Description

Making a place for unconscious factors in research

ROBERT D ROMANYSHYN PHD

Senior Core Faculty, Depth Psychotherapy Program, Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America

Abstract

An imaginal approach to research is described in the context of three other research approaches in psychology. A supplement to these other approaches, an imaginal approach develops procedures modeled on Jung’s idea of active imagination for making the complex unconscious factors in the process of research as conscious as possible. The mythic pattern and archetypal dynamics of this approach are also discussed. This approach also challenges the priority of method over topic and develops an alchemical hermeneutic method as a variation of traditional hermeneutics. Implications of this approach for styles of psychological writing and for ethics are explored.

Keywords: imaginal, unconscious, active imagination, hermeneutics, ethics type, method or approach, innovation theory, research methods