<p>Paracosms, or imaginary worlds, are phenomena only recently taken into account by the field of psychology, with only a smattering of publications on the topic. Whereas previous research has focused primarily on paracosms’ creative contributions to society, the perspective of this thesis postulates the value and role of the paracosm as it serves the internal system of the psyche. The paracosm is explored in its self-preserving function: an internal world that the psyche builds to replicate the infantile experience of wholeness through contact with a continuous selfobject. In this way the psyche is seen as maintaining itself through imaginal involvement in a paracosm, mirroring the self as world, when there is no external selfobject available. Hermeneutic and heuristic approaches utilize both the research of previous theorists and the author’s reflections on her own paracosmic activity in discussing the positive and negative aspects of paracosms as a psychological, trauma-related coping mechanism. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1527608 |
| Date | 09 May 2014 |
| Creators | Konkin, Serena F. |
| Publisher | Pacifica Graduate Institute |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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