" Phoenix National Conference is postponed untill 2012"

Phoenix Centre for Holistic and Transpersonal Research

• Holistic and transpersonal healing modalities
• Shamanism
• The therapeutic potential of altered states of consciousness
• Spiritual emergency
• Holistic and transpersonal education
• Psi phenomena (e.g., telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition)

Current Projects:

• Phenomenology of therapeutic ritual.
• Altered states of consciousness and extra-sensory perception: An experimental study.
• Spiritual emergencies, psychosis and personality variables: A pilot study.

Members of center:

Dr Bernie Neville

Research Director

Dr Bernie Neville is Adjunct Professor of Education at La Trobe University where he has been involved for many years in the professional education of both teachers and counsellors. He is the author of Educating Psyche: Emotion, Imagination and the Unconscious in Learning and Olympus Inc: Intervening for Cultural Change in Organizations and numerous papers on Education and Counselling. He is president of the Australian Association for Holistic and Transpersonal Counselling.

Dr Adam Rock

Senior Research Fellow

Dr. Adam Rock is a Founding International Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association, President of the Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research, a Special Topics Editor and Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, an Associate Editor of Anthropology of Consciousness, and an Editorial Board member of the Australian Journal of Parapsychology. Dr. Rock is also the current editor of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia, which is the official PACFA e-Journal. He has published dozens of scholarly articles in prestigious academic journals such as the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Transpersonal Psychology Review, and the Journal of Parapsychology. He has been awarded over $200,000 in research grants. His various books are titled Constructivism and shamanic experiences, Shamanism and psi (with Dr. Lance Storm), and Demystifying shamans and their world (with Professor Stanley Krippner). In addition, he has presented or co-presented over 30 papers or posters at national and international conferences. His research interests include shamanism, altered states, mediumship and psi.

Dr Lance Storm

Senior Research Fellow

Lance Storm earned a B.A. (Honours) in psychology (1998) and a Ph.D. in parapsychology (2002) at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. He has published in Psychological Bulletin, the Journal of Parapsychology, Journal of Scientific Exploration, the Jungian journal Quadrant, and elsewhere. He is a full member of the Parapsychological Association, and the Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research, Inc., of whose journal the Australian Journal of Parapsychology he is current editor. In 2003, he was awarded the Gertrude R. Schmeidler Student of the Year Award by the Parapsychology Association for work in parapsychology, and in 2007 the Parapsychology Foundation honoured him by awarding him the Frances P. Bolton Fellowship. He is the author of the books The Enigma of Numbers (2008) and A Parapsychological Investigation of the Theory of Psychopraxia (2010). He also co-edited the books Parapsychology in the Twenty-First Century (2005), and The Survival of Human Consciousness (2006), and edited the book Synchronicity; Multiple Perspectives on Meaningful Coincidence (2008).

Kylie Harris

 Research Fellow

Kylie is actively involved in transpersonal and para-psychological research and writing projects and is currently completing a PhD under the supervision of Dr Adam Rock. Her thesis is about Spiritual Emergencies and how they relate to clinical psychosis and various personality variables. Drawing upon her own experience, Kylie feels driven to broaden society’s awareness of transcendental phenomena and experiences, particularly as they relate to psychological well-being. Kylie is also an active of member of the spiritualist community and works as a reiki practitioner at The Reiki Garden in Malvern. She is particularly interested in helping people who are experiencing spiritual crises and undergoing deep personal transformation.

Martin Peake

Senior Research Fellow

Martin established Phoenix ten years ago. His vision is to establish a learning community that focuses on psycho-spiritual healing and art based therapies. This also includes developing new and creative healing paradigms that embrace and engage the whole person. Prior to this, Martin lectured and worked as a Senior Consultant at RMIT University and was a researcher for the Australian Drug Foundation. He has an interest in adolescent rites of passage, ethics, shamanism, cross-cultural work and psycho-spiritual approaches to mental health. He was co-founder of the Australian Centre for Archetypal Studies at La Trobe University where he is currently completing his PhD in Transpersonal Counselling Theory and Practice.

Recent publications (click links for full-text PDFs):

Beischel, J., Rock, A. J., & Krippner, S. (2011). Reconceptualizing the field of " Altering Consciousness:” A 50-year retrospective. In E. Cardeña & M. Winkelman (Eds.), Altering Consciousness: A multidisciplinary perspective. Volume 1: History and evolution. Multidisciplinary perspectives. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Rock, A. J., & Krippner, S. (in press). States of consciousness redefined as patterns of phenomenal properties: An experimental application. In D. Cvetkovic & I. Cosic (Eds.), States of consciousness: Experimental insights into meditation, waking, sleep and dreams (The Frontiers Collection).  New York, NY: Springer.

Rock, A. J., & Permezel, F. E. (2010). Randomized expectancy-enhanced placebo-
controlled trial of the impact of Quantum BioEnergetics and Mental Boundaries on affect. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 24(1), 49-66.

Rock, A. J., & Storm, L. (2010). Shamanic-like journeying and psi: II. Mental
boundaries, phenomenology, and the picture-identification task. Australian Journal of Parapsychology, 10(1), 41-68.

Storm, L., & Rock, A. J. (2011). Shamanism and psi: Imagery cultivation as an
alternative to the ganzfeld protocol. Adelaide, SA: Hyde Park Press.

Recent conference presentations:

Rock, A. J., Tann, L., & Peake, M. (accepted). The phenomenology of therapeutic ritual. Paper to be presented at the XIII EUROTAS Transpersonal Conference, Varna, Bulgaria, 2011.

Rock, A. J., & Storm, L. (2010, September). Mental imagery cultivation and auditory driving promote paranormal performance. Poster presented at The Fifth Victorian Transpersonal Psychology Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 2010.

Rock, A. J., & Storm, L. (2010, June). Shamanic-like journeying and paranormal
performance in a picture identification task. Paper presented at the 17th International Transpersonal Conference, Moscow, Russia, 2010.

Beischel, J., & Rock, A. J. (2010, April). A phenomenological pathway to an
empirically driven distinction between survival psi and somatic psi by research mediums. Paper presented at the Toward a Science of Consciousness 2010, Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, 2010.

Rock, A. J., Storm, L., & Cott, C. C. (2010, April). Imagery cultivation and anomalous cognition: An experimental protocol and preliminary data. Poster presented at the Thirty-Seventh Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 2010.

Current grants:

Beischel, J., Rock, A. J., Boccuzzi, M., & Biuso, M. (2011-2012). Somatic psi vs. survival psi: A quantitative investigation of mediums’ phenomenology comparing psychic readings and ostensible communication with the deceased. Bial Foundation ($59,358.15 AUD).

Rock, A. J. (2011). Shamanic-like journeying and psi-hitting: Searching for the psi-
conducive component(s) of a novel experimental protocol. Bial Foundation ($21,584.51 AUD).