Psychology Commons^™

Consciousness And The Reality Of Monsters In Horror Movies: Dehumanization And What Monsters In Horror Films Say About Us

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This essay responds to Carroll’s The Nature of Horror from the perspective of transdisciplinary phenomenological film theory, largely developed by Edgar Morin in the 1950s. It argues that Carrolls’s reduction of the phenomenological value of horror films to an unreal category minimizes and even dismisses the inherent value of horror films. Morin, Allan Combs, and others offer more integral and transdisciplinary methods for art interpretation and functionality. They help us understand how monsters in horror films can stand as mirrors and reflections of the monstrous in ourselves and society. Thus, the transformational function and value of film is revealed and …

Woman Flytrap, Brianna Jo Hobson

Student Theses and Dissertations

Woman FlyTrap is a short story zine collection that explores the topic of sexual violence through the perpetrator and victim relationship with an explicit lens. Replete with cultural and entomological themes and motifs, Woman Flytrap seeks to remind survivors that we are not alone. In our bodies or in our lives. Neither in the world. There are over a million insects to every human, proving that there is strength in numbers. All five stories in the collection present different abstracts: revenge, transformation, justice, healing, body image, self-harm, mourning, etc. There is also a playlist and a section about the author. …

Deconstructing Consciousness In Art, Leila Kincaid

Journal of Conscious Evolution

To the extent that art mirrors consciousness, what does the art of any age have to tell us about where we are as a species and civilization? In this paper, I suggest that modern and postmodern art reveal the tendency toward deconstruction, of our identities, as selves, as cultures, as a civilization. Through this process of deconstruction, there is a space offered to us through the experience of art, of freedom to recreate ourselves, our identities, and our sense of purpose and meaning in the cosmos. Grounding the inquiry in texts from various authors in the field of art history …

Transformative, Noetic, And Transpersonal Experiences During Personal Development Workshops, Helané Wahbeh, Cassandra Vieten, Garret Young, Agnes Cartry-Jacobsen, Dean Radin, Arnaud Delorme

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

The global personal development market was valued at $38.28 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow an additional 5% from 2020 to 2027. Many of these workshops promise to be transformational. This secondary analysis study examined transformative, transpersonal, and noetic aspects of personal development workshops. We found that 74% of post-survey records endorsed that participants experienced a moment of clarity or profound insight during their workshop. In addition, 66% endorsed that participants had experienced at least one noetic experience, and 84% endorsed at least one transpersonal experience. These analyses provide preliminary evidence for the transformational potential of personal development …

The Varieties Of Spiritual States Triggered By Sex: A Systematic Review Of The Empirical Literature, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This systematic review integrates the empirical evidence of spiritual experiences triggered by sexual activity, including studies by 10 authors. Despite venerable sexual meditative traditions of embodied spiritual practices, such as Hindu Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taoism, empirical studies of sexual spiritual experiences are in their infancy. This review presents the range of sexual altered states experiences identified to date and how they qualify as spiritual experiences phenomenologically and in terms of their lifechanging effects. Seventeen distinct sexual-spiritual states have been identified across authors, with 4 others identified at significant levels in qualitative studies by individual authors. As an emergent area …

Transformative, Noetic, And Transpersonal Experiences During Personal Development Workshops, Helané Wahbeh, Cassandra Vieten, Garrett Yount, Agnes Cartry-Jacobsen, Dean Radin, Arnaud Delorme

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The global personal development market was valued at $38.28 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow an additional 5% from 2020 to 2027. Many of these workshops promise to be transformational. This secondary analysis study examined transformative, transpersonal, and noetic aspects of personal development workshops. We found that 74% of post-survey records endorsed that participants experienced a moment of clarity or profound insight during their workshop. In addition, 66% endorsed that participants had experienced at least one noetic experience, and 84% endorsed at least one transpersonal experience. These analyses provide preliminary evidence for the transformational potential of personal development …

From Me To We: A Phenomenological Inquiry Into Group Beingness, Stacey K. Guenther

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

To be human is to be a member of myriad groups. The universality of groups in our lives poses an important area of study for social scientists investigating human flourishing. Additionally, inquiring into the evolutionary potential of groups may begin to inform new ways of addressing the intractable issues we face as a human species. While most empirical studies of groups focus on group performance, or group doingness, this study explored group beingness and the experience of manifesting deep union and oneness, which is an intersubjective phenomenon that has been called coherence. Intersubjective coherence is often written about from a …

Positive Psychological Transformation: A Mixed Methods Investigation Into Catalysts And Processes Of Meaningful Change, Nick Fortino, Paul Dommert Jr., Nadia Santiago, Jen Smith

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This mixed methods study investigated the experience of positive psychological transformation, including its catalysts, dynamics, supportive factors, and outcomes. The first phase of the study was a 13-item survey (N=130) that revealed trends and associations in participants’ experiences of transformation. The most significant correlation was between “expressing myself” and change stabilization (p < .01). Forty-four percent of participants reported trauma or emotional distress as the main catalyst of their transformation. Each of the other three main catalysts (dissonance, adaptation, and inspiration) drew approximately 18% of responses. Connecting with nature (71%), introspection (65%), solitude (63%) and empathy (61%) were commonly reported supportive factors. Common changes related to participants’ way of interacting with others (77%), perception (75%), and emotional patterns (70%). The process of transformation differed substantially depending on multiple factors including the catalyst and demographic categories. Additionally, the survey revealed a trend of moving away from organized religion toward a sense of being spiritual but not religious. The second phase of the study consisted of interviews with a portion of the participants who reported trauma as the main catalyst of their transformation (n = 26) and was focused on the experience of posttraumatic growth. Thematic analysis revealed that transformation is typically initiated by a series of traumatic events and that the process of transformation can involve impaired well-being/functioning before elevated well-being/functioning. The results of thematic analysis were consistent with existing data on posttraumatic growth.

The Varieties Of Spiritual States Triggered By Sex: A Systematic Review Of The Empirical Literature, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This systematic review integrates the empirical evidence of spiritual experiences triggered by sexual activity, including studies by 10 authors. Despite venerable sexual meditative traditions of embodied spiritual practices, such as Hindu Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taoism, empirical studies of sexual spiritual experiences are in their infancy. This review presents the range of sexual altered states experiences identified to date and how they qualify as spiritual experiences phenomenologically and in terms of their lifechanging effects. Seventeen distinct sexual-spiritual states have been identified across authors, with 4 others identified at significant levels in qualitative studies by individual authors. As an emergent area …

Positive Psychological Transformation: A Mixed Methods Investigation Into Catalysts And Processes Of Meaningful Change, Nick Fortino, Paul Dommert Jr., Nadia Santiago, Jen Smith

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This mixed methods study investigated the experience of positive psychological transformation, including its catalysts, dynamics, supportive factors, and outcomes. The first phase of the study was a 13-item survey (N=130) that revealed trends and associations in participants’ experiences of transformation. The most significant correlation was between “expressing myself” and change stabilization (p < .01). Forty-four percent of participants reported trauma or emotional distress as the main catalyst of their transformation. Each of the other three main catalysts (dissonance, adaptation, and inspiration) drew approximately 18% of responses. Connecting with nature (71%), introspection (65%), solitude (63%) and empathy (61%) were commonly reported supportive factors. Common changes related to participants’ way of interacting with others (77%), perception (75%), and emotional patterns (70%). The process of transformation differed substantially depending on multiple factors including the catalyst and demographic categories. Additionally, the survey revealed a trend of moving away from organized religion toward a sense of being spiritual but not religious. The second phase of the study consisted of interviews with a portion of the participants who reported trauma as the main catalyst of their transformation (n = 26) and was focused on the experience of posttraumatic growth. Thematic analysis revealed that transformation is typically initiated by a series of traumatic events and that the process of transformation can involve impaired well-being/functioning before elevated well-being/functioning. The results of thematic analysis were consistent with existing data on posttraumatic growth.

Agency, Atonement, And Psychological Theories Of Change: A Latter-Day Saint Christian Perspective, Richard N. Williams, Edwin E. Gantt

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

This paper interrogates the relationship of the hard determinism inherent in the theories and models currently on offer in mainstream psychology and the current trends in psychotherapeutic approaches. It foregrounds the seeming contradiction between the emphasis placed on mastering and incorporating discipline-specific knowledge – which clearly assumes scientism and hard determinism – and the emphasis placed on practitioners to develop a coherent theory of change as part of their approach to effective clinical practice. We argue that hard determinism and strategies for facilitating genuine therapeutic change and transformation are incompatible where there is no clear, coherent view of human beings …

Creatively Exploring Self: Applying Organic Inquiry, A Transpersonal And Intuitive Methodology, Larisa J. Bardsley Phd

The Qualitative Report

This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is most effectively applied to areas of psychological and spiritual growth. Organic Inquiry is a research approach where the psyche of the researcher becomes the instrument of the research, working in partnership with the experiences of participants and guided by liminal and spiritual influences. Organic Inquiry is presented as a unique methodology that can incorporate other non-traditional research methods, including intuitive, autoethnographic and creative techniques. The validity and application of Organic Inquiry, as well as its strengths and limitations are discussed in the light of the …

An Introduction To Transformative Inquiry: Understanding Compelling And Significant Relationships For Personal And Societal Transformation, Mark L. Mccaslin, Kelly A. Kilrea

The Qualitative Report

Transformative inquiry is a theoretical model designed to facilitate the inquiry of important and meaningful relationships that transform and potentiate us. Creswell (2007) described the essential elements of a research agenda: the axiological, ontological, epistemological, methodological, and rhetorical. Each carries with it assumptions that hold implications for practice and research. Transformative inquiry addresses all of these elements through considerations given to deep ecology, transdisciplinarity, integral meta-theory, heuristic research, and eudaimonistic philosophy, respectively. Transformative inquiry is an approach to understanding and fostering the full range of deep and meaningful relationships from the personal to the political, and beyond. It is a …

Sexuality, Esoteric Energies, And The Subtleties Of Transmutation Versus Transformation, Barnaby B. Barratt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Transpersonal perspectives on the meaningfulness of being human, and especially the significance of subtle energy teachings, necessitate a rethinking of the notion of sexuality, beyond definitions in terms of sex acts, biological endowments, or perhaps even the complex fantasia of desire. This redefining of the erotic dimension of human life leads both to appreciation of healing as inherently sexual and to understanding how the processes of transmutation by the forces of subtle energies profoundly differ from the transformations that representation of thoughts, feelings, and wishes may undergo. Cognitive access (including that of reflective selfconsciousness) to these forces is inevitably limited …

The Alchemical Vessel, River Soma

MFA Statements

My work comes from a place of deep feeling on a bodily level. Amidst the decorative play, there is a sense of the primitive and primordial, and also a certain humanity and clumsiness through struggle. Through the hermetic tradition I relate the alchemical vessel and its symbolic process of interior development to my artistic practice. Focusing in mixed media sculpture, I discovered a concentrated accumulation of symbolism specific to my practice, but also the full recognition of my practice as a ritualized psychological undertaking.

An Illustration Of Cooperative Inquiry Design: Finding Our Way To Precious Knowledge, Together, Susan L. Ross

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Although transpersonal psychology and practices are inherently holistic, vitally informed by an ontology of interconnectedness, and fundamentally open to practices that challenge hegemonic norms in research practices, the use of participatory methods that implement these ideals, remains scarce. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the details of the transpersonal research I co-conducted, which used Cooperative Inquiry to analyze the transpersonal phenomenon of psychospiritual transformation, for researchers and practitioners who seek an example to guide their investigations. My intent is to stimulate enthusiasm for this method by providing an overview of cooperative inquiry followed by a detailed account of …

How To Make An Orchestra Alone: A Critical, Experiential Performance Of Ben’S Year In The Mountains, Ben Kusserow

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

This paper shares the hour-performance traveled from the boat house to the middle of the dam on Diablo Lake, WA. There were two distinct activities in each of the four sections. In each section, Ben shared a story from his year in the NCI Graduate Residency program. He then engaged the audience in some critical thought leading into an activity.

The Extreme Phronesis Of Percy Cerutty: A Narrativized Life History Of A Legendary Sports Coach, David Turner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper presents and interprets a narrativized coaching life history of the Australian athletics coach Percy Cerutty (1895-1975). Through a relational process of self-improvement and practical wisdom sometimes called phronesis, Cerutty exemplifies an intimate interconnectedness with his own and others’ experiences, with the natural environment, and with the transformative capacities of such influences, as often highlighted in transpersonal literature. Three potential themes are offered from the resultant meaning-making: a feel for the game, phronesis, and the coach as a paradoxical figure. Those themes are also interwoven with a consideration of how Cerutty’s story and practices might link to aspects of …

Feeling Seen: A Pathway To Transformation, Michaela Simpson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Chronic exposure to racial indignities can engender a subjective sense of invisibility, in which an individual feels that the dominant culture fails to recognize one’s worth, abilities, and talents. The sense of feeling unseen can permeate myriad aspects of the lived experience and negatively impact well-being. Using the case of an African American male in therapy with an African American female psychotherapist, this article presents how implicit and explicit acts of recognition of the patient and acknowledgment of race, integrated into a change-oriented and experiential psychotherapeutic process can facilitate transformational experiences. This case study seeks to highlight the importance of …

How The Phoenix Took Wing: An Examination Of The Humanities Canon As It Relates To The Psychology Of Posttraumatic Growth, Stephen Dalton

Senior Theses

The investigation of posttraumatic growth as a psychological principle is giving researchers new ways to understand how it is that some people seem to thrive following events that are normally perceived as tragic and wholly negative. These survivors do not just bounce back from their tragedies; the researchers describe these people as “bouncing forward” – that is, the survivors report that their lives now are profoundly better than they were before the trauma. While the psychological research into posttraumatic growth is relatively new, the field of Humanities has conducted this same inquiry for several thousand years. For example, Friedrich Nietzsche …

Belief Is Not Experience: Transformation As A Tool For Bridging The Ontological Divide In Anthropological Research And Reporting, Bonnie Glass-Coffin

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

For more than a hundred years, anthropologists have recorded stories of beliefs in other-than-human sentience and consciousness, yet we have most frequently insisted on contextualizing these stories in terms of cultural, epistemological, or ontological relativism. In this paper, I ask why we have had such a hard time taking reports of unseen realms seriously and describe the transformative role of personal experience as a catalyst for change in anthropological research and reporting.

Sexuality As A Transformational Path: Exploring The Holistic Dimensions Of Human Vitality, Samuel A. Malkemus, Mariana T, Romero

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article explores a holistic vision of human sexuality by contrasting it to the prevailing

trend of “cognicentrism” in sexological studies. To this end the authors propose that a

novel understanding of sexuality as a creative force of life energy can greatly enhance such

cognicentric approaches. Such a proposal rests on a holistic approach to human nature that

has been developed over many years of educational and clinical application. Within this

holistic vision, the role of a human multidimensional cognition that is somatically rooted in

bodily nature assists the articulation of sexuality as a transformational life path of embodied

spirituality, …

Contemplative Education: How Contemplative Practices Can Support And Improve Education, Judith Johannes

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to explore how contemplative education can have a viable role in education. In the first part of this thesis I will share my own personal experience with contemplative practices and how they led to my personal growth and transformation.

The second part will give some brief insights about the benefits the ancient wisdom traditions Hinduism and Buddhism attributed to contemplative practices. They claim that those practices help to reach a state of expanded awareness and stillness of the mind. Contemplative practices such as mindfulness, which is a Buddhist meditation technique, were used to better …

The Logical Structure Of Dreams And Their Relation To Reality, Jeremy Barris

Humanities Faculty Research

The contradictions and non sequiturs often found in dreams (or, equivalently, dream-narratives) are not in fact logical errors, but express and work with a type of logic that characterizes the deepest dimensions of our waking reality. These are the dimensions in which we deal with ourselves as a whole, our lives as a whole, or with the sense of reality as a whole. We do so, for example, in situations of deep personal transformation, or of recognition of deep difference of outlook. The paper argues that the logic of these situations is validly one of contradiction and non sequitur, that …

The Grofs’ Model Of Spiritual Emergency In Retrospect: Has It Stood The Test Of Time?, Darlene B. Viggiano, Stanley Krippner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The purpose of this essay is to review the Grofs’ model of spiritual emergencies. The authors

ask: Has the model been useful for identifying and treating psycho-spiritual distress? Should

it be amended? Spiritual emergency can be defined as a crisis involving religious, transpersonal,

and/or spiritual issues that provides opportunities for growth. Spiritual emergence, meanwhile,

lends itself to gentler transformation. The research methods include an archival literature

review triangulated with an authoritative interview. The findings are that the Grofs’ model

of spiritual emergencies was ahead of its time and that the medical establishment needs to

catch up. Adaptations and revisions that …