Authors:
Michael (Michelo) DelMonte
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Maeve Halpin
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For most of its very long history, mother Earth was no more than a barren rock floating around in space with the other planets of our solar system. Somehow life evolved and later on, so did consciousness as we know it. Whilst our scientific understanding of the “how” of these remarkable unfoldings blossoms by the day, many metaphysical “why” questions still remain to ponder upon. Increasingly, emerging theories from diverse disciplines are focussing on the concept of evolution, seeing it not just as a biological phenomenon but also as a dynamic, multi-dimensional, and possibly a goal-directed process in which humans can increasingly participate.

In this volume, we distil and synthesise recent developments across a range of inter-related disciplines to present an integrated model of evolution. Advances in cognitive science, philosophy, psychology, systems theory, physics, astronomy and studies of consciousness inform our theorising. In the context of a broad, interdisciplinary approach, we interpret these exciting new findings for the inquisitive reader, illuminating their relevance to our psychotherapeutic journeys and to our perennial quest for meaning and purpose. As psychologists and psychotherapists we have a special interest in consciousness, as this is the very medium of our work.

Following the Introduction this book is divided into four self-contained chapters on evolution, constructivism, mindfulness and symbolisation respectfully. Although they are intentionally inter-related in that they all address the evolution and development of consciousness, they can be read as completely separate entities and in any chosen sequence. Nevertheless, they have been arranged in a developmental order from the Big Bang, the evolution of matter and of life, and onwards to subtler aspects of consciousness, culminating in the topic of symbolisation which is seen as an aspect of social consciousness. Psychodynamic, systemic and constructivist thinking permeates all parts of the book to varying degrees.

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