A practical application of consciousness science to better understand mind / emotion / spirit in modern life
Download the online magazine, “Peak Flow Life” which combines concepts from psychology across the lifespan to better understand consciousness, flow states, and embodied emotional experiences.
Psychological VR Intervention: 2017-2022During my postdoctoral work at RMIT University our team created a burgeoning virtual reality laboratory at the city campus. My PhD student, Marcel Takac, has developed internationally-valid tools for research around the construct of presence, hardware qualification, and meta analyses: Please reach out to him for opportunities in 4th year honors, 5/6th year master’s thesis, and PhD project supervision. Other research projects that have featured at the laboratory include therapeutic pathways (e.g., public speaking confidence, hoarding disorder, emotional regulation) as well as application from cognitive-adjacent fields like mindfulness-VR training and sport psychology skills acquisition.
You can download some of the undergraduate and postgraduate lectures I have given on the topic of embodiment (social neuroscience behind Cartesian dualism) as well as Bayesian approaches to model breakdown in reports of phantom/supernumerary limb, and body dysmorphic syndromes (Oliver Sacks and modern illusions).
My main area of interest is in transpersonal psychology, especially the ego/self axis, as best articulated by Jung, Assagioli, and Washburn. I’m very curious on psychedelic pathways, especially their long-term impacts on neurogenesis and cross-hemispheric harmonization – in the sense of a trans-rational ‘return’ to the Bicameral self. As of late, my colleagues and I have examined the state of the evidence for psychedelics in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). My hope is to further develop theory in this field by grounding it in principles of the entropic mind – recently our international team across UQ, ANU, Melbourne, Monash, and Yale has published on how the entropic brain can be understood via the lens of anxiety avoidance and habituation (i.e., physical organism avoidance of dissolution!).
All of my research/teaching in this topic has been situated in an evolutionary and developmental scope. The lifespan synthesis model I benchmark all curricula against can be downloaded here (a popular student exam preparation request in coursework of lifespan and developmental psychology) – please feel free to print/re-share.
Since completing my honors in psychology in 2011, I have maintained a dataset of over 1,500 people who report out-of-body experiences, including approximately 1,000 case reports collected during my studies as well as another 500 or so informal reports from individuals who have emailed me. The Veridical Mind project, which situates itself in a Spinoza/Deleuze model of ‘pluralism == monism’ is something I hope to develop as an explanation for vivid, verifiable, and transformative OBEs.
aka people who have shaped most how I think about the world…
From theory to practice and controversies, ‘Consciousness Beyond the Body’ provides a rich and up-to-date account of out-of-body states. Anyone with an interest in these mystifying, yet universal experiences, will find this book of great value. I highly recommend it!
internationally renowned clinical hypnotherapist
Alexander has created a superbly well-written book on transcendental consciousness states. I highly suggest this book to anyone who seeks to uncover their highest potential and experience self-transcendence.
author of the book series 'Biology of Kundalini'
like engaging in a fireside chat with a kind, loving friend, delving into deeper self and our most intimate existential queries and angst. I especially appreciate Alexander’s warm, welcoming tone that encourages the tight and broken parts within to let go in the compassionate recognition of the trials of human suffering.
Frederick Aardema Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry at University of Montreal