Frances Vaughan

Frances Vaughan, Ph.D. is a psychologist, educator and author of books, chapters and articles on psychology and spirituality. Her books include Awakening Intuition, The Inward Arc: Healing in Psychotherapy and Spirituality, and Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions. With her husband, Roger Walsh, she is co-editor of Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision, and Gifts from A Course in Miracles, including Accept this Gift, A Gift of Peace and A Gift of Healing. Her books have been translated into eight languages.

As a pioneer in transpersonal psychology, Dr. Vaughan was a founding faculty member of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Later she joined the clinical faculty at the University of California Medical School at Irvine, and was a founding faculty member of the Metta Institute, devoted to end of life counselor training.

Dr. Vaughan has served as President of both the Association for Transpersonal Psychology and the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and she is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. She is a trustee emeritus of the Fetzer Institute. The Fetzer Institute supports programs in research, education and service, aiming to connect the inner life of mind and spirit with the outer life of service in the world.

Dr. Vaughan holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and has been a practitioner of meditation since 1972. She has studied and practiced Buddhist, Sufi and Hindu spiritual traditions in addition to deepening her understanding of Christian mysticism.

Dr. Vaughan has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations and on the board of editors of several journals. She has lectured and conducted workshops throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America. She graduated from Stanford University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She has two children and five grandchildren.