, often stemming from childhood trauma. Additionally, he is currently engaged in a PhD research study into hypnotic regression therapy through Liverpool John Moore’s University and Alef Trust.

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  Tadas Stumbrys PhD
  

  Tadas Stumbrys

  PhD

  Tadas Stumbrys PhD is Assistant Director for Research and a Core Faculty Member at Alef Trust, and Associate Professor in Psychology at Vilnius University (Lithuania). He is the Editor of Alef Trust’s scholarly journal Consciousness, Spirituality & Transpersonal Psychology. Tadas served on the Board of Directors for the International Association for the Study of Dreams and is currently a Board Member of Lithuanian Association for Mindfulness-Based Psychology. He holds an MSc in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology from Liverpool John Moores University (UK) and a PhD from Heidelberg University (Germany). Tadas’ research interests span the fields of dreams, consciousness, mindfulness, and transpersonal psychology, with a particular focus on the phenomenon of lucid dreaming and its potentials for self-development and growth. He contributed over 30 journal articles on this topic.