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A Meeting of Souls:

A heuristic inquiry into transpersonal experience in therapeutic relationships

Anissa Chung

What led me to this study?

Personal Therapy

Significant Change Clinical Practice

Three Key Themes

Significant Personality Change Transpersonal Experience Qualities in therapeutic relationship

Transpersonal

transcendence, self- actualisation

Relational Depth

intimacy, resonance, attunement, soul to soul

Secure Attachment

• penness, presence,

valued, connectedness, authenticity, tenderness, love

Nurturing

trust, care, understanding, support, comfort, acceptance, compassion, safety, containment

Psychological Contact

non-possessive warmth, engagement, empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard, respect

I-It Instrumental Self I-Thou Authentic Self Self-transcendent Transpersonal Self

Intrapersonal & Interpersonal

Hierarchy of Emotional Engagement

Spirituality

Common themes:

• Meaning and purpose of life
• beliefs, truths and ultimate values
• connection – with self, others, God/higher power

and nature

• transcendence – expanding self-boundaries
• becoming who one is.

(Swinton: 2001, p.25; West 2000; West 2011, p.16-17)

Intrapersonal

• the quest for

inner connectivity

Interpersonal

• deep

relationships with others

Transpersonal

• reaching

beyond self &

• thers into the

transcendent realms of experience

3 dimensions:

(Hurding 1992; Johnson 2013; Jones and Butman 1991; Lines 2006; Pargament et al 2006; Swinton 2001)

Spirituality

Peak Experience

(Transcendence needs)

Self-actualisation

(Highest needs)

Mental/Emotional

(Higher needs)

Physiological

(basic needs)

Beyond self- actualisation, there is a need for transcendence, for ‘we need something bigger than we are to be awed by and to commit

• urselves to’.

(Maslow 1976)

Spirituality and the Transpersonal

It ‘puts us in touch with the sacred, the numinous, the holy – the soul, the spirit, the divine’.

(Rowan 2005, p.1)

Grof (1975) succinctly defines transpersonal experience as an expansion or extension of consciousness beyond ego boundaries and beyond the limitation of time and/or space.

Spirituality and the Transpersonal

What is the transpersonal?

Spiritual Realm

(religious/secular)

Therapeutic Relationship Transpersonal

• peak experience
• client’s profound &

transformational moments of connection with

• self (intrapersonal)
• an other (interpersonal)
• the Great Other (transpersonal)

Definition of Transpersonal in this Research

• Heuristic Inquiry (Moustakas 1990)
• Involves researcher & participants
• Immersion  construct new

understanding

Method

• Semi-structured Interviews
• Involved 5 experienced therapists
• Recorded data transcribed &

analysed

Design

R E S E A RC H

Participants

Betty Carol Doug Ella Ada

Therapeutic Relationship

Client Presentation

Relational Experience

Awareness

• f

Spirituality

• in a state of

turmoil

• self-reliant
• hard to trust
• thers to

meet their needs.

• trust & safety
• loved unconditionally
• everything a good

mother should be

• implicit unconscious

trust from day one

• responsiveness, care,

deeply held.

• spiritually

attuned

• openness
• freedom ‘to

go there’.

Research Findings

Instrumental Self – doing Authentic Self – being

Therapist’s use of self (Rowan & Jacobs 2002)

Relational Essence Presence (Rogers 1980)

Relational Depth

(Mearns & Cooper 2005)

I-Thou

(Buber 1970)

Relational Depth

soul to soul, intimacy, resonance, attunement

Secure Attachment

connectedness,

• penness, valued,

presence, authenticity, tenderness, love

Nurturing

trust, safety, care, understanding, support, comfort, acceptance, compassion, containment

Psychological Contact

non-possessive warmth, engagement, empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard, respect

Intrapersonal & Interpersonal I-It Instrumental Self I-Thou Authentic Self

Transpersonal Experiences

What are the triggers? The triggers (Keutzer 1978) were often natural events: a dialogue a dream a drawing physical exercise body gestures. One was supernatural – in this case a religious vision.

Instrumental Self – doing Authentic Self – being Transpersonal Self

– self transcendent

Therapist’s use of self (Rowan & Jacobs 2002)

A meeting of souls

Wilber (1980) sees the transpersonal as the fine line between psychotherapy and the

• spiritual. For him, it functions like a springboard for individuals to move from

psychotherapy into the spiritual realm.

• timeless, awe-inspiring, freeing, turning point,

pivotal moment, sacred, profound depth of connection, beyond words

Momentous

• profound sense of loss & calm, release, grief &

goodness, alive & bereft, intimately known, deeply moving

Heightened Emotions

• this is real, confirming, permission giving

Affirmation Phenomena:

Transpersonal Experiences

transpersonal experience

turmoil

transcendence

surrender resolution Transpersonal Experience Existential Shift (Noble 1987) Self-transformation (Owens 1972)

joy & wonder (ecstasy) profound growth & healing

(Thorne 2012; West 2004)

From Transpersonal to Transformation

Therapeutic Change

‘trust…everything…to be OK’ ‘starting the journey into forgiveness’ ‘I was believed…understood’ ‘[her] acceptance meant my experience was allowed to be normal’ ‘I…let go and…float’.

It is heartening that each participant found resolution:

Implications to Clinical Practice

As a therapist: ‘I am a secure base for my clients’ ‘able to give out…because [I] have received’ ‘something that could…be held and contained…that…couldn’t be done…in other ways’ ‘equipped to take client to those places’ ‘I feel I’ve got the capacity…’

The participants have described a full circle: they now offer to their clients a depth of experience that they themselves have received.

Personal Therapy

Significant Change

Clinical Practice

Caveats

• In my experience, not all therapeutic work needs to include

a transpersonal experience in order to be effective.

• Transpersonal experiences happen unexpectedly: they

cannot be manufactured, manipulated or brought about at will.

• Therapists need to be aware of the temptation to
• veremphasise the occurrence of transpersonal experiences

and run the risk of searching for any trigger, which may derail the therapeutic work.

Transpersonal

transcendence, self- actualisation

Relational Depth

intimacy, resonance, attunement, soul to soul

Secure Attachment

• penness, presence,

valued, connectedness, authenticity, tenderness, love

Nurturing

trust, care, understanding, support, comfort, acceptance, compassion, safety, containment

Psychological Contact

non-possessive warmth, engagement, empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard, respect

I-It Instrumental Self I-Thou Authentic Self Self-transcendent Transpersonal Self

Intrapersonal & Interpersonal

Hierarchy of Emotional Engagement

BUBER, M. (1970) I and Thou (trans. W. Kaufmann). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. GROF, S. (1975) Realms of the Human Unconscious. New York: The Viking Press. HURDING, R. (1992) The Bible and Counselling. London: Hodder and Stoughton. JOHNSON, R. (2013) Spirituality in Counselling and Psychotherapy: An Integrative Approach that Empowers Clients. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. JONES, S. & BUTMAN, R. (1991) Modern Psychotherapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal. Illinois: Intervarsity Press. KEUTZER, C. (1978) Whatever turns you on: Triggers to transcendent experiences. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. (18).

• p. 77-80.

LINES, D. (2006) Spirituality in Counselling and Psychotherapy. London: Sage. LINES, D. (2006) Spirituality in Counselling and Psychotherapy. London: Sage. MASLOW, A.H. (1976) Religions, Values and Peak-Experiences. New York: Penguin Books. MEARNS, D. & COOPER, M. (2005) Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy. London: Sage. MOUSTAKAS, C. (1990) Heuristic Research: design, methodology, and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. NOBLE, K.D. (1987) ‘Psychological Health and the Experience of Transcendence’. The Counselling Psychologist 15(4), 601- 614. NOLAN, S. (2012) ‘Being fully present’. Thresholds spring, 6-9.

References

OWENS, C. M. (1972) The mystical experience: Facts and values. In: White, J. (ed). The highest state of consciousness. New York: Anchor Books. ROGERS, C.R. (1980) A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ROWAN, J. & JACOBS, M. (2002) The Therapist’s Use of Self. Maidenhead: Open University Press. ROWAN, J. (2005) The Transpersonal: Spirituality in Psychotherapy and Counselling. 2nd Ed. East Sussex: Routledge. SHELDRAKE, P. (2012) Spirituality: A very short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. THORNE, B. (1991) Person-centred Counselling: Therapeutic & Spiritual Dimensions. London: Whurr Publishers. THORNE, B. (2012) Counselling and Spiritual Accompaniment: Bridging Faith and Person-centred Therapy. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PARGAMENT, K.I., DESAI, K.M. & MCCONNELL, K.M. (2006) Spirituality: A pathway to posttraumatic growth or decline? In: Calhoun, L.G. & Tedeschi, R.G. (eds). Handbook of Posttraumatic Growth: Research and Practice. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. SWINTON, J. (2001) Spirituality and Mental Health Care: Rediscovering a ‘Forgotten’ Dimension. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. WEST, W. (2000) Psychotherapy & Spirituality: Crossing the line between therapy and religion. London: Sage. WEST, W. (2011) Spirituality and Therapy: The Tensions and Possibilities. In: West, W. (ed). Exploring therapy, spirituality and healing. London: Palgrave Macmillan. WILBER, K. (1980) The Atman Project: A Transpersonal View of Human Development. Wheaton: The Theosophical Publishing House.