Biography

EDUCATION & EARLY CAREER

James Norwood, PsyD was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1991 and lived in the San Gabriel Valley suburbs until he graduated from college at age 20. Dr. Norwood commenced full-time university work at age 15 through the Early Entrance Program at the California State University of Los Angeles, leaving unattended the last three years of high school. While his B.A. was in the broader arena of Communication Studies and Rhetoric, his primary focus was on the practice of public speaking and debate, which he pursued both in study and competition.

Through the course of Dr. Norwood’s undergraduate career, he began his own personal therapy to address a variety of trying life circumstances at that time. Simultaneously, personal experiences with psychedelic substances exposed him to their potential to further catalyze therapeutic processes. Inspired by these psychedelic and therapeutic experiences and their profound transformation of his life, James Norwood decided to embrace a career in therapy, but not before pursuing his lifelong passion for adventure and culture by traveling to Beijing, China for six months, where he taught English and American History to children and university students respectively.

Upon Dr. Norwood’s return to the United States, he attended Sofia University in Palo Alto (formerly known as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) to study with the likes of James Fadiman, Ph.D. and David Lukoff, Ph.D., scholars who have done a great deal to understand and legitimize the therapeutic use of psychedelics on the one hand and to destigmatize and promote humane treatment of extreme states on the other. Sofia University’s program incorporated the study of the psychological contributions of Sufism, Buddhism, Aikido, expressive arts practices, and others. After two years of study, Sofia University’s PsyD program underwent a collapse which coincided with financial difficulty in the institution. Therefore, Dr. Norwood continued his studies at The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, CA.

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS & CURRENT ROLES

At The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), James Norwood essentially restarted his studies, except this time from a psychoanalytic perspective. Dr. Norwood also continued his study of psychedelic therapy here, working with Evan Sola, PsyD, and Frank Echenhoefer, PhD to publish a dissertation exploring the experience of “integration” of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. Additionally, at CIIS he met Michael Guy Thompson, Ph.D., a psychoanalyst, and existential philosopher who would become his clinical mentor for many years to come.

Working alongside Michael Guy Thompson, Ph.D., Dr. Norwood became Program Director of Gnosis Retreat Center, a project to create a home for people experiencing psychosis that would serve as an alternative to incarceration in hospitals and forced medication. In this role, he organized public lectures, fundraising events, and monthly salons exploring the universality of experiences often deemed “crazy” and how to more humanely “treat” those most ostracized by the current mental health system.

Currently, Dr. Norwood is Associate Director of The New School for Existential Psychoanalysis and Clinical Director of The Free Association Clinic for Psychotherapy. He has also presented papers at various institutes and continues to organize online public salons through The New School for Existential Psychoanalysis.