James Fadiman


James Fadiman is an American psychologist and writer. He is acknowledged for his extensive work in the field of psychedelic research. He co-founded along with Robert Frager the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, which later became Sofia University, where he was a lecturer in psychedelic studies.

Early years

Fadiman was born in New York City to a Jewish family and grew up in Bel Air. His father, William Fadiman, was a producer and story editor, and book reviewer in Hollywood, one of his credits being The Last Frontier.

Education/research and psychedelic counterculture

Fadiman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1960 and a Master's degree and a doctorate from Stanford University the PhD in 1965. While in Paris in 1961, his friend and former Harvard undergraduate adviser, Ram Dass, introduced him to psychedelics. As a graduate student at Stanford, Fadiman was Stewart Brand's LSD guide on Brand's first LSD trip in 1962, at Myron Stolaroff's International Foundation for Advanced Study in Menlo Park, California. While living in Menlo Park, Fadiman and his wife were Ken Kesey's Perry Lane neighbors and friends.
In 1963, Fadiman worked at Stanford's Augmentation Research Center, a division that did research on networked computing. Fadiman was also part of the team in the psychedelics in problem-solving experiment at the International Foundation for Advanced Study, which was abruptly halted in 1966.
He is currently a proponent of microdosing and collects anecdotal reports from those who practice it.

Transpersonal psychology and personality theory

Fadiman and Robert Frager co-founded the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in 1975. Fadiman was a president of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. He was also a director at the Institute of Noetic Sciences from 1975–77.
Fadiman and Frager published a textbook on personality theory in 1976 titled Personality and Personal Growth, which was one of the first to incorporate Eastern theories of personality alongside Western approaches and the first of its kind to include chapters on women. Personality and Personal Growth has been republished in seven editions as of 2012.

Personal life

He is married to documentary filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman and is the father of Florida Atlantic University professor Maria Fadiman. His uncle was Clifton Fadiman and he is a cousin of Anne Fadiman.

Works

;Books
;Workshops and Talks
;Films