Transformative Existential Experiences and the Mental Growth Stages Illustrated by Case Reports

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" Transformative Existential Experiences and the Mental Growth Stages Illustrated by Case Reports "
Berit Borgen

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1065436
Doc. No	:	LA109065
Call No	:	‭10.1163/15736121-12341319‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Berit Borgen
Title & Author	:	Transformative Existential Experiences and the Mental Growth Stages Illustrated by Case Reports [Article]\ Berit Borgen
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Archive for the Psychology of Religion
Date	:	2016
Volume/ Issue Number	:	38/1
Page No	:	89–128
Abstract	:	The article describes part of an on-going research on the processes of mental liberation and growth. The original research material is based on qualitative research methods and ethnographic in-depth interviews with drug-addicted persons undergoing treatment. The material is further analysed within a framework presented in Kazimierz Dabrowski’s theory: mental growth through positive disintegration. This framework was found to be useful in the analysis of the participants’ mental growth processes particularly due to the integration of human’s transcending ability. Participants contribute in describing how transformative existential experiences may promote the process of mental growth. Importance of activating the mental transcending ability is shown to be central in the recovery process. One profound transformative existential experience is described as the possibility to be who you are, an identity experience which elicited the genuine self. The study sheds light on human mental development when the therapy included activation of the spiritual/religious dimension. The article describes part of an on-going research on the processes of mental liberation and growth. The original research material is based on qualitative research methods and ethnographic in-depth interviews with drug-addicted persons undergoing treatment. The material is further analysed within a framework presented in Kazimierz Dabrowski’s theory: mental growth through positive disintegration. This framework was found to be useful in the analysis of the participants’ mental growth processes particularly due to the integration of human’s transcending ability. Participants contribute in describing how transformative existential experiences may promote the process of mental growth. Importance of activating the mental transcending ability is shown to be central in the recovery process. One profound transformative existential experience is described as the possibility to be who you are, an identity experience which elicited the genuine self. The study sheds light on human mental development when the therapy included activation of the spiritual/religious dimension.
Descriptor	:	creating meaning
Descriptor	:	drug addiction treatment
Descriptor	:	liberating turning points
Descriptor	:	mental growth
Descriptor	:	recovery
Descriptor	:	transformative existential experiences
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/15736121-12341319‬