T.L. ORCUTT
Author - Novelist - Philosopher

PSYCHOLOGY BIO

T.L. Orcutt entered this world in 1945 and grew up in Los Angeles, California. He received his B.A. in Psychology in 1967 and his M.A. in Philosophical Foundations of Education in 1969 from California State University @ Northridge. With a passion for Asian systems of liberation, humanistic psychology and existential psychotherapy, he studied extensively under Viktor Frankl and favored the works of Fritz Perls, Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, Roberto Assagioli, Karl Jaspers, Jean-Paul Sartre, Carl Jung, John C. Lilly, Lawrence LeShan, Thomas Szasz, and R.D. Laing. Completing his phenomenological dissertation on Experiencing Authentic Creativity, in which he compared the consciousness and phenomenon of self-evolution with the creative process, he received his Doctor of Philosophy [Ph.D.] degree in Human Behavior from the Graduate School of Leadership and Human Behavior, United States International University @ San Diego in 1971.

At age 26, his first postdoctoral position was as an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Staff Counselor at the College of Racine in Wisconsin. Four years later, Orcutt commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps of the U.S. Navy. He completed his Clinical Psychology Internship at U.S. Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland with an externship in Psychodrama at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C. Following his internship, he accepted a two year staff appointment at U.S. Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia where he was on the faculty of Eastern Virginia Medical School. He was later certified in clinical hypnosis by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, in cognitive psychotherapy by Harold Greenwald of the Direct Decision Therapy Institute, and became a Qualified Supervisor with the American Group Psychotherapy Association. Orcutt was licensed in Pennsylvania, California, and Arizona as a professional psychologist, and in California as a Marriage, Family, and Child Counselor.

Following military service, Orcutt taught at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and after a year returned to San Diego where he taught on the graduate faculty of the University of Humanistic Studies and shared the position of Dean of Academic Affairs at the Professional School of Psychological Studies. He was a Founding Member of the San Diego Group Psychotherapy Society, served as Director of Psychological Services at Rancho Bernardo Pain Rehabilitation Center, and conducted a private practice in professional psychotherapy for 16 years. Orcutt was a consultant to numerous hospitals and organizations including the Psychiatry Department of the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego where for 22 years he trained nearly eighty psychiatrists in group psychotherapy, receiving the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 1988-89.

MYSTICAL AND PARANORMAL BIO
 
In a parallel life, Orcutt has been involved as a practitioner of inner traditions: transpersonal, paranormal, mystical, meditative, and esoteric studies since the early 60s. His first astrology reading was given to him at age ten by a friend’s mother associated with Manly P. Hall at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles.

In his twenties, he studied tai chi chuan and kung fu with Liang-Ting Shuk for eight years and aikido for three years with Richard Kadlubowski and Ben Sekishiro. During this time Orcutt shared grins with Alan Watts, George Nakashima, and Gia-Fu Feng, also studying Silva Mind Control and diligently reading Carlos Castaneda’s works as they emerged.

In his thirties through early forties he focused on Zen, Taoism, and Tibetan Buddhism, and was synchronistically led to meet Geshe Lobsang Tsephel, representing His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The important mystical and paranormal experiences during this time were reported in his 1995 edition of Magicians of the Soul: Exploring the World of Paranormal and Mystical Experiences.

For the past ten years, Orcutt focused on the Western Mystery Tradition. In particular, he studied the occult and Kabbalistic wisdom of sacred tarot, a continuation of work he had begun in his thirties. In 2003, having completed examinations, requirements, and over ten thousand professional divination readings, Orcutt was conferred the title of Tarot Grand Master by the Tarot Certification Board of America. Also, during this time he became a Scottish Rite Freemason and completed initiations through the 32nd Degree.