Houston, Jean (1939-)

Professor of psychology, formerly an actress and New York City Drama Critics award-winning playwright. She was born May 10, 1939. Houston taught at Columbia University and the New York School of Social Research. She collaborated with her husband, Robert E. L. Masters, on the book The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience (1966). Together the couple organized the Foundation for Mind Research in New York in 1964 to conduct experiments on the borderland between mental and psychical experiences.

Jean Houston received negative media attention in 1996 for her work with Hillary Clinton. She was attacked by her contemporaries as a medium attempting to channel the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt and Ghandi, when in fact Houston's technique resembled more a brainstorming session. This is a session in which the patient explores the inner self through various exercises. Clinton was merely creating imaginary conversations with such individuals. Bob Woodward in his 1996 book, The Choice, brought the sessions to the attention of the general public. In the wake of the Clinton scandal, Houston continued to author books (A Passion for the Possible: A Guide to Realizing Your Full Potential, 1997) while reclaiming her position as a respected psychologist in the field of human potential.

Sources:

Houston, Jean. Lifeforce. New York: Delacorte Press, 1980.

——. The Search for the Beloved: Journeys in Sacred Psychology. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1987.

Masters, Robert E. L., and Jean Houston. Listening to the Body. New York, Delacorte Press, 1978.

——. Mind Games: The Guide to Inner Space. New York: Viking, 1972.

——. A Passion for the Possible. San Franciso: Harper San Francisco, 1998.

——. Passion of Isis and Osiris. New York: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998.

——. The Possible Human. Upland, Penn.: DIANE Publishing Co., 1998.

——. The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1966.