Joan Z. Borysenko, Ph.D.

How did a Harvard trained medical scientist become a mystic? In reality, it was the other way around. At the age of 10, Joan experienced 6 months of an alternate reality, what modern psychiatry would label psychosis and obsessive compulsive disorder. One day, while praying fervently for help, all fear and confusion parted to reveal a luminous reality of exquisite love, surpassing peace, and practical wisdom that guided her to an almost instantaneous recovery. Her journey to hell and back birthed a lifelong fascination with healing, the roots of consciousness, and the realm of Spirit. Weaving together biology, psychology, and spirituality in a credible, accessible way is her soul's purpose.

Joan's doctorate is from the Harvard Medical School where she subsequently completed postdoctoral fellowships in cancer cell biology, psychoneuroimmunology, and behavioral medicine. In 1987, her New Times bestseller, Minding the Body, Mending the Mind (revised in 2007 for it's 20 year anniversary edition) described the program of mental and physical healing that she and her colleagues pioneered at a leading Boston hospital. She has authored or co-authored a dozen other books about healing, inner peace, and the spiritual journey, along with numerous audio programs and guided meditation CD's. Joan is also a licensed psychologist, a journalist, a renowned inspirational speaker, and a television personality.

Her lifelong interest in mysticism and the world's religions culminated in co-founding The Claritas (Latin for clarity and illumination) Institute for Interspiritual Inquiry with her husband, organizational psychologist Gordon Dveirin, Ed.D. The Institute has programs to train spiritual mentors, offers spiritual guidance to individuals and corporations, and hosts seminars and retreats. Joan and Gordon's new book, Your Soul's Compass: What is Spiritual Guidance? reveals how we can co-operate with the living field of possibilities to align with the emerging good in any situation.