Extraordinary experiences in its cultural and theoretical context

Abstract

The growing complexity, opaqueness and specialization of many areas of life and - above all - a booming psychological and esoteric market create the necessity for counselling and advice for individuals who encounter so-called 'paranormal' experiences. These experiences are often interpreted as 'transpersonal' or 'spiritual', depending on the cultural background and religious traditions. The term 'spiritual crisis' has become a fashionable diagnosis with some transpersonal psychotherapists. Paranormal experiences, regardless of their acceptance of academic psychology and psychiatry, are still a taboo subject in society. The Parapsychological Counselling Office in Freiburg is a professional unit with governmental support, which helps individuals to cope with such experiences adequately. The work and responsibilities of the counselling centre are presented. A large collection of cases in the form of letters, which were sent in by individuals wanting to communicate their unusual or extraordinary experiences have been analysed. Some of the results are reported here. Finally, we discuss a special form of 'inexplicable experiences' based on a theoretical model. Its recommendations seem counter-intuitive but are ultimately successful. The model starts from a system-theoretical viewpoint and uses concepts such as complementarity and entanglement of generalized quantum theory (GQT) and the model of pragmatic information (MPI). Since it turned out that individuals who contact the counselling centre also offer their own interpretations and 'explanation', the question arises, how these resources can be used to help clients.

A Longitudinal Case Study: The Development of Exceptional Human Experiences of Senior Ecclesiastical Professionals in the Catholic Church

“…Phenomenologically, there seems to be similarities between psychotic states and some exceptional spiritual experiences (Lukoff 1990;Lukoff and Lu 1999). Naming and describing these spiritual experiences will help to "normalize" some of these experiences (Lucadou and Wald 2014). Through training interventions, participants are provided with the platform to deliberate, investigate and to make sense of these spiritual encounters.…”

Exceptional human experiences in the life and creative works of Paulo Coelho: A psychobiographical investigation.

“…Encouraged by the EHEs experienced, Coelho gained interest in practicing magic as a coping strategy and a healing source—as described by Simmonds-Moore (2012)—to gain power and cope with the higher forces, as experienced through his membership in the Satanist group. He thereby managed to transform the negatively experienced EHE into a positive way of gaining control and remaining mentally healthy which can be interpreted as a change in his basic attitudes and behavior initiated by an EHE (as in von Lucadou & Wald, 2014). By aiming at using positive magical powers in his own interest, he experienced an increase in (mental) power, self-assurance, control, and influence which supported him to gain mental strength and well-being.…”

“…EHEs are often studied in the context of mental health, meaningfulness, spirituality, and transformative change throughout life (Mayer & Viviers, 2014a, 2014b). They might lead to a change in basic attitudes and behavior (von Lucadou & Wald, 2014), or, if experienced negatively, to spiritual crisis (Wardell & Engebretson, 2006).…”

The Development of The Occult-Demonic Syndrome Scale (ODSS-1)

“…Christian priests and pastors, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists, may often be confronted with humans whose experiences and sufferings are or can be attributed to the occult. Often these cannot be adequately addressed, and may not even be clearly classified, interpreted, and understood outside this framework (Bufford, 1989(Bufford, , 2008Lucadou & Wald, 2014).…”