An Unfolding Vision for Psychologists
For decades, American psychology has lived in fragments—divided among powerful and compelling advances in our understanding of human nature, led by scientific approaches inclusive of the theories and frameworks of the behavioral, cognitive, and biological, as well as the insights offered by psychodynamic, and humanistic-existential approaches. But what happens when we finally bridge the gap between science and the intuitive soul?
In April 2026, a retro book review of Passages Beyond the Gate: a Jungian Approach to Understanding American Psychology (which continues to be viewed as evergreen and prescient) was index on Google Scholar. (A link to the Google Scholar index is below.)
A Rare Trajectory for a Book
“In a review of the monograph originally published in 2010, James Hollis observed: “In Passages Beyond the Gate, Dr. Jennings calls American psychology to accountability for its own blind spots.” Chief among these, Hollis suggested, is the discipline’s failure to recognize the importance of engaging the intuitive and spiritual dimensions of the human journey—an essential aspect of human nature. As a result, questions of meaning have too often been set aside, contributing to a psychology that is both fragmented and incomplete.
Although it is a layered work: existential, rich in metaphors, and archetypal symbolism, Passages Beyond the Gate, first runner-up in the Eric Hoffer Book Award Spiritual Category, and Montaigne Medal finalist in 2011, is ultimately a meta-theoretical critique of American psychology.
Writing in the December 2025 issue of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Volume 57 No.2, the premiere journal in the field, Beth Cooper Tabakin, Ph.D., shares a personal shift. She notes that the book “personally and professionally changed me.” She characterizes the book as a “punctuation point to healing possibilities” and a “gem” for anyone interested in personal growth and a more expansive view of psychology as a discipline.
Fifteen years later, this early recognition finds meaningful continuity in the 2025 review published in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology by Beth Cooper Tabakin, whose reflections speak not only to the enduring relevance of Passages Beyond the Gate, but to its lived impact. That the work continues to be engaged—first through Hollis’s interpretive lens and now through Tabakin’s personal and professional response—suggests a trajectory that is less episodic than cumulative.
I am deeply grateful to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology for its publication of this retro review, and to Dr. Tabakin for the care and seriousness with which she approached the work. Together, these moments—2010 and 2025—stand not as isolated acknowledgments, but as part of an unfolding recognition of Passages Beyond the Gate as a book that fosters personal journey, diagnosis of the state of American psychology, and invitation—a call to address the fragmentation of American psychology and to participate in its ongoing healing.
Google Scholar: https://lnkd.in/ec8qJ5Pb
The Association for Transpersonal Psychology promoting a vision of the universe as sacred. https://share.google/CgIugvVWGXNC9Px9h
Dr. Beth Cooper: Tabakin:https://lnkd.in/eDCp4VBY)
Bloomsbury Academic: https://lnkd.in/e2kvzg7m
Amazon: https://lnkd.in/eQskJvJs
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