Stanislav Grof, MD, is a clinical psychiatrist with over 50 years of experience in researching non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by psychedelic substances or experiential psychotherapy. He’s one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology, and the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA).

He was formerly Principal Investigator in a psychedelic research program at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, the Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Scholar-In-Residence at the Esalen Institute.

Stan currently teaches at the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), and through Grof Transpersonal Training (GTT). He writes and gives lectures, seminars, and workshops worldwide.

He is the author of many books, including The Way of the Psychonaut... Psychology of the Future... LSD Psychotherapy... Beyond the Brain... The Cosmic Game... When the Impossible Happens... and co-author with Christina Grof of Holotropic Breathwork... The Stormy Search for the Self... Spiritual Emergency... and Beyond Death. He has also written over 150 scholarly articles.