Frances Vaughan, Ph.D., a psychologist in Mill Valley, California, is the author of Awakening Intuition, The Inward Arc: Healing in psychotherapy and spirituality, and co-editor of Paths Beyond Ego, and Gifts from A Course in Miracles. She has served as president of the association for the transpersonal and humanistic psychology and as a trustee of the Fetzer Institute.

Vaughan calls on a trove of sources, including ancient myths, mystical teachings, world religions, and the work of eminent psychologists, to point the way toward spirituality as a path to wholeness. A transpersonal psychologist herself, Vaughan utilizes case studies to show instances in which clients who integrated a spiritual awareness with the driving force of the ego were able to resolve inner conflicts and attain a more peaceful life. Vaughan also reflects on deeply enmeshed attitudes toward sex and death, the ability to love, and the meaning of soul and its relation to gender. A concerned voice and contemplative demeanor distinguish the author's compassionate guidance. Whether characterizing a healthy spiritual freedom or illuminating the practice of spirituality in daily life, the writing is always engaging and lucid.