Quantum Change: When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform Ordinary Lives - Hardcover

Miller, William R.; C'de Baca, Janet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 157230667X ISBN 13: 9781572306677

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 2001

Synopsis

Most of us walk through each day expecting few surprises. If we want to better ourselves or our lives, we map out a path of gradual change; perhaps in counseling or psychotherapy. University of New Mexico psychologists William Miller and Janet C'de Baca were longtime scholars and teachers of traditional approaches to self-improvement when they became intrigued by a different sort of change that was sometimes experienced by people they encountered--something often described as "a bolt from the blue" or "seeing the light." And when they placed a request in a local newspaper for people's stories of unexpected personal transformation, the deluge of responses was astounding. The vivid, moving stories they gathered form the basis for this compelling book.

Exploring the experience of "quantum change" through the lens of scientific psychology, the book identifies two kinds of sudden personal transformation: insights and the more mystical epiphanies. Some participants in the authors' study accepted their experiences as products of rarely tapped inner resources; others as gifts from a higher power. Many recounted their epiphanies and sudden insights in exquisite detail years after the fleeting event, describing such enduring results as a greater sense of meaning in life, a shift in values or goals, or freedom from unhealthy behaviors. Closely examining the life conditions and personality traits in place both before and after the quantum change occurred, the book shows that such experiences are not as uncommon as typically believed, nor are they easy to toss aside as wishful thinking or passing delusions. The authors draw from research findings and psychological theory to address fascinating questions about where quantum change comes from, why some of us experience.

About this title

About the Author:

William R. Miller, PhD, is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. He has published 40 books, including Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, and his many scientific publications reflect his interests in the psychology of change, the treatment of addictions, and the interface of psychology and spirituality. The Institute for Scientific Information lists him as one of the world's most cited scientists.
Janet C'de Baca, PhD, received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of New Mexico. She is currently a research scientist with the Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest, in Albuquerque. Her professional interests include cross-cultural psychology and the prevention and treatment of addictive behaviors.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Contents
I. The Context
1. Something Old, Something New
2. The Landscape of Quantum Change
3. Before
II. Insights
4. The Insightful Type of Quantum Change
5. Boom
6. Taking the AA Train
7. A Mirror and Two Roses
8. Awakening
9. Ripples
III. Epiphanies
10. The Mystical Type of Quantum Change
11. The Reluctant Mystic
12. Something Like a Star
13. A Voice in the Fireplace
14. At Pecos
15. Trampoline
IV. Reflections
16. After
17. Are Quantum Changes Always Positive?
18. What Happened?
19. Messages to Humankind
Epilogue
An Invitation
Appendix. Values: What Matters Most to You?
Notes

About this edition

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 157230667X
• ISBN 13: 9781572306677
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 212