Skip to main content

Grof, Stanislav, 1931-

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: July 1, 1931-

Biographical Information

Stanislav (Stan) Grof, noted psychiatrist, author, consciousness researcher, and pioneer of transpersonal psychology, was born on July 1, 1931 in Prague, Czechoslovakia to Stanislav (a chemical engineer) and Maria Petnik Grof. Heavily influenced by the works of Freud early in his studies, Grof was inspired to become a psychiatrist and earned an M.D. at the Charles University School of Medicine in Czechoslovakia in 1956, and a Ph.D. at the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in 1965. Dr. Grof’s interest in the clinical use of psychedelic substances was spurred in the 1960s when the Sandoz pharmaceutical company approached the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, requesting that studies be conducted on LSD-25 in order to ascertain whether or not the substance had therapeutic properties.  Grof subsequently volunteered to participate in a research program which explored LSD as a tool for experiential training, allowing psychiatrists and psychologists to experience the “inner-world” of psychotic patients.  He eventually became principal investigator of this program, and has gone on to devote his career to examining the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. In 1967, he was invited to Johns Hopkins University as a research scientist, and in 1969 continued on at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center where he served as Chief of Psychiatric Research and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.  In 1973, Grof became a scholar-in-residence at the Esalen Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to the exploration of human potential in Big Sur, California.  While there, he authored books, lectured, and developed Holotropic Breathwork, an innovative form of experiential psychotherapy, with his wife Christina. Dr. Grof is also the founder and president of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), and has organized major international conferences on transpersonal psychology. Grof’s major fields of research interest include therapeutic and heuristic aspects of non-ordinary states of consciousness, the use of psychedelics and non-drug techniques in psychotherapy, alternative approaches to psychoses, spiritual emergency and treatment of transpersonal crises, biology, brain research, and consciousness studies.  He also maintains interests in other non-ordinary states of consciousness such as shamanism, Eastern spiritual systems, mysticism, the rites of passage of aboriginal cultures, and near-death experiences. Dr. Grof is a Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, and also teaches in the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. In October 2007, Dr. Grof received a VISION 97 award granted by the Foundation of Dagmar and Vaclav Havel in Prague.  The foundation’s mission supports cultural and social projects with the potential to bring meaningful change to the future. Dr. Grof has written extensively on LSD and its use in psychotherapy and about other methods and types of psycho-spiritual work.

Chronology:
Chronology
July 1, 1931
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia; son of Stanislav Grof and Maria Petnik Grof.
1950-1956
Student at the Charles University School of Medicine, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
1954-1956
Participation in clinical LSD research and the study of artistic expression of psychiatric patients.
1956-1959
Psychiatric residency at the State Mental Hospital in Kosmonosy, near Prague.
1957-1960
Participating researcher in a multidimensional dynamic study of psychedelic drugs and anticholinergic delirogens in the Research Institute in Prague.
1959-1960
Outpatient Psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Clinic of the National Institute of Health, Prague.
1961-1967
Principle Investigator in a psychedelic research program at Psychiatric Research Institute, Prague, Czechoslovakia. Also involved in a team studying the mechanisms of psychogenic disorders and psychotherapy.
1965
Completes postgraduate training at the Czecho-slovakian Academy of Science, recieves Ph.D. degree (Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine).
1967-1969
Clinical and research fellow, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
1967-1973
Chief of Psychiatric Research, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Catonsville, MD. Assistant professor of Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
1973-1987
Scholar-in-residence at the Esalan Institute in Big Sur, CA.
1987-
Self-employed, conducting professional training in Holotropic Breathwork and transpersonal psychology, lecturing, and writing.
1994-
Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), Institute of Psychology, Cosmology, and Consciousness, San Francisco, CA.

Found in 30 Collections and/or Records:

Stanislav Grof papers, addition 24

 Unprocessed Material — Box Box 1
Identifier: 20140523
Dates: circa 1950s - 2014

Stanislav Grof papers, addition 25

 Unprocessed Material — Box 1
Identifier: 20140822

Stanislav Grof papers, addition 28

 Unprocessed Material — Box Communal Accession 41
Identifier: 20181101
Dates: 1965 - 2018; Majority of material found within 2015 - 2017

“The Experimental Use of Psychedelic (LSD) Psychotherapy” by Walter N. Pahnke, Albert A. Kurland, Sanford Unger, Charles Savage, and Stanislav Grof (Reprint from the Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 212, Number 11), 1970

 Item — Box 1, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 69, File 2, Item 10
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The Sanford Unger papers (1961-1974; 0.2 cubic feet) contains writings exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The collection also contains the correspondence between Aldous and Laura Huxley and Sanford Unger, and an excerpt from the 1966 CBS Reports feature, “LSD The Spring Grove Experiment.”

Dates: 1970

"The Experimental Use of Psychedelic (LSD) Psychotherapy," International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Therapy, and Toxicocology, Vol. 4, 1971

 Item — Box 1: Series MSP 1, Series 1; Series MSP 1, Series 2; Series MSP 1, Series 3, Folder: 2
Identifier: MSP 1, Series 1, Sub-Series 2, Item 51
Scope and Contents

Co-authored with Walter Pahnke, A.A. Kurland, Sanford Unger, and Charles Savage.

Dates: 1971