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Thinking anew
Published in Susan Crowther, Joy at Birth, 2019
The different expressions of specialness in this inquiry point to a commonality of a unifying peak experiential moment that can be defined as spiritually meaningful. The interpretation of peak experience in this inquiry resonates with Maslow’s (1964) peak experience as one in which there is a sudden joyful unifying phenomenon inducing spiritual feelings. The experience of joy at birth in this inquiry showed itself as such a peak experience. These birth peak experiences have been suggested in previous works, albeit they have not emphasised the unifying quality that Maslow suggested (Hoffman et al., 2012; Schneider, 2012; Crowther and Hall, 2017; Lahood, 2007; Moloney and Gair, 2015). Peak spiritual experiences are shared at birth, even when not articulated and acknowledged. To be at birth affects us on some level; spiritual and existential experiences at birth gesture to something about how birth holds spiritual meaning and numinous mystery. Although these sacred qualities have been shown previously, much of this previous work across several disciplines has focused on individual experiences (Callister and Khalaf, 2010; Doherty, 2010; Etowa, 2012; Gray, 2011; Lennox, 2002; Linhares, 2012; Sered, 1991; Moloney and Gair, 2015), and not foregrounded how such sacredness can be felt by all there at the moment of birth when there is tact, sensitivity, and a turning towards joy.
The Future of Narcotic Addiction
Published in Albert A. Kurland, S. Joseph Mulé, Psychiatric Aspects of Opiate Dependence, 2019
Albert A. Kurland, S. Joseph Mulé
To understand the potential promise which the LSD experiences suggest on the basis of the paradigm outlined above requires an understanding of the evolution of the concept. The technology was developed to induce emotional experiences of such intensity that they are called peak experiences; they have been compared with religio-mystical experiences. Comparisons of these two types of experiences have indicated that despite the use of drugs to induce this state the underlying psychodynamics apparently manifest no major differences from those of a nondrug religio-mystical experience.30–32
On having only one head
Published in Roger Neighbour, The Inner Consultation, 2018
Though peak experiences are relatively infrequent, everyday life is full of lesser occasions when we are so absorbed in some activity that we lose the sense of ‘watching what we’re doing while we’re doing it’. Think of something mundane that not everybody can do but which you’ve managed to become good at, e.g. playing squash, or making pastry, or driving a car. Things done well are often done ‘without a second thought’. While you’re occupied (and in fact pre-occupied) with the activity, you presumably are noticing and responding to the various cues necessary to carry it out, but you aren’t aware of them. Your monitoring processes go on unconsciously. You don’t think twice about it; the competence is there, you have the necessary skills, and the situation releases them. Only when there’s a problem, or a choice to be made, does conscious awareness reassert itself.
Sacred kink: finding psychological meaning at the intersection of BDSM and spiritual experience
Published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 2018
Personal and lasting impressions of meaning are often seen as a result of such experiences as these whether they are called peak experiences, awakening experiences, religious experiences, or spiritual. In this case, Ps each indicated some lasting impact stemming from the live experience. For P1, he experienced what might actually be called a conversion experience as it did fall within his spiritual context and did leave with him a deep calling that forever changed his practice of spirituality and BDSM as well as his vocation. When asked what final comments he might want to make about the experience P1 concluded with: I want to say that, uh, the way I have described it may sound to some people like, oh, that sounds awful that you kind of lost your, your, uh, um … In doing this work I, I did kinda lose, I did lose my, my, uh, my recreational casual BDSM life. I did. Um, and I, I mourned that for a while but eventually I helped enough people that I came to see that this was worth it. That, that making that sacrifice and giving that up was, uh, it was worth it in terms of the amount of, of good I was able to do for the world. And, it was the right thing to have happened.
The case for environmentally-informed occupational therapy: Clinical and educational applications to promote personal wellness, public health and environmental sustainability
Published in World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 2020
The concept of habit is useful because so many of our ADLs and IADLs are done habitually, and can be altered to be more sustainable. Students commonly share in class that they do something a certain way ‘just because I’ve always done it that way’. By changing cues in our environment we can make new sustainable behaviours easier (Neal, Wood, & Quinn, 2006). For example, putting recycling bins next to the trash provides a visual reminder to recycle, setting a timer may help to shorten shower times, or seeing a reusable towel in the kitchen may decrease the use of disposable paper towels. Identity can further one's participation in sustainable occupations and behaviours by reinforcing a chosen identity such as pet or nature-lover, hiker, or environmental steward (Christiansen, 1999). Self-efficacy can promote sustainable behaviours because it can reinforce successful sustainable behaviours. After getting her sorority house on board for Meatless Mondays, one of my students was then more motivated to take on the challenge of organising a way for her housemates to donate unwanted clothing at the end of the school year instead of throwing it in the trash (Burke, 1977; Gage & Polatajko, 1993). Transcendence can support connection to nature since natural environments are a common setting for transcendent experiences. Peak experiences, characterised by strong feelings of happiness or fulfilment, can be spiritual, mystical and usually involve acquisition of insight. When people experience this kind of cherished experience with nature, they are often motivated to take better care of nature (McDonald, Wearing, & Ponting, 2009).
Beyond LSD: A Broader Psychedelic Zeitgeist during the Early to Mid-20th Century
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2019
Jacob S. Aday, Emily K. Bloesch, Christopher C. Davoli
The effects of psychedelic drugs were also largely consistent with the goals and focus of the new “third force” in psychology, humanistic psychology, which rose to prominence in the 1950s. Humanistic psychology holds a generally positive outlook on human nature and emphasizes personal growth and greater realization of human potential. Mogar (1965) observed that psychedelic experiences are intriguing because they mesh with humanistic psychology, and he noted that the drugs may be used as a means to investigate higher thought processes or as a potentially valuable personal experience. The latter is congruent with an area of particular interest for humanistic psychologists—peak experiences. In fact, the father of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow, was deeply interested in psychedelic research, but never partook himself because of a cardiac condition (Richards 2017). Further, recent research has validated early humanists’ interest in psychedelics as a means of promoting prosocial behavior and as a way of inducing peak experiences. Indeed, it has been argued that psychedelic use may promote a shift in values from those that are self-centered to those that are more global (Roberts 2013). In support of this contention, a recent study found that lifetime psychedelic use is associated with pro-environmental behavior and this relationship was statistically explained by one’s self-identification with nature (Forstmann and Sagioglou 2017). With respect to peak experiences, Griffiths et al. (2006) found that two-thirds of their participants reported their psilocybin session as being one of the top five most meaningful experiences of their life. In the broader psychedelic zeitgeist, humanistic psychology’s emphasis on peak experiences, self-actualization, spirituality, and prosocial behavior meshes better than other schools of thought in psychology with the themes of psychedelic experience.