Integral Transformative Practice

Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) is an approach to personal growth and transformation that grew out of a two year experimental study conducted in 1992 and 1993 by George Leonard, then president of Esalen Institute, and Michael Murphy, Co-Founder and then Chairman of Esalen Institute. Leonard and Murphy describe ITP as “…a long term program for realizing the potential of body, mind, heart, and soul.” The Esalen catalog describes ITP as “…a comprehensive, systematic, holistic approach to personal transformation.”
History
George Leonard and Michael Murphy met on Feb 2, 1965, gave name to the Human Potential Movement, and continued to work closely together until Leonard’s death in 2010.
In 1991 George Leonard published his book “Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long Term Fulfillment” and Michael Murphy was finishing his book “The Future of the Body: Explorations into the Further Evolution of Human Nature” a 600+ page study of documented, extraordinary human functioning, and practices that can foster these capacities. Leonard and Murphy decided they wanted to create a program, or practice, for “householders” that people could incorporate into their busy, everyday lives.
Leonard and Murphy’s research, and experiences at Esalen, led them to believe that personal transformation is best achieved through a coherent set of long term “integral theory” practices, or practices that involved all aspects of a person including development of one’s body, mind, emotional capacities, including interpersonal skills, and practices such as meditation, often associated with spiritual traditions, that had been empirically shown to have positive benefits.
In January 1992 Leonard and Murphy commenced their study and assembled the first ITP group, which met Saturdays for two years. Leonard and Murphy published the results of the study, and guidelines for following the Integral Transformative Practice program they developed, in their 1995 book “The Life We Are Given.” At the conclusion of the study many of the study’s participants decided to continue follow the ITP program and meet weekly as a group. Several other ITP groups subsequently formed, following the program as outlined in “The Life We Are Given.” The original group, Community ITP, is still active in its 23rd year.
In 2004 ITP International, a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit corporation, was formed to support ITP practitioners and groups, and to offer public and corporate programs, conferences, and coaching.
Research
In addition to the original study, Leonard and Murphy’s ITP program has been the subject of research studies conducted by The Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Sonoma State University, and The Institute of Noetic Sciences. All of these studies verified positive results from following the ITP program. Stanford’s Dr. Frederic Luskin said of the of Stanford study, “The results show that at the end of the year the ITP participants demonstrated measurable gains in reaction time, short- and long-term memory, reasoning ability, and global cognitive processing.”
* “Integral Transformative Practice” is a registered trademark owned by ITP International.
Bibliography/references:
1. The Life We Are Given
2. Esalen Catalog, Jan - June, 2004
3. Peter Friedberg Article
4. Jeffrey J. Kripal, Esalen: American and the Religion of No Religion
5. IONS study results
6. Original study results
7. ITP groups
8. Formation of ITPI

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