The aim of the research was to explore the universal experience of internalised othering utilising creative techniques common to transpersonal psychotherap

Callaghan, Jane

Gordon-Finlayson, Alasdair

Turner, Dwight

English

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Relating to the other: a transpersonal exploration of our internalised experience of difference

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This work has been submitted to NECTAR, the Northampton ElectronicCollection of Theses and Research.Conference or Workshop ItemTitle: Relating to the other: a transpersonal exploration of our internalisedexperience of differenceCreators: Turner, D., Callaghan, J. and Gordon-Finlayson, A.Example citation: Turner, D., Callaghan, J. and Gordon-Finlayson, A. (2014)Relating to the other: a transpersonal exploration of our internalised experience ofdifference. Poster presented to: British Association for Counselling &Psychotherapy (BACP) Annual Research Conference, London, 16-17 May 2014.Version: Presented versionhttp://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/6826/NECTARPrinting:Relating to the Other: a transpersonal exploration of our internalized experience of difference Dwight Turner, Dr Jane Callaghan, Dr Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson.  University of Northampton & Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education (CCPE)Aims and PurposeThe aim of the research was to explore the universalexperience of internalised othering utilising creativetechniques common to transpersonal psychotherapy.Research Background• This research asserts our experience of othernessto be one we all encounter, and grounds itself inthe I/Thou & in particular the I/It relational ideas ofBuber (1937/2010) where the other is objectifiedby a subject.• Creative techniques of active imagination andvisualisation were therefore selected to entice theinternalised symbolic experience of thisphenomena from the unconscious (Jung, 1968;Stevens, 1990).• In its use of creative techniques this researchpresents a route for psychotherapy to assist clientsin understanding their own sense of difference(Rowan, 1993).Methodology25 participants were interviewed to explore theirexperience of being different. The stages involved:• A semi-structured interview in which the participantdiscussed their various experiences of being theother.• The participant was asked to visualise a pastexperience of othering, reconnecting with the feltexperience in the body, and then drawing theimage that came up for this memory.• Finally, Moustakas’ (1994) PhenomenologicalResearch method was utilised to analyse the data.This involved creating textual and structuralpictures of the participant experience of differenceallowing this researcher to present a collectiveunderstanding of the other and therefore its actualnature.To highlight the universality of this experience thispaper will now present a single atypical case studyexample .Case Study ExampleDiscussionConclusionWorks CitedBuber, M. (1937/2010). I and Thou. USA: Martino Publishing Limited.Jung, C. G. (1968). Analytical Psychology: Its Theory and Practice. New york: Vintage Books.Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological Research Methods.UK: Sage Publications.Stevens, A. (1990). On Jung. UK: Penguin Limited.Rowan, J. (1993). The Transpersonal: Psychotherapy and Counselling. London: Routledge.To offer now, a single case study: Michael was a 32year old Scottish man for whom being a twin meanthe experienced being singled out as the other as achild. He suggests that his experience of being theother he says led to a lifelong conflict with his brother.Two of the themes that arose are:• Conflict between self and other. Discussing hisrelationship to his brother: “we could have literallykilled each other, and one during one particularfight at about 10 or 11, I broke his arm and hebroke my nose.”• Other sacrifices self for majority. Talking aboutthe abuse he endured: “I wasn’t the only person init, but it was kind of escalating and escalating andit was somebody who my parents knew. This manwould drive us to school, so it was horrendous.And I think I saved xxxxxxx in some way, andsaved my family.”In undertaking the visualisation Michael presented anhis experience of feeling unseen by his teacher. Inbringing forth a symbol for his experience, Michaelsubsequently drew the following:The image Michael drew was of himself being heldunderwater by a pair of hands, with bubbles of airescaping from his mouth. As he said of the image, “Ithink I mind it, life and death, in that I’m under wateran this is air and I die ……I’m going really blank, um,it’s life and death, or living and dying. Existing andnot existing.• For Michael, his internalised sense of othernessinvolved his questioning his very existence,• The internalised sense of otherness produced afeeling of needing to kill something off withinhimself, and he clearly experienced the self-destructive impulse from his being an outsider• Being other also led to a belief he should sacrificehimself for the subject. He believed this led to theabuse he suffered.The singular example presented here is typical of thedifficult collective internalised sense of differenceuncovered by this research. Most participantspresented imagery representative of how difficult forthem this experience of othering was.Through the presentation of this singular example,this study highlights the credibility of combiningcreative methods common to psychotherapy with aphenomenological methodology to ascertain thehuman experience of a phenomenon universal to usall.Image 1: Michael’s Internalised Other

Relating to the other: a transpersonal exploration of our internalised experience of difference

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