Jean Houston (born 10 May 1937) is an American author involved in the

human potential movement The Human Potential Movement (HPM) arose out of the counterculture of the 1960s and formed around the concept of an extraordinary potential that its advocates believed to lie largely untapped in all people. The movement takes as its premise the be ...

. Along with her husband, Robert Masters, she co-founded the Foundation for Mind Research.

Biography

Early life and education

Houston was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, United States, to Mary Todaro Houston who was of Sicilian descent, and Jack Houston who was related to

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

.Houston, Jean 1996 ''A Mythic Life.'' New York: Harper Collins Her father was a comedy writer who developed material for stage, television and the movies, including for comedians

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

and

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

. His work required him, and the family, to move frequently. After the breakup of her parents' marriage, she spent her teen years in New York City. Houston attended

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

in New York City in the class of 1958. She subsequently earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Union Graduate School and a Ph.D. in religion from the Graduate Theological Foundation.

Career

While participating in a US Government sanctioned research project on the effects of

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

, Houston became acquainted with Robert Masters, a writer and researcher into the varieties of human behavior and potentials. They married in 1965 and soon became known for their work in the

. Together they conducted research into the interdependence of body, mind, and spirit at the Foundation for Mind Research for 14 years. The

psychedelic experience A psychedelic experience (known colloquially as a trip) is a temporary altered state of consciousness induced by the consumption of a psychedelic substance (most commonly Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, or N,N- ...

research Houston and Masters conducted culminated in the 1966 publication of ''The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience''. The U.S. government banned psychedelic research that same year. Their book on psychedelic studies detailed the expanded cognition and creativity participants experienced under the influence of LSD. After the research ban, Houston and Masters shifted their focus to exploring other ways of achieving

altered states of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called an altered state of mind, altered mental status (AMS) or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. It describes induced changes in one's me ...

without the use of drugs. Houston and Masters' 1972 book ''Mind Games'' detailed their findings that

guided imagery Guided imagery (also known as guided affective imagery, or katathym-imaginative psychotherapy) is a mind-body intervention by which a trained practitioner or teacher helps a participant or patient to evoke and generate mental images that simulat ...

and specific programs of bodily movement could reprogram the brain toward more integrated ways of experiencing the world.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

called ''Mind Games'' "one of the two most important books of our time". Houston taught at

Marymount College, Tarrytown Marymount College, Tarrytown (also known as Marymount College of Fordham University) was a women's college in the United States which eventually became part of Fordham University. The Marymount campus was located in Tarrytown, New York. The las ...

, from 1965 to 1972. She was a lecturer at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

for less than a year in 1961. Her interest in anthropology brought about a close association with

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...

, who lived with Houston and Masters for several years before her death in 1978. In 1982, Houston began teaching a seminar based on the concept of "the ancient mystery schools". Houston explores the ancient idea of

entelechy In philosophy, potentiality and actuality are a pair of closely connected principles which Aristotle used to analyze motion, causality, ethics, and physiology in his ''Physics'', ''Metaphysics'', '' Nicomachean Ethics'', and '' De Anima''. Th ...

and proposes that individuals possess an innate potentiality which motivates their experience and actions. A technique she advocates for acknowledging and developing this inner spiritual self involves imagining the realization of one's potential in full embodied form in order to integrate it with one's present physical self.

Controversy

During the first term (1993–1997) of the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

, First Lady

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, while she was writing ''

It Takes a Village "It takes a village to raise a child" is a proverb that means that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. Attributions T ...

'' (1996), invited Houston to work with her in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

as an advisor. Houston facilitated a creative thinking, role-playing exercise wherein Clinton engaged in imaginary dialogues with

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

and

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs ...

's book ''The Choice'' revealed this exercise publicly in 1996. After both the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' and the '' Daily News'' labeled Houston "Hillary's Guru" and the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'' dubbed her the "First Lady's Spiritual Adviser", ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine reported that Houston had "suddenly found herself the hapless butt of a thousand gags". When the media subsequently "beat a path to her door", Houston was compelled to explain that "We were using an imaginative exercise to force her ideas, to think about how Eleanor would have responded to a particular problem." Houston said: "I have never been to a seance."

Selected writings

*''Mystical Dogs: Animals as Guides to our inner Life'', Inner Ocean Publishing (2002), *''Jump Time: Shaping Your Future in a World of Radical Change'', Sentient Publications (2nd edn 2004), *''The Passion of Isis and Osiris: A Union of Two Souls'', Wellspring/Ballantine (1998), *''A Mythic Life: Learning to Live our Greater Story'', HarperSanFrancisco (1996), *''Manual for the Peacemaker: An Iroquois Legend to Heal Self'' (with Margaret Rubin) Quest Books (1995), *''Public Like a Frog: Entering the Lives of three Great Americans'', Quest Books (1993), ASIN B0026SIU0G *''The Hero and the Goddess: The "Odyssey" as Mystery and Initiation'', Ballantine Books (1992), *''Godseed: The Journey of Christ'', Quest Books (1988), *''A Feminine Myth of Creation'' (with Diana Vandenberg, in Dutch), J.H. Gottmer (1988), *''The Search for the Beloved: Journeys in Mythology and Sacred Psychology'', Tarcher (2nd edn 1997), *''The Possible Human: A Course in Extending Your Physical, Mental, and Creative Abilities'', Tarcher (2nd edn 1997), *''Life Force: The Psycho-Historical Recovery of the Self'', Quest Books (2nd edn 1993),

With Robert Masters

*''Mind Games'', Doubleday (1972), *''Listening to the Body: The Psychophysical Way to Health and Awareness'', Delta (1979), *''The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience'', Park Street Press (2000 edn) (1966),

Film and television appearances

Nightline' Face-Off: Does God Have a Future?"
ABC Nightline program March 2010. With

Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author, New Age, new age guru, and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthi ...

Sam Harris Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, determinism, neuroscience, meditation ...

, and

Michael Shermer Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of '' Skeptic'' magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientif ...

.
Oprah and Jean Houston on the Hero's Journey
'' Super Soul Sunday'' (OWN TV), November 2012.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Jean 1937 births Living people 21st-century American philosophers American non-fiction writers American people of Italian descent American spiritual writers Barnard College alumni Fordham University faculty Graduate Theological Foundation alumni Hunter College faculty Nautilus Book Award winners New Thought writers People of Sicilian descent Religious Science clergy Union Institute & University alumni Writers from New York City