Research Interests

Spiritual intelligence, Integral education, Scholarly methodologies, Social factors in human-machine interaction, Interpersonal psychology, Poverty, Intentional ordeals, Queer theory, Neurodiversity.

Biography

Christopher Dryer is a passionate educator, scholar, and consultant. Before joining the core faculty at CIIS, they were Chair of the Clinical Psychology Department at Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University). They taught as Associate Adjunct Professor at CIIS in the Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, and Community Mental Health Departments. At Stanford University, they were Teaching Fellow at the Institute for Communication Research, Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Language & Information (CSLI), and Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Psychiatry Department of the School of Medicine.

Dr. Dryer has a private practice as an industrial psychologist and consultant. They have served numerous startup and Fortune 500 clients, including eBay, Microsoft, and Walt Disney. Previously, they were Senior Engineer at Adobe Systems and Research Staff Member at IBM Research. Their work has shaped many popular products and services, including Disney+, Adobe InDesign, IBM OS/2, and Microsoft Office.

Dr. Dryer’s other passions include art, cinema, ecstatic dance, live action/tabletop roleplaying, and parenting.

Education

Stanford University. PhD Psychology. PhD minor Communication. Summa cum laude.

Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business. MBA. Summa cum laude.

University of Pennsylvania. BA Psychology & Communication. Magna cum laude.

Awards & Distinctions

Dr. Dryer has earned five international patents and over $1 million in research grants. Their awards include Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Gamma Sigma, Psi Chi, Benjamin Franklin Scholar, and honors at graduation in both psychology and communication from the University of Pennsylvania. They have authored more than 50 articles, chapters, presentations, and films published by venues including Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Applied Artificial Intelligence, and European Transpersonal Association. Dr. Dryer’s work has been featured in various media, including New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Psychology Today, and on television and radio.

Courses

Current Courses

Assessment I: Psychometric Theory

Dissertation Proposal Writing I

Research Methods I: Quantitative Research

Social Psychology

Statistics

Previous Courses at CIIS

Assessment & Research in Counseling Psychology

History & Systems of Psychology

Research Design & Statistics I: Quantitative Research & SPSS Lab

Research Design & Statistics II: Qualitative Inquiry

Community Mental Health Research Methods

Publications

Full list of publications here.