Research is always work in progress. The perspectives expressed in these papers are being constantly affected by Life’s ongoing revelation – they are but snapshots not the landscape itself. I hope that any paper is subordinated to the reader’s own experience. Where they do resonate, may they encourage.
Provides background on the politics and history of our experience and its loss of meaning in science and discovery. Explores “participation” as the reclaiming of one’s experience as valuable and the resulting possibility of being present to another’s. The paper pursues a set of questions designed as prompts for the reader’s reflection as well as being the structure of the author’s contemplation.
Explores the nature of alignment between (and beyond) a practitioner and a patient, and the relation of alignment to the modern concept of the “therapeutic alliance.” Uses heuristic inquiry grounded in the researcher’s contemplation of her practice.
The findings of this research provide a rarely-reported, first-hand perspective on the farther reaches of human development and existence. This perspective challenges some of the conventional “givens” of psychological theory. The findings report: experience of external forces in the process of realization, views of existence over the course of many lifetimes, the critical role of one’s direct experience in moral development, the role of tension as essential to transformation, the importance of perseverance and practice in realizing, and the correlation between disconnection from self and brutality to others.
Prepared for CCPE Diploma Program – 2009-2012
A beginner’s introduction to research methods. Emphasises qualitative methods from the transpersonal and participatory viewpoints (see above).
Prepared for CCPE MA Program – February 2012
The qualitative research study reflects experience as the centre of the human understanding. This paper explains the process of meaningful, thorough and alert data analysis in generating a valuable research study.
Prepared for CCPE MA Program – March 2008-2011
Notes on the transformative process of one’s research inquiry and the critical role played by methodology as the container of observation and, ultimately, transformation.
Prepared for CCPE MA Program – March 2011
Considers the implications of referring to Others in research; an overview of data collection methods, approaches to interviewing, and considerations when planning to interview Others.
Prepared for CCPE MA Program – March 2011
Emphasises the importance of self awareness in the researcher whether researching Others or Self. This has particular significance for those using the Heuristic method but is relevant for any qualitative researcher in the psychotherapeutic field.