Transpersonal Psychology

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic had serious impact on the well-being of health care workers and highlighted the need for resources to help hospital staff to cope with psychologically negative consequences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potentially protective effect of spirituality, as measured by the construct of transpersonal trust, against anxiety in physicians and in hospital pastoral care workers. In addition, transpersonal trust was compared to the effects of other potential resources, namely sense of coherence, optimism, and resilience...

INTRODUCTION: Labyrinth walking is an integrative contemplative practice that aims to engage the body, heart, mind, and spirit. In this article, qualitative findings from the first year of a mixed methods study on collective labyrinth walking with a shared intention are described. This form of labyrinth walking is distinct in that it is a social contemplative practice. It expands upon most of the labyrinth walking research to date which has been focused upon the individual. More specifically, practitioners walk labyrinths together in solidarity with the same intention in mind during collective labyrinth walking...

OBJECTIVE: The aim: This paper deals with anxiety or fear-related disorders and philosophical interpretations of the phenomena of fear and anxiety. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The authors used integrative anthropological approach, interpretive research paradigm, hermeneutical approach. The data collec¬tion was carried out using Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar databases. Research papers were identified according to search terms: "anxiety or fear-related disorders", "fear", "anxiety", "phobia", "psychology", "psychotherapy", "mental health", "philosophy", "being-in-the-world", "human existence"...

The many well-documented cases of paranormal phenomena in the Philippines may be interpreted as manifestations of the intuitive and deeply empathic interpersonal dynamics of Filipinos and the seemingly transpersonal nature of their individual psyches. A heightened sense of cultural empathy may explain various telepathic or prophetic experiences that are very common to the point of being an ordinary experience. The spirits of folklore, which are said to have observable effects in the physical world, indicate a continuum from material to spiritual, and implies that the individual mind goes beyond the self and recognizes separate, sentient expressions of their own psyche in nature...

OBJECTIVES: Dimensional approaches suggest psychotic symptoms exist along a continuum, with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) being an expression of a non-clinical psychosis phenotype. Existing research indicates self-criticism may contribute to symptom maintenance, frequency and distress, whereas self-compassion may act protectively. Associations between self-criticism, self-compassion and PLEs in the general population have received less attention. The present study sought to investigate these associations...

The current scoping review describes qualitative research on self-transcendence (ST) in older adults. Articles from five databases were independently screened and data were extracted from predetermined categories. Results were compared and consensus reached through discussion. The two leading theorists guiding the chosen studies were Pamela Reed and Lars Tornstam. Experiential language in the studies most often touched on intrapersonal and interpersonal ST. Two main gaps identified in the literature were: (a) limited coverage of transpersonal aspects of ST, and (b) limited inclusion of experiential language of study participants...

OBJECTIVES: Within the multidisciplinary team, there can sometimes be lack of clarity as to the specific different contributions of each of the psycho-social-spiritual professionals: social workers, psychologist, and spiritual caregivers. This study examined the content of their end-of-life conversations with patients. METHODS: A total of 180 patients with terminal cancer received standard multidisciplinary care, including conversations with a social worker, psychologist, and spiritual caregiver...

This study aims to describe the spiritual characteristics of sexual victimization and the recovery journey of survivors via applying spiritual principles, in order to harness the findings for the development of the theory of Spiritual Victimology. Two research questions were asked: what spiritual principles characterize victimization and recovery from it, and how can spiritual perceptions assist survivors? In a phenomenological study, 17 sexual trauma survivors who view their recovery as a spiritual journey, 10 spiritually-oriented therapists, and 9 spiritual leaders were interviewed...

Individuals with a Religious or Spiritual Problem (RSP), as defined in the DSM-5, experience distress associated with faith-related moral dilemmas, existential meaning, and transpersonal attitudes toward other people. It is unclear whether a RSP reflects a generally heightened stress reactivity or whether the stress response is confined to religious and spiritual contexts. To elucidate this issue, we measured behavioral and physiological responses during social-evaluative stress (public speaking-Trier Social Stress Test) and in religious/spiritual contexts (Bible reading and listening to sacred music) in 35 individuals with RSP and 35 matched participants...

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the concept of men's health care and identify its essential, antecedent and consequent attributes in the health context. METHODS: This is a concept analysis structured in the theoretical-methodological framework of the Walker and Avant Model. An integrative review was carried out between May and July 2020, using keywords and descriptors: Men's Care and Health. RESULTS: The concept of men's health care is structured by 240 attributes, 14 categories, 82 antecedents and 159 consequents, from the selection of 26 published manuscripts...

This study explores the psychometric properties of the transpersonal gratitude scale (TGS) in the Indian context. It also examines the relationship between transpersonal gratitude, spiritual well-being, and distress. The psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the TGS were evaluated with the help of two studies. In the first study, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) reported a four-factor solution. These four factors- expression of gratitude, value of gratitude, transcendent gratitude, and spiritual connection- explained 74...

The mainstream empirical research has always viewed gratitude in its triadic form involving a typical human giver, gift, and receiver. But it is not the same in the case of transpersonal gratitude. Instead, it is directed towards abstract entities beyond self like God, their own state of being, or the cosmos. The previous literature had affirmed that a selfless attitude and better mood could determine overall gratitude. But this relation is not mainly known in the context of this newer form of gratitude. Indian young adults ( N  = 456) completed  scales on transpersonal gratitude, trait meta-mood, and ego-grasping orientation-a Taoist concept...

OBJECTIVES: There is growing recognition of the value of researching anomalous experiences in the general population to aid our understanding of the psychosis continuum. There are key differences in aims, foci and epistemologies of existing measures, with varying utility for specific research designs. This study addresses gaps in the literature by developing a measure of anomalous experiences with utility for longitudinal (time-sensitive) research, and with particular reliability for people towards the upper (high scoring) end of the continuum...

INTRODUCTION: Ibogaine is one of the alkaloids naturally found in plants such as Tabernanthe iboga, which has been traditionally used by members of the Bwiti culture. Since the discovery of its anti-addictive properties by Howard S. Lotsof in 1962, ibogaine has been used experimentally to treat substance use disorders (SUD), especially those involving opioids. We aim to provide a detailed understanding of the underlying psychological aspects of underground ibogaine use for the treatment of SUD...

RATIONALE: A general feeling of disconnection has been associated with mental and emotional suffering. Improvements to a sense of connectedness to self, others and the wider world have been reported by participants in clinical trials of psychedelic therapy. Such accounts have led us to a definition of the psychological construct of 'connectedness' as 'a state of feeling connected to self, others and the wider world'. Existing tools for measuring connectedness have focused on particular aspects of connectedness, such as 'social connectedness' or 'nature connectedness', which we hypothesise to be different expressions of a common factor of connectedness...

Positive psychology has paved the way for newer and more informed ideas of living a meaningful, integrated and well-rounded quality of living. The current era of the pandemic has also moulded the ways in which individuals perceive their quality of life and how they want to integrate a holistic approach towards their well-being. The workplace settings have seen tremendous changes in terms of how employers, employees and the organisations at large function and operate. The pre-pandemic concept of success has shifted its focus from hard work to developing grit among employees to increase the overall efficiency of the organisations...

Background: Although middle-aged adults in Korea are vulnerable to depression, there are few preventive interventions for depression in middle adulthood. Studies consistently suggest that interventions that include both spouses are effective in decreasing depression and relationship distress. Considering the busy lives of middle-aged couples, it is essential to develop an online-coaching blended couple-oriented intervention. This study aimed to describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of an online-coaching blended couple-oriented intervention using an online program and coaching via videoconference to prevent middle-aged couples' depression; this was done using an intervention mapping (IM) protocol...

The study focused on the adventure-based experiential learning (ABEL) component of the North-West University peer helper training program. The aim of this study was to explore and describe a group of peer helpers' subjective experiences of their participation in an ABEL program, with a focus on how these experiences related to the concept of grit. A total of 26 students at the North-West University, both male and female, participated in the study. A qualitative research approach with a case study research design was used...

BACKGROUND: Given the absence of a brief scale that reconciles and encompasses different conceptual definitions of well-being (physical, psychological, social and spiritual), the present research aimed at developing and validating a Comprehensive Well-Being Scale (CWBS) that encompasses these different conceptual definition and extend the definition of well-being to transcendental well-being among individuals in recovery of mental illness. The present research focuses on testing the scale among people in recovery of mental illness so that a brief and theoretically comprehensive scale would be available for mental health organization to evaluate the well-being of service users, and to develop and evaluate well-being related services...

RATIONALE: Supporting people to live well with dementia is an international government priority. People living with dementia experience a range of positive emotions despite the challenges associated with dementia. Further research is needed to explore how these positive experiences can be fostered to support well-being. There is empirical evidence of the benefits of gratitude in other clinical groups, but no studies have explored how gratitude is experienced by people living with dementia...