Tending Soul in Connection with Spirit: A Depth Psychological Inquiry into Transcendence and Spiritual Bypassing

This thesis explores the psychological impact of transcendence and how its shadow can be integrated. Through hermeneutic and heuristic methodology, this thesis discusses the meaning and significance of transcendence through the lens of depth psychology with acknowledgement of spiritual and philosophical perspectives. This thesis draws upon concepts explored by scholars including Carl Jung, James Hillman, Joan Chodorow, Ann Ulanov, Sherry Salman, Jeffrey Miller, Lionel Corbett, John Welwood, and Chogyam Trungpa. This work includes reflections on the difference between the transcendent function and transcendent experiences. Transcendence can be transformative, but it can result in denial, dissociation, and delusion, which should be given attention by mental health clinicians. The process of integration is highly important to psychological health, and although the concept of the transcendent function accounts for this, integration is not a guaranteed result of transcendence