Title: Director
Company: Transpersonal Institute of San Francisco
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Dr. James Eyerman, MD, DLFAPA, director of the Transpersonal Institute of San Francisco, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Doctors for dedication, achievements, and leadership in psychiatry and psychopharmacology.
With a career spanning nearly 45 years and academic contributions stretching back even further, Dr. Eyerman has established a strong reputation for developing cutting-edge techniques in the world of psychiatry. His professional life began as a medical director with Baptist Children’s Home in 1981 and the Maharishi Ayurveda Medical Center in 1989. In 1991, Dr. Eyerman joined the Masters and Johnson Institute as the director of the sexual trauma, PTSD and stress programs. He later contributed as a psychiatric consultant for Saint Louis University’s department of child neurology.
Dr. Eyerman’s most noteworthy advancements in the psychiatry space started in 1988, when he became a facilitator for the holotropic breathwork method of therapy. Originated by Stanislav Grof, whom Dr. Eyerman counts as a teacher and inspiration, holotropic breathwork involves the use of rapid breathing techniques to encourage relaxation and personal growth in patients. Building on his interest in this space, he became the director of the Transpersonal Institute of San Francisco in 1989, where he emphasizes a holistic approach to psychiatry that utilizes biological, psychological, family-social and psychospiritual well-being. In addition to his continued role as the director of that organization, he has served as a psychiatrist at La Cheim Inc. since 2002 and as a part-time staff member of Napa State Hospital since 2008.
Eager to continue helping others and advocating for his insights into psychiatry, Dr. Eyerman established his own practice in 2001, where he specializes in holotropic breathwork, psychopharmacology and ayurvedic medicine. The latter is a traditional approach to medicine that has been in use in India for thousands of years. Dr. Eyerman operates an ayurvedic spa, comparing his approach and worldview to that of renowned medical guru Deepak Chopra. He has also helped teach others as an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and Touro University California since 2005.
Prior to embarking upon his professional journey, Dr. Eyerman built a strong foundation in his education. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in classics, classical languages, literatures and linguistics from the College of the Holy Cross in 1969. Subsequently, Dr. Eyerman earned an MD from Saint Louis University School of Medicine in 1974, followed by completing a residency in psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis in 1978. He was certified as a doctor of medicine by the Medical Board of California in 1978 and in psychiatry and neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1980.
Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Eyerman is most proud of his research paper, “Clinical Report of Holotropic Breathwork in 11,000 Psychiatric Inpatients.” This groundbreaking piece was published in the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Bulletin in 2013. For this paper, Dr. Eyerman conducted a study employing holotropic breathwork in treating 11,000 patients over the course of 12 years. Throughout the study, he achieved positive results from more than 80% of participants with no adverse reactions reported, marking a major addition to research into the efficacy of holotropic breathwork.
When he’s not working with patients, Dr. Eyerman enjoys traveling with his wife, especially to Europe and South America. He finds joy in sailing, running trails and hiking in the Himalayas. Looking to the future, Dr. Eyerman is eager to continue developing his integrative psychiatric practice, including exploring further use of psychedelics in the therapeutic process. He also plans to implement other alternative treatment options, such as creative arts therapy, dance and trance. Dr. Eyerman also plans to give a talk at the European Transpersonal Association Symposium in 2025.
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Holistic Integrative Psychiatry with James Eyerman
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