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Centre for the Ecology of Human Transformation

An initiative for consciousness, cultural renewal, and regenerative futures

Research Fellowships →
Explore the Field Atlas
In partnership with
the Global Conscious Food Systems Summit, Bhutan

Global Inquiry into Conscious Food Systems

We are convening dialogues in five world regions to explore what it will take for food systems to support human and planetary flourishing. The inquiry forms part of our wider exploration of the ecology of human transformation.
Join the Conversation →
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Centre for the Ecology of Human Transformation

About

The Centre for the Ecology of Human Transformation explores how life-affirming transformations emerge, take root, and endure in people, organisations, and communities.
 
Across education, health, food systems, governance and economics, many people are working to create healthier futures. Yet transformation efforts are often difficult to sustain. Valuable projects remain at the margins. Promising initiatives fragment and lose momentum. Institutions revert to familiar patterns. 
 
We believe this is because transformation does not happen in isolation. 
 
The ways people think, relate, and act are shaped by wider social, cultural, economic, and ecological conditions. Just as living systems depend on relationships that support thriving, meaningful changes in human systems depend on the wider ecologies within which they unfold.
 
Established by Alef Trust, the Centre brings together researchers, practitioners and educators in communities of practice to explore how consciousness, culture, ecology, and human systems interact. Through collaborative research and praxis, we seek to understand the often-invisible conditions that support human and planetary flourishing.
We ask
01
What conditions foster generative ways of being and doing?
02
Why do some initiatives remain fragile while others gain wider traction?
03
How do our beliefs, values and shared narratives shape our world?
04
What kinds of spiritual, relational, and organisational practices support life-affirming futures?
The Centre does not offer fixed frameworks or solutions. It serves as a space for shared inquiry into the deeper dynamics of transformation, and it aims to provide broader contextual intelligence and thought leadership to help meaningful change take root and endure.
Open invitation
Two rotating places

Stewardship Circle

The Centre for the Ecology of Human Transformation is currently forming its inaugural Stewardship Circle, a small group helping to cultivate the vision of the Centre. Alongside invited members, we are opening two rotating places through public contribution.

We see the Stewardship Circle as a space for cultivating collective imagination, discernment, and action. Therefore we are not putting out a traditional call for applications — instead we invite your creative contributions. We want to honour diverse perspectives grounded in lived experience and transdisciplinary expertise.

We invite you to become a member of the Stewardship Circle.

To join, visit the Google Form below and answer this question:

What is the wisdom of the invisible?

Many of the forces shaping human life are difficult to perceive and investigate: emotional climates, inherited narratives, unspoken assumptions, relational dynamics, embodied knowing, ecological interdependence, collective imagination, ancestral memory, spiritual experience, and the many more subtle ways human beings affect one another and are moved by the more-than-human world.
At a time when societies are searching for new ways forward, we invite you to share reflections on the wisdom of the invisible. We invite short written submissions, which can be in the following formats, no more than 500 words in length:
micro essay
poem(s)
short story
field notes
micro case study
The Stewardship Circle is intended as a lightly held space for reflection and collective imagination around the Centre’s evolving work. Circle members will participate in three online gatherings per year (90 minutes each), alongside other occasional opportunities for dialogue and contribution. These are voluntary roles intended for people who feel genuinely called to support the Centre’s emerging vision and action potential in the world and who have the time and resources to participate fully.
Become a member of the Stewardship Circle →
Please respond by 20 September 2026.
After the deadline, we will follow up with applicants to discern who may be invited into rotating two-year stewardship roles beginning in Autumn 2026.

What guides us

Our Principles

01

Consciousness is central to human transformation

We believe that lasting transformation involves profound shifts in awareness, perception, and relationship. We welcome diverse understandings of consciousness and explore how they shape our lives, our cultures, and our capacity to participate in healthier futures.

02

Care for life is foundational

We recognise that many contemporary systems produce deep fragmentation, harm, and suffering. We are committed to nurturing conditions that support healing, reciprocal care, and human and planetary flourishing.

03

Transformation is relational and ecological

We understand human beings as participants in living systems. Regenerative futures require renewed relationships with self, others, and the more-than-human world.

04

Multiple ways of knowing matter

Our work integrates cognitive, somatic, relational, contemplative, intuitive, ecological, and spiritual ways of knowing. Each helps to illuminate different aspects of our complex world. We value transdisciplinary inquiry and plural epistemologies.

05

Practice and research belong together

We operate as a distributed field laboratory, learning alongside people, organisations, and communities engaged in transformation efforts around the world. Our practice, embodiment, and reflection continually inform one another.

06

Transformation requires discernment and structural maturity

Transformation is not inherently life-affirming. We approach questions of consciousness, spirituality, and inner development with openness and reflexivity. We attend carefully to power, ethics, governance, and social justice, recognising that genuine transformation requires both inner development and structural change.

07

Learning emerges in relationship

Our Centre is a collaborative ecosystem - not a closed institution. We believe no single discipline or perspective can fully grasp the complexities of human transformation. Learning grows between us through shared inquiry, practice, and collective imagination. We invite your participation.

The Centre does not advocate any singular worldview, spiritual doctrine, or theory of consciousness. We engage diverse perspectives through critical, interdisciplinary and participatory inquiry, while remaining attentive to questions of evidence, ethics, power, psychological safety, governance and accountability.

The Conscious Field Atlas

A living grammar for transformation practice

The Centre’s current flagship initiative is the Conscious Field Atlas, a three-year participatory inquiry exploring recurring patterns within transformation processes across sectors and cultures.
The Field Atlas is not a toolkit or prescriptive methodology. We see it as a living grammar — a shared and evolving language that helps practitioners recognise the deeper relational, cultural, psychological, and systemic dynamics shaping their work.

Through a range of research projects and cross-sector dialogue, the Field Atlas seeks to make visible patterns concerned with:

  • breakdowns in trust and relational coherence
  • tensions between individual and collective development
  • performative versus embodied transformation
  • the role of power in culture and institutional narratives
  • enabling ‘social field’ conditions for regeneration
  • norms and assumptions shaping human potential
The Field Atlas will evolve through ongoing collaboration between researchers, practitioners, students, organisations, and partner networks. It is intended as a shared commons for the emerging field of awareness-based systems change.

Over time, the Centre aims to generate:

  • field notes and comparative case studies
  • visual maps and pattern languages
  • practitioner-oriented publications
  • public storytelling and synthesis
  • gatherings and collaborative learning spaces
  • new approaches to organisational and ecological transformation practice
Through its work in the Conscious Field Atlas initiative, the Centre aims to resource and empower practitioners and projects in their local contexts.

Inquiry Labs

The Conscious Field Atlas is anchored in two inquiry labs. We are open to further partnerships and collaborations as our ecosystem evolves.
Led by Dan McTiernan
practitioner in residence

Living Earth Lab

Ecology, food systems, land, and regenerative practice

This lab explores how embodied awareness, ecological participation, and relational intelligence support transformation within food systems, farming, land stewardship, and regenerative practice.

Led by Karen Liebenguth
practitioner in residence

Living Organisations Lab

Leadership, governance, organisational culture, and regenerative transition

Working with leaders and organisations across a range of sectors to explore the deeper relational and cultural dynamics shaping institutional transformation. The lab investigates how organisations move beyond symbolic commitment toward lived regenerative practice.

A global practitioner commons

Nurturing the Fields of Change

The Centre hosts Nurturing the Fields of Change, our international community of practice bringing together change-facilitators from around the world who are engaged in regenerative and consciousness-informed transformation work.
Visit Nurturing the Fields of Change →
Nurturing the Fields of Change provides:
  • networking opportunities
  • practitioner accompaniment
  • a transdisciplinary inquiry space
  • a growing resource library
  • updates on developments in research and praxis
Applications open
Autumn 2026

Research Fellowships

The Centre for the Ecology of Human Transformation is inviting applications for three inaugural Research Fellowships beginning in Autumn 2026. The Fellowships are designed to support pioneering interdisciplinary inquiry at the intersection of consciousness, culture, ecology, and systemic transformation.
We are currently inviting applications for the following Fellowships:
This Fellowship explores the relationship between consciousness, perception, meaning-making, and collective intelligence. It asks how modes of awareness – contemplative, spiritual, embodied, ecological, imaginal – influence how individuals and groups perceive complex realities and respond to them.
 
The Fellow will investigate the conditions that enable people to sense, learn, and act together in ways that exceed individual capacities. This may include exploring collective sensemaking, social learning, group dynamics, and the role of non-ordinary states of consciousness in shaping collective perception, decision-making, and action. The Fellowship remains open to diverse ontological perspectives while maintaining a rigorous, reflective stance.
 
Working as part of the Centre’s wider inquiry into the ecology of human transformation, the Fellow will contribute to the development of the Conscious Field Atlas through case studies, interviews, collaborative inquiry, digital mapping, and public storytelling that make emerging insights accessible to practitioners and researchers across sectors.
 
If you are interested in consciousness, collective dynamics, and social systems and how they shape human behaviour and intelligence, this Fellowship may be for you.
This Fellowship explores the relationship between inner development, power, and the transformation of collective life. While many social change initiatives now emphasise inner practices and capacity development, this Fellowship attends to the wider relational, cultural, and institutional fields within which transformation unfolds. It investigates how different expressions of power – personal and transpersonal, structural and cultural – shape what becomes possible to perceive, imagine, say and do. It also examines how unhealthy social systems can maintain stability while externalising social and ecological costs, and what role shared narratives and cultural norms play in inhibiting change. 
 
Drawing on critical theory, transpersonal psychology, social movement theory, and social field research, the Fellowship examines how shifts in consciousness and relational awareness interact with institutional design, power structures, cultural narratives, and democratic life.
 
If you are interested in how power shapes what becomes possible to see, say, and do in our organisations and communities, this Fellowship may be for you.
This Fellowship strengthens Alef Trust’s research profile in transformative practice, human and planetary health. Across cultures and traditions, transformation involves awareness, embodiment, liminal states, and relationships with the more-than-human world.
 
The Fellowship explores how embodied and imaginal practices – including contemplative disciplines, ritual arts, Indigenous knowledge systems, and creative inquiry – support processes of collective wellbeing and participation in living systems. Drawing on studies in embodied cognition, participatory arts, community wellbeing and mental health, integrative medicine, and transpersonal psychology, the Fellow will investigate how these modalities can support both human and ecological flourishing.
 
If you are interested in exploring what it takes to embody human transformation and engage our imagination in ways that help us come into right relationship with ourselves, others, and Earth, this Fellowship may be for you.

The Research Fellows will contribute to the Centre through a combination of:

  • participatory research and inquiry
  • development of publications and public storytelling
  • contribution to the Conscious Field Atlas
  • mentorship and dialogue with students and practitioners
  • participation in online gatherings and collaborative exchanges
We particularly welcome applications from individuals whose work bridges research and practice, including academics, educators, artists, organisational practitioners, community leaders, and researchers. We are looking for people with research experience. You will have relevant academic qualifications or commensurate professional experience.

Fellowship Structure

Fellowship term
32 months
Honorarium
£40,800
pro rata per annum
Expected contribution
approx. 5 days
per month
Location
online
Start date
Autumn 2026
As a non-profit research initiative, the Centre is especially seeking Fellows who resonate with the collaborative and emergent nature of this work and who are interested in contributing to a growing international field of inquiry.

How to Apply

Please review the descriptions of the Fellowships and to apply, submit the following:
  • A professional CV
  • Link to, or attach examples of, relevant published works: papers, blogs, podcasts, audio-visual works, etc.
  • A statement of interest (maximum 1,500 words), outlining your expertise and work experience and how they relate to the Centre’s inquiry themes and the Fellowships advertised. Please clearly indicate which Fellowship you are applying for.
Apply for the Research Fellowships →
Deadline for applications: 20 September 2026
We anticipate holding conversations with shortlisted applicants in early October 2026.
Applications should be sent to: Nicholas Theo (nick.theo@aleftrust.org)
Please put "Fellowship" in the email header so it can be identified quickly

Deadline for applications: 20 September 2026

We anticipate holding conversations with shortlisted applicants in early October 2026.

PhD Studentships

The Centre for the Ecology of Human Transformation is able to offer a partially funded PhD studentship to one incoming student per year over the next 3 years (2026, 2027 and 2028). The student’s research should be connected to the themes and inquiry areas explored through the Centre.
We welcome doctoral proposals engaging questions related to:
  • consciousness and systems transformation
  • ecology, regeneration, and relational worldviews
  • organisational and cultural transformation
  • social fields and collective intelligence
  • embodiment, imagination, and participatory practice
  • governance, ethics, and regenerative futures
  • spirituality, spiritual intelligence, and societal transformation
  • food systems, land-based practice, and ecological participation
  • transformative education and human development
We are particularly interested in interdisciplinary and practice-based research that bridges inner development, social transformation, and ecological futures.
~50%
tuition fee contribution
The studentship provides approximately 50% contribution toward tuition fees, alongside participation in the wider inquiry ecosystem of the Centre, the Conscious Field Atlas, inquiry labs, and practitioner commons.

For information about our PhD programme and application process, please visit:
PhD programme & application →

Publications

Relevant publications from the Alef Trust community.

Partnerships and Emerging Collaborations

The Centre is developing in dialogue with a growing ecosystem of organisations and initiatives working at the intersection of consciousness, regeneration, education, and systems transformation, including:

Join the inquiry and partner with us

The Centre for the Ecology of Human Transformation is an evolving experiment in collective learning, consciousness research, and regenerative futures.
We welcome dialogue and collaboration with:
researchers and scholars
practitioners and facilitators
organisations and networks
artists and educators
funders and partners
students and emerging researchers
If you are interested in participating in the Conscious Field Atlas, joining Nurturing the Fields of Change, exploring partnerships, or hearing about events, we invite you to connect with us.
Join Nurturing the Fields of Change →
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Alef Trust

Curriculum: year One

20 credits each
Approaches to Consciousness

Offers you a broad introduction to consciousness studies, cognitive neuroscience of consciousness, consciousness and spiritual traditions.

Find our more: Approaches to consciousness

Learning Through Integrative Practice

An 8-month experiential immersion in a personal programme of integrative practice, with the aim to foster whole-person development.

Individual needs and aspirations are considered in the development of the practice plan, and critical engagement with the practices is encouraged through regular webinars and reflective sessions.

Find out more: Learning Through Integrative Practice

Spiritual Psychology

Module leader: Dr. Ellis Linders

This module explores the changing meaning of spirituality in contemporary secular culture. Moreover, it identifies and examines the relationship between psychology and spirituality as a change in psycho-spiritual paradigm. The module is titled ‘spiritual psychology’ to reflect this relationship. Although there are many correspondences, spiritual psychology differs from transpersonal psychology in that it specifically draws on spiritual traditions and new or ‘neo’ spiritual expressions. 

As a student, you will choose two specialist options (see SPECIALIST OPTIONS tab for all courses) to explore which each reflect an expression of contemporary spiritual engagement. They also exemplify approaches in which spiritual traditions and their practices are viewed through the lens of contemporary psychology. The psychological lens allows issues of definition, measurement, and frameworks concerning spiritual experience to be critically evaluated according to scientific principles.

Specialist options for the Spiritual Psychology module - Select two
Embodied Presence

Tutor: Dr. Tamara Russell

This module option provides an exploration of embodied presence and what it means to live our human experience in a body. In an increasingly disconnected and disembodied world, true embodied presence is becoming a scarcity. Even in the transpersonal world, a fixation with “up and out” (out of body, psychedelics and a move away from the material) means that the wisdom and grounding of the body is easily lost, and the possibility of spiritual bypass is very real. In most spiritual traditions, a deep connection with, and examination of, the body (in stillness and movement) is fundamental to the spiritual path.

Find out more: Embodied Presence

Entheogens and Psychedelics

Tutor: Pascal Michael, PhD

Taking a cross-disciplinary and multi-cultural approach, this module option explores transpersonal and transformative qualities of the psychedelic experience, illuminating its meanings and implications for individuals and communities.

Find out more: Entheogens and Psychedelics

Feminine Spiritualities

Tutor: Dr. Kendra Ford

Feminine Spiritualities refers to a spectrum of perspectives, practices, histories, and cultures that balance on the fine edges of feminism, contemporary spirituality, psychological theory, and mystical traditions. This option is an embodied and critical exploration of the feminine principle within psychological, religious and spiritual contexts.

Find out more: Feminine Spiritualities

Shamanistic Psychology

Tutor: Dr. Steven Schmitz

Shamanism is the oldest spiritual tradition known to humankind and continues to be relevant in our contemporary world. For tens of thousands of years shamans have developed and used their technologies (knowledge, tools, skills) for shifting consciousness and for accessing the spirit realms for guidance, healing, and transformation.

Find out more: Shamanistic Psychology

Spirituality and the Imaginal

Tutor: Dr. Lila Moore

This module option explores the imaginal as an evolving phenomenon that has shaped the human spiritual experience: from Paleolithic cave art, altered states, and mythic rituals to the intersection of modern esoteric and spiritual movements, the creative arts and healing arts.

Find out more: Spirituality and the Imaginal

Transpersonal Dreaming

Tutor Dr. Tadas Stumbrys

In this module option, we study transpersonal dimensions of dreaming, drawing on scientific research and historical/spiritual traditions. We will explore the world of lucid dreaming and its potentials for growth and transformation.

Find out more: Transpersonal Dreaming

Curriculum: year two

20 credits each
Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal psychology (TP) studies phenomena beyond the ego and their transformative and healing potential. Adopting the perspective that the human being is intimately interconnected to the cosmos in many ways, TP acknowledges the relevance and value of spiritual, mystical, and other exceptional human experiences.

The course covers the major theoretical orientations within TP, and the models they propose to understand these experiences and situate them in the larger context of human transformation and spiritual development.

The course also covers other complementary topics which reflect the growing edges of TP as a vibrant and multifaceted field.

Find out more: Transpersonal Psychology

Research Design

Our Research Design module provides a grounding in qualitative research methods.

Students venture into transpersonal approaches to research, offering you an introduction to methods which embrace embodied, intuitive and creative ways of expanding the human knowledge base.

Research Design allows students to work with these methods in a research project, tackling the philosophical and ethical issues surrounding transpersonal psychology methods.

Such as:

  • The centrality of transformation for both researcher and participants
  • Issues that arise when participants’ most meaningful experiences may be scrutinised
  • Issues where practices may be evaluated for efficacy, and ideas concerning changing paradigms in psychological science

Find out more: Research Design

Applied Transformative Psychology

Module leader: Dr. Jessica Bockler

Applied transformative psychology focuses on the ways in which transpersonal, integrative, and spiritual perspectives can be applied in practice, considering personal and professional pathways and ethics of transformation. The concept of inner development is examined in the context of evolving ideas and theories exploring personal and systemic/collective change; and questions of ethical engagement in contemporary contexts are considered in the light of the evolving meta-crises of our times. 

Students are encouraged to explore their own professional practice in relation to two of the specialist options (see SPECIALIST OPTIONS tab for all courses).

Specialist options for the Applied transformative psychology module — Select two
Creativity and Transformation

Tutor: Dr. Jessica Bockler

In this option we explore the nature of creativity and its relationship to human development and growth, as well as its relevance for social change. The evolving crises of our time call for inner and outer changes in our ways of being and doing. In Together, we consider how we can draw on our creativity to enable and support generative change processes in ourselves and in those we work with.

Find out more: Creativity and Transformation

Integrative Medicine

Tutor: Dr. Hennie Geldenhuys

This option explores the mind-body-spirit paradigm and its implications for an integrative and holistic approach to wellness and healthcare. Health, disease, healing and the psychosomatic are viewed through a transpersonal but pragmatic lens.

Find out more: Integrative Medicine

Multidimensional Trauma & Transformation

Tutor: Dr. Regina U. Hess

We will explore multidimensional applications for the transformation of individual, transgenerational, and ecological trauma drawing on clinical, transpersonal, indigenous, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy approaches and research. The goal is to support the person’s innate capacity to restore the mind-body-spirit-balance and eventually wholeness, including such dimensions as interpersonal relationships and relationships with nature, the cosmos, culture, and the community.

Find out more: Multidimensional Trauma & Transformation

Transpersonal Coaching Psychology

Tutor: Jevon Dängeli

Transpersonal Coaching Psychology (TCP) can be described as the theory and practice of coaching that takes a holistic and integrative approach to support client growth and transformation. In this option we explore the basis and value of a transpersonal approach to coaching.

Find out more: Transpersonal Coaching Psychology

Transpersonal Ecopsychology

Tutor: Paul Maiteny

We are living in extremely destabilised times. We humans are undermining life-support ecosystems essential to life itself, ecological, social and personal. It is a tragic irony that we have been doing so with the aim of making our lives better. We have now reached the threshold point where the destructive results of our priorities and action is confronting us full-on. Yet, we are continuing to seek technological ‘solutions and fixes’ using the same motivations and types of thinking as have caused the devastation in the first place. 

Transpersonal Ecopsychology provides a new way of thinking about and understanding human meaning and purpose as embedded participants in the ecosystem, rather than in the binary way of thinking of ourselves as ‘other’ to ‘nature’ and ‘the environment’. 

Find our more: Transpersonal Ecopsychology: Knowing your role in a conscious Earth

Transpersonal Counselling and Psychotherapy

Tutor: Dr. Gabriel Fernandez Borsot

Transpersonal approaches to psychotherapy situate the process of psychological healing and maturation in the wider context of spiritual development. This option explores the main features of these approaches, and their associated techniques and models.

Find out more: Transpersonal Counselling and Psychotherapy

Curriculum: year THREE

60 credits

The curriculum in the first two years of study provides students with the necessary skills to conduct a research project in their third year of study. Under the supervision of a faculty member, students choose an area of interest to explore in depth through an original study.

Research projects often adopt experiential and introspective approaches as well as traditional scientific approaches while exploring topics that emphasise the interrelationships between the somatic, psychological, social and spiritual levels of explanation.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

We at Alef Trust believe that education is a fundamental human right, which should accordingly not be subject to taxation. Moreover, education is key to building communities, societies, and cultures, which we also believe places it in a category for which taxation is counterproductive. Unfortunately, the legislative powers in many countries do not agree with our perspective.

Recent changes in rules governing taxation, especially in the EU, have meant that students on our online programmes resident in some countries will have to pay GST on top of the programme fee. The UK, which is the jurisdiction in which Alef Trust is located, does not impose GST (known as VAT in the UK) on educational fees. However, legislative changes mean that the determining factor for GST is no longer the country in which education is delivered but the country in which the “consumer”—in our case, the student studying on an Alef Trust programme—resides. Consequently, students who are resident in countries which impose GST on educational fees will be charged the GST by Alef Trust since Alef Trust is responsible for paying the tax in their country of residence.

The treatment of GST on distance learning is an evolving situation in many countries, if tax is deemed to be chargeable part way through your course this could be added to your future course fees. We will not apply GST to invoices that have previously been issued. Alef Trust will not levy any charge on top of the tax liability; any administrative cost will be covered by Alef Trust

At the time of writing, the table below indicates some of the countries charging GST on educational fees and the tax rate. The situation remains fluid and there may be changes to this table in the future. We will update the information as soon as we are able to determine the current situation. You are strongly advised to check the current situation in your country. Some countries allow exemptions for certain kinds of online educational programmes. Our MSc and PhD programmes, for example, may be exempt for GST purposes in your country. You must check—a local tax office should be able to advise you. Alef Trust will not levy any charge on top of the tax liability; any administrative cost will be covered by Alef Trust.

WEBINAR SCHEDULE

A main feature of our online teaching environment is that required webinars are taught live and also recorded, which allows for synchronous involvement in content and lively discussions during the question-and-answer portions of webinars for those in attendance.

Webinars are generally scheduled well in advance, and are held on a varied schedule between 9:00-21:00 UK time.

Although we cannot commit to accommodate all time zones for all webinars, we hope for students in our global community to have the opportunity for synchronous participation throughout the programme. When live attendance is not possible, recordings of webinars are available almost immediately and can be viewed at a convenient time, making the programme accessible regardless of location in the world. 

One-to-one and group meetings with personal tutors are scheduled at mutually convenient times.

Please note that whilst we do our utmost to give you advance notice, some flexibility in accommodating schedule changes and additional dates may be needed as and when they become available. This programme weaves a complex tapestry of asynchronous and live events befitting Master’s level study with a wide range of teachers. We therefore advise you that some flexibility will be needed on your part to join this programme and make the most of what it has to offer.

LEARNING APPROACHES

Our students enjoy a rich and interactive learning experience. Transformative learning methods are utilised in all our modules, which support a deep level of self-inquiry while fostering connection with experiential learning of programme content, research skills, and academic, professional and personal growth. 

INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES

 

  • Live teaching webinars
  • Live sessions involving experiential practices
  • Student presentations

A SHARED LEARNING JOURNEY 

 

  • Reflective group meetings
  • Peer group work
  • Individual and group supervision

STUDY AT YOUR OWN PACE

 

  • Written discussion forums
  • Study of course materials
  • Personal practice and projects

WHOLE-PERSON SUPPORT

 

  • Personal tutor support
  • Academic skills support
  • Wellbeing support

CONTENT DELIVERY
The programme is 100% online and presented via synchronous and asynchronous webinars where students engage with faculty and each other. All coursework is taught on our learning management system, Canvas.

ONBOARDING
To support students in gaining foundational skills for MSc study, the Alef trust offers an introductory online course in APA referencing and academic writing skills, which incoming students are invited to take prior to the start of term. This enables those who are unfamiliar with APA formatting, as well as those who have been out of education for some time, to feel more prepared for embarking on their MSc.

ASSESSMENT

Course assessments are mainly in the form of written essays and reports. Several assignments encourage use of creative media to express the learning journeys, and students can choose to do this in ways that meet their creative skills and interests. Examples include visual art, music, creative writing, and videos. A number of modules include asynchronous forum participation. Some modules also include group project assessments which involve live presentations and attendance at presentations by peers.

Your schedule will require some flexibility to accommodate these in all three years of the programme.

In the final year, you conduct your own research project under supervision. Assessment of this final-year module involves a research dissertation, online presentation, and a blog-style post.

Depending on the nature and weighting of the assignment, these are either 2,000, 3,000 or 4,500 words in required length, and the final dissertation is 10,000-12,000 words, depending on the methodology used.

LIBRARY ACCESS

As a student enrolled on a collaborative programme with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) you have access to a range of LJMU’s electronic library resources.

This includes an extensive selection of relevant books and journals, as well as academic learning resources oriented towards the ongoing development of skills such as scholarly writing.

Visual Map of the MSc PROGRAMME

Year 1
Orientation
7503ALEFTP Learning Through Integrative Practice (20 Credits)
7501ALEFTP Approaches to Consciousness (20 Credits)
7502ALEFTP Spiritual Psychology (20 Credits)
Year 2
7504ALEFTP Transpersonal psychology (20 Credits)
7506ALEFTP Research Design (20 Credits)
7505ALEFTP Applied Transformative Psychology (20 Credits)
Year 3
7503ALEFTP Learning Through Integrative Practice (20 Credits)
SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

Visual Map of the MSc PROGRAMME

Year One
Orientation
7503ALEFTP Learning Through Integrative Practice (20 Credits)
7501ALEFTP Approaches to Consciousness (20 Credits)
7502ALEFTP Spiritual Psychology (20 Credits)
+ Two Specialist Options
Year Two
7504ALEFTP Transpersonal psychology (20 Credits)
7506ALEFTP Research Design (20 Credits)
7505ALEFTP Applied Transformative Psychology (20 Credits) + Two Specialist Options
Year Three
7500ALEFTP Research Dissertation (60 Credits)

Alternative track: 1-year Postgraduate Certificate

Students wishing to gain a Postgraduate Certificate can enrol on the MSc route and complete their studies after gaining 60 credits in year 1.

Alternative track: 2-year Postgraduate Diploma

Students wishing to gain a Postgraduate Diploma can enrol on the MSc route and complete their studies after gaining 120 credits by the end of year 2.

Alternative track: 2-year MSc

The Alef Trust MSc in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology is validated by Liverpool John Moores University in two programme formats. Students normally take the three-year part-time programme, although a two-year part-time programme is also available. Obviously, the primary difference between these programmes concerns the duration of study. However, there are additional considerations that applicants must take into account when deciding on their preferred programme of study:

Your qualifications: In order to be considered for the two-year programme, you must have a degree in psychology or a cognate science discipline, with a minimum grade of 2:1 (UK university system) or equivalent (non-UK universities).

Time availability: In order to be considered for the two-year programme, you must clearly demonstrate that you are able to commit to studying for approximately 25-35 hours per week.

Maturity: Our MSc is not simply an exercise in academic learning. The ethos underpinning the programme – confirmed by reflections from graduates – is one of students embarking on a developmental journey that entails deep maturation of their aspirations, relationships, and inner quests. In the experience of both staff and graduates this journey is most effective when taken over three years. In evaluating applications for the two-year programme, the admissions team will explore with the applicant their readiness to achieve the programme goals in only two years.

Shared experience: The journey is one in which forming bonds with those in your cohort can be highly beneficial. A student on the two-year pathway will straddle two cohorts, which may make this aspect of the experience more difficult. Again, the applicant’s resilience in this regard will be considered by the admissions team. Structurally, the arrangement of modules is broadly similar across the two pathways in years 1 and 2. The critical difference for those on the two-year pathway is that the Research Design module comes in year 1, and the Research Dissertation in Year 2.

Readiness to undertake research: The deeply reflective experiential, whole-person, learning which is at the core of this programme takes time to gestate during the first two years for most students, and culminates with the research dissertation in the third year. Applicants for the two-year programme will be expected to demonstrate to the admissions team that they have a preliminary plan about their potential research. If you wish to be considered for the two-year pathway, please indicate this in the application form. Our admissions team will contact you to arrange an interview to discuss whether this could be a suitable option for you.

If you wish to be considered for the two-year pathway, please indicate this in the application form. Our admissions team will contact you to arrange an interview to discuss whether this could be an appropriate option for you.

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