Growth and development are central constituents of the human experience. Although the American Psychological Association aims to understand change and behavior in ways that embrace all aspects of experience (APA, 2008), sudden, life-altering or quantum transformation has been disregarded throughout the history of psychology until recently (see Miller & C' de Baca, 1994, 2001). Quantum transformation is similar to self-surrender conversion (James, 1902), but different from peak experiences (Maslow, 1964) and near death experiences (Lorimer, 1990) because quantum transformation, by definition, involves lasting change. Quantum transformation contains epistemic qualities, which refer to the content and process of knowing (Miller & C' de Baca, 2001), but little is known about these qualities. The current study employed a qualitative method to better understand the epistemic qualities of quantum transformation. Fourteen participants were extensively interviewed about their experience. Analysis involved hermeneutic methods (Kvale, 1996) and phenomenological description (Giorgi & Giorgi, 2003). Quantum transformation is essentially a process of knowing that unfolded in the form of Disintegration, Insight, and Integration in the present study. First, Disintegration is presented by themes of Overwhelming stress, Relational struggle, Hopelessness, Holding-on, Control, Psychological turmoil, Self-discrepancy, and Guilt. Second, Insight is presented by the Content and Tacit knowing of the experience. Third, Integration is presented by Changes in values, Other-orientation, and A process of development. The results suggest that the disintegration and the suffering that characterizes the pre-transformation milieu inform how quantum transformation relates to lasting change. Therapists that automatically aim to alleviate moral-emotional sorrow or guilt should consider whether the emotional experience can bring about positive transformation. Overall, quantum transformation has potentially major implications for our understanding of personality change and moral development.

This theses concern with psychological aspects of dying and death. Its purpose is to comprehend ideas of modern people concerning death and dying (eventually to gain some kind of mental representation of death). Theses consist of two parts, theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part concerns at first with death and dying and areas connected to those. Then it covers two quite new areas related to this topic, namely deaht in psychology and various explanations of death including their psychological explanation. The empirical part uses qualitative research (used methods are half-structured interview, free aassociations and marginally also analysis of a drawing) on people's conception of death, their explanation of death and feelings related to the topic, their fears and wishes. The findings are of qualitative character and they were obtained from 28 respondents. The results of empirical part could provide valuable psychological material in the area, that is even nowadays still concidered to be a taboo. They could deepen research in the area that, due to the overall aging of population, would be more and more valuable. Keywords: death, dying, mourning, burial, death in psychology, spirituality, deaht and religion, afterlife, spiritism, near-death experience

OLIVEIRA, Eliane Silva . A construção da experiência espiritual e sua problematização como lugar de superação dos limites do paradigma biomédico: uma contribuição para a reflexão sobre espiritualidade na educação médica. 2008. 300f. Tese (Doutorado em Educação) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Educação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Brasileira, Fortaleza-CE, 2008. / Submitted by Maria Josineide Góis (josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-07-06T16:42:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_Tes_ESOliveira.pdf: 5055380 bytes, checksum: 6690f585c1751699f8e17f646eeb71b3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-07-10T13:29:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_Tes_ESOliveira.pdf: 5055380 bytes, checksum: 6690f585c1751699f8e17f646eeb71b3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-07-10T13:29:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_Tes_ESOliveira.pdf: 5055380 bytes, checksum: 6690f585c1751699f8e17f646eeb71b3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / This thesis presents a qualitative research about the development of the spiritual experience and it’s problematization on how overcoming the limits of the biomedical paradigm, and proposes to contribute on the reflection about spirituality in medical education in three situations: the context in which the mothers of opt to use transcendental explanations for their experiences in the Nursery Mother Kangaroo in the hospital Maternidade Escola Assis Chateaubriand; along subjects who search for an specific group of people, prayers, in the Family Health Program Novo Iracema, in Maranguape; and through the narratives of subjects who have gone through near-death experiences and near-death simile (out-of-body experience). The research uses as thematic methodology the oral history (an anthropologic method of research – individual science), using semi-structured interviews, with transdiciplinary approach , in a multireferential perspective, which were meant as an attempt at a plural reading, using distinct reference systems; obtaining the narratives of the subjects of the subjects about their reflections over the development of the spiritual experience throughout the processes of ailment and cure; proposing to study what these experiences point as a perspective of overcoming limits of the biomedical paradigm. The narratives were recorded, transcripted and analyzed, according to the theoretical references of this thesis: science of education, medical science and the spiritist theory in it’s religious aspect, philosophical and scientific. The analysis presented in the course of this study lead to the understanding: of the need for a new concept for the human being (as an spiritual being); of the need to consider the symbolic productions that alludes to a transcendental dimension, considering the spiritual phenomena which must be taken under consideration in medicine. The near-death experiences, and the out-of-body experiences suggest the existence of an out-of-body individuality, conscious, with identity, intelligence, memory, with transcendental abilities, capable of having experiences with other spiritual beings, which must be considered in the medical practice, especially in the relationship doctor-patient with subjects in coma and close to death and rethink the reanimation period and he criteria used to establish the success of these maneuvers; that of multireferential study utilizing the sipiritist theory, in the religious perspective, philosophical and scientific should be made, developing the medical-spiritist paradigm as a relative contribution for medicine / Esta tese apresenta uma pesquisa qualitativa, sobre a construção da experiência espiritual e sua problematização como lugar de superação dos limites do paradigma biomédico e se propõe a contribuir para a reflexão sobre espiritualidade na educação médica em três cenários: no contexto em que as mães recorrem a explicações transcendentais quando na enfermaria Mãe-Canguru na Maternidade Escola Assis Chateaubriand; junto aos sujeitos que buscam os rezadores no Programa de Saúde da Família Novo Iracema, em Maranguape; e através das narrativas de sujeitos que vivenciaram experiência de quase-morte (EQM) e experiência de quase-morte símile (desdobramento). A pesquisa tem como metodologia a história oral temática (método de pesquisa antropológico – ciência do indivíduo), utilizando entrevistas semi-estruturadas, com uma abordagem transdisciplinar, numa perspectiva multirreferencial, ou seja, uma leitura plural, utilizando sistemas de referências distintos; obtendo as narrativas dos depoentes acerca das reflexões sobre a construção da experiência espiritual nos percursos educacionais vividos nos processos de adoecimento e cura; com o objetivo de estudar o que essas experiências apontam como perspectiva de superação dos limites do paradigma biomédico. As narrativas foram gravadas, transcritas em seguida foi realizada a análise, cotejando com o referencial teórico desta tese: ciência da educação, ciência médica e o pensamento espírita em seu aspecto religioso, filosófico e científico. As análise no corpo deste estudo, levaram à compreensão: da necessidade de uma nova conceituação do sujeito humano (como ser espiritual); da necessidade de se considerar as produções simbólicas que remetem à dimensão transcendente, considerando os fenômenos da ordem espiritual, como fenômenos que devem ser considerados em medicina; as experiências de quase-morte e os desdobramentos sugerem a existência de uma individualidade extra-corpórea, consciente, com identidade, inteligência, memória, dotado de faculdades transcendentes, capazes de vivenciar experiências como seres espirituais, as quais devem ser levadas em consideração na prática médica, principalmente na relação médico-paciente com sujeitos em coma e no momento do processo de morte e repensar o tempo de reanimação e os critérios utilizados para determinação do sucesso dessas manobras; de que estudos multirreferenciados utilizando o pensamento espírita, na perspectiva religiosa, filosófica e científica deverão ser realizados, desenvolvendo o paradigma médico-espírita, como contribuição relevante para a medicina

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Near-death experiences (NDEs) are altered state of consciousness with mystic and transcendent content most commonly occurring in life-threatening situations. Explanatory hypotheses for near-death experience have ranged from brain dysfunctions and psychological reactions to mind-brain independence. The central issue is whether NDE can be fully explained by the brain activity or alternative mechanisms need to be considered. The present Master s Dissertation examines a literature review of NDE which concludes proposing that the mind-brain independence hypothesis is needed for the investigation of NDE given the experiential and physiological features of the phenomenon and speculative status of the available hypotheses. / Experiências de quase morte (EQMs) são estados alterados de consciência com conteúdo transcendente e místico normalmente ocorrendo em situações de risco de morte. Hipóteses explicativas para experiência de quase morte abrangem de disfunções cerebrais e reações psicológicas à independência mente-cérebro. A questão central é se EQM pode ser explicada completamente pela atividade cerebral ou mecanismos alternativos precisam ser considerados. A presente dissertação examina uma revisão de literatura de experiência de quase morte propondo que a hipótese de independência mente-cérebro é necessária para a investigação da EQM dada as características fisiológicas e experienciais do fenômeno e o estatuto especulativo das hipóteses disponíveis.