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The imaginal experience that transforms Harcourt, Kathryn Anne

Abstract

The vivid imaginal experience, as an instance of Maslow's (1968) peak-experience, was studied through the existential-phenomenological method of research. Data were gathered through interviews and examined using a protocol analysis (Colaizzi, 1978). The meaning of the experience was explicated through a description of the major themes which comprised the experience. It was found that the imaginal experience producing positive and lasting change involves a psychological process whereby the individual, whose focus is drawn by a problem, attempts to find a solution. In the search, one withdraws, lets go of control, and achieves a state of openness, during which a visual, auditory or kinesthetic experience occurs. After the experience, one feels resolved, changed, whole and integrated. One has a sense of having touched something higher in oneself and in the universe. The knowledge and perception gained from the experience draw one forward on a journey. One might experience difficulty as one's values change and at times seem in direct conflict with the values of society. Nevertheless, one feels one cannot go back to where one was, and continues searching for "the more in life."

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