Peter Shepherd

My partner Nicole and myself, November 2000

Peter Shepherd is a Transformational Psychologist, Supervisor of The Insight Project, and author of Transforming The Mind. Born in London in 1952, he spent most of his life in England before moving to France to be with his partner, Nicole Jérémie.

Trained as a rational-emotive and transpersonal psychotherapist, Peter combines these techniques in his own system of transformational psychology, applied to personal growth rather than therapy.

"Behavioral psychology has installed the idea that we inherit all of our traits and besides the modifying effects of cultural conditioning, we stay basically the same as our genetic hard-wiring dictates. That's true if you don't do anything about making positive change, if you don't recognise the aspects of yourself that are more than animal. Recently many have recognised this possibility and they are looking for valid information that can help them make positive changes."

Peter's web site, Tools For Transformation, is dedicated to introducing the best available personal development resources to free us of the shackles of the past by re-awakening awareness of our true identity, and so being fully conscious in the present moment.

In a recent interview for the magazine 'Just Coach It,' Peter was asked his views on the topic: Spirituality

When I was five, I perceived little sparkles in the air around me in the garden, and indoors, in one room of the house there was a place where Jesus and some angels always were, to meet me. Outside the window were goblins that scared the life out of me but the angels gave my life back. Phew... either I was crazy or my childish brain had not yet been programmed into perceiving only the consensus reality, as a couple of years later I had none of those experiences but knew well the alphabet and times tables. Nevertheless I'd received my first taste of the spiritual dimension and that has inspired my life ever since, to know and experience more, and to understand how our everyday lives relate to our inner and more subtle lives.

A few years on, after being a choirboy at the local church, it suddenly dawned on me that all these sermons about our sinful nature and the wrath of God, were being made on a totally misguided agenda. I let go of all that and it was a huge relief, a huge burden off my back. Going in quite the opposite direction, I studied Buddhism and found there a validation of each individual as a spark of the universal consciousness. There were meditative methods to help the person attain a higher level of that consciousness for themselves. But again I found misguided aspects of that religion and I decided to both stay clear of organized religions and also to look for better ways of expanding consciousness that do not take lifetimes to achieve their goal. It was enough for me to perceive of God as the quality of Love, and that when we love (which is to say accept unconditionally) we are part of God. As the saying goes, "When we love, we are the universe and the universe lives in us."

Again going forward a few years, I had studied general psychology and went on to look at the 'transpersonal' dimension, that which is beyond the ego connecting us with universality, as pioneered by Assagioli, Grof and others. Again, I found that two divergent branches of a subject only really worked when combined as one. The everyday, rational and behavioral understandings of psychology were just as important as the more esoteric understandings to do with consciousness, and in fact each needed the other to provide a true and holistic picture of things. I put my comprehension of all this together in a book, 'Transforming the Mind,' that has been freely available on the 'Net ever since.

Any person is of the opinion that he is 'right' in what he believes - otherwise he wouldn't believe it. But he can have all sort of misconceptions, misinterpretations, false information and delusions, and be holding fast onto them in order to be right. The fundamental elements of his belief system, the things that have made sense of past confusions for him, are not changeable by reasoning alone because they are held in place by force - by an unwillingness or inability to face up to certain things.

The only way that I know of to resolve this impasse is through examining the reality of our existence with ruthless honesty. Done with integrity, this can help one to see, bit by bit, the truths underlying our mental distortions. One may gain understanding, and the ability to live consciously, to be one's true self, in those areas where one had shut off one's vision.

By increasing understanding one is increasing awareness of truth, and then in life one needs to actually face that reality with equanimity and take responsibility. Without actually putting our insight into action, it soon tends to be forgotten and the body-mind programming (the habit patterns of many years) take over again. Without such integrity of application, even extensive work on ourselves can become a charade.

My goal in life has been to break free of the consensus trance, to find instead my own truth and to help others find their own truth also. To transform and be free, like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Because we are each such different individuals, with personal goals and at different stages on our various paths, I have found there is no singular tool for transformation, there are many, and I've tried to select good ones for my web site, Tools for Transformation. Some of the tools have a masculine or feminine feel, a left-brain or right brain dominance, an intellectual or intuitive approach. Ultimately, however, I believe we need to integrate these polarities and develop both sides equally and together, for our being contains all of these. A certain tool may be right for us now but later we will probably need the help of another kind of tool that is not currently appropriate for us. Development is also hierarchic, one skill makes another possible and the correct order needs to be found.

It certainly is possible to regain causation in life. One is motivated again because one has recovered one's true identity and is aware of one's own goals. What were previously heavy and serious problems are now games to enjoy. One is truly happy with renewed purposes in life. Others are not enemies but either team mates or competition, who make the game more interesting and from whom one can learn - from what they do right and what they do wrong. Without fixed rightnesses, one too can learn both from things that go right and from one's mistakes. Life, love and truth become one's operating basis.

The way I see it, all experience is for learning, and when you've learned the lesson that experience offers then you can move on. Provided you have learned the lesson, and not got serious/solid/heavy about it and justified your ego - otherwise it haunts you till you have really learned the lesson (which is karma). Your actions remain to haunt you until you have learned their lesson.

I have had some huge setbacks in my life. Twice I have lost everything - partner, house, job, finances - and started again. But I never really felt alone and in fact they were freeing experiences, because (as I can see now) each time my life had gone in a direction untrue to my real goals, and I was able to get back on track. Of course, this will happen to all of us at the end of our lives. How good it will feel if we know that this time we have indeed been living in accordance with our most sincere desires, and our integrity is whole and shining brightly.

About Peter Shepherd | Nicole Jérémie | Photo Albums 1 | Photo Albums 2 | Photo Albums 3

Tools for Transformation