In modern practical psychology, there is a lot of both esotericism and real mysticism. It seems that this should not be the case. Psychology is the scientific knowledge of man and his behavior. Everything that psychology claims is verifiable (or subject to verification). Esotericism, in contrast to scientific knowledge, claims to possess secret knowledge about a person, possession of knowledge accessible only to the “initiated”. What the esotericists tell you has nothing to do with science, and esoteric insights cannot be verified in any way: you can either believe them or not.
Mysticism is even further from scientific knowledge. Esotericism is often confused with mysticism and spiritual teachings, but this is not true. If esotericism in practical psychology still presents itself as psychology, as knowledge about a person, then mysticism appears before us as a spiritual teaching, as a teaching about the structure of the world created by Higher Forces.
If you are told about the light of the chakras, open only to the elite, this is rather esoteric. If you are informed that “since we have been given the right to live on Earth during the period of the Great Transition, we must develop all the necessary Divine Qualities in ourselves, expand our consciousness, correctly untie (transmute) all the negative karmic knots tied by us in past lives and help the Teachers Humanity, the Chohans of the Rays, the entire Hierarchy of Light, the Earth and Humanity to make a quantum leap, which will be the OUTCOME — summing up the results of our evolutionary development and the experience we have accumulated during all our past lives and the beginning of a new cycle of evolutionary development, ”this is rather mystical teaching.
Academic psychology takes care of its scientific image, and esotericism, at least for now, does not let it get close to itself. Some concessions are made only to Christian (Orthodox) psychology, the foundations of which also cannot be recognized as scientific. As far as practical psychology is concerned, the situation is much more complicated and disturbing.
If practical psychology is understood as a psychology based on a scientific basis, then practical psychology and esotericism are incompatible. In reality, most of the books and personal trainings sold under the heading of practical psychology are in the esoteric tradition or have a clear esoteric connotation.
Cause? A large number of (not the most educated) people are drawn to esotericism, as to something secret and accessible only to a select circle. To join the secret is status, and promises a miracle for free.
Most of those interested in esotericism are those who love mysticism: women who love to entertain themselves with dreams.
According to A. Sviyash, «I stop writing books in an esoteric vein, I’m already tired of stupid women.»
At the same time, among the esotericists there are also very serious practitioners and thinkers, whose experience, primarily of meditative practice, largely coincides with the experience set forth in the books of Helena Blavatsky, Alice Bailey and Rudolf Steiner. The most famous Russian authors working in the field of practical psychology in an esoteric way: Oleg Gadetsky, Vadim Zeland, Alexei Kapranov, Yuri Ryzhov, Alexander Sviyash (early books).
Styling aside, most psychological books (and practices) in the esoteric tradition contain quite traditional psychological content. Normal, practical psychology in an esoteric package. As for psychological psychotherapy, mysticism and esotericism are not just present there, but have taken root and taken dominant positions: the scientific approach is not honored and is perceived as bad taste and narrow-mindedness.
The hobby of recent years is Hellinger’s constellations, where mysticism and esotericism are the worldview basis.
As one of the consequences of psychologists’ passion for mysticism and esotericism — the disappointment of smart and efficient people in psychology in general and psychological training in particular. Having met with this at trainings time and again, efficient people begin to believe (apparently, not without reason) that people are divided into reasonable people and those who are fond of psychology. For more on this, see Allegedly training for alleged personal growth.