Pilgrimage as Transformative Process: The Movement from Fractured to Integrated (At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries, 109)

The construct of transformation has emerged as a prominent theme in academic discourse. Based on the accepted notion that processes and living organisms are in an ongoing state of development, it is unsurprising that this concept of transformation would find resonance within literature on the pilgrimage phenomenon. Examples of transformational processes intersecting with pilgrimage are the movement from sickness to wellness, from grief to closure and from fractured to integrated. That the pilgrimage journey itself can be construed as a transformational quest was noted by Winkleman and Dubisch (2005), who stated “Life-transforming experiences are at the core of both ‘traditional’ and more contemporary forms of pilgrimage”. In the current volume, Warfield and Hetherington examine the transformational process of pilgrimage journeys. Contributors are Sharenda Holland Barlar, Anne M. Blankenship, Valentina Bold, Shirley du Plooy, Alexandria M. Egler, Miguel Tain Guzman, Kate Hetherington, Scott Libson, Chadwick Co Sy Su, Kip Redick, Roy Tamashiro and Heather A. Warfield.

Heather A. Warfield, Ph.D. (2013), North Carolina State University, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at Antioch University. She has published articles on the therapeutic value of pilgrimage and pilgrimage as healing from military combat. Her research is focused on pilgrimage as a psychological universal and the intersection of pilgrimage and wellbeing. Kate Hetherington, BSc (Hons) Psychology (1st Class) (2016), is an independent researcher within the domain of psychology. Her research focuses on the phenomenon of pilgrimage and its relationship with health and wellbeing.