The Near-Death Experience as a Spiritually Transformative Experience: An Alchemical and Jungian Point of View

Abstract

The aftereffects of the NDE include spiritual changes and transformative mystical, alchemical states; for this particular event unchains a number of aftereffects, which in some cases are guided, not only by the near-death experience itself, but also by dreams containing alchemical imagery throughout the process of spiritual and personal transformation, as the NDErs adjust and integrate the Near-Death Experience into their lives. Alchemical dreams contain images of an archetypal nature, representative of symbols of the process of individuation and process or production of a new centre of personality.
Many studies coincide in revealing that all the features of the NDE suggest that there is an imperative need in society to integrate the extraordinary in our lives. As a society, we need a science that is keen to integrate objective and subjective venues in order to discover the objective side of consciousness and the subjective side of matter, thereby integrating the spiritual reality of the psyche, while recognizing the authenticity of personal narratives or experiences. Because without any doubt, this integration is imperative in Western society, which tends to deny mortality; fearing the intimate human encounter with death. Near-death studies have given evidence that life doesn’t end with the death of the physical body, have taught us about life and death, as well as our mission in life from an individual and a collective point of view.
On the whole, despite most research being focused on the positive aftermath of the NDE, other studies show that there is a lot more to the positive aftereffects of the NDE. There is also a pattern of negative and maladaptive aftereffects during the process of transformation and the awakening of the mind or consciousness in which the NDEr undergoes a significant amount of psychic suffering due inner chaos and loss of control; and the psychological, spiritual, and physiological turmoil. The NDE can trigger, in some survivors, an existential crisis in which the experiencer is forced to deal with the dark forces of the life of the unconscious, his or her own agonies, anguish, unresolved traumas, anger, pains, sorrows and unresolved grief. Conversely, the NDE includes a very large dynamic transformation in the psyche of the NDEr and, therefore, a transfiguration of his or her entire personality.

This workshop will illustrate that the NDE involves a great deal of spiritual transformation and is a remarkable human experience that not only the NDEr can learn and grow from, as well as others who have not had a close brush with death or who have not experienced the core elements of the NDE.

Presenter Bio

Dr. Lupita L. Kirklin is a Bilingual/Bicultural English-Spanish Clinical Psychologist who brings 14 years of experience as a psychologist. She is also a Mexican-Licensed Psychologist, who received her Lifetime certification in January of 2001. She earned a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. She recently earned her second doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with emphasis in Jungian Analysis at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara. She is currently earning her licensing hours (post-doc internship) in the field of neuropsychology as a clinical psychological assistant with Dr. Linda Yerzley in both Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

As a Near-Death survivor, she has had the opportunity to experience the positive and negative aftereffects of such a spiritually transformative experience. Her research study addressed the impact of the negative aftereffects of the NDE from an alchemical and Jungian point of view, at a personal level, and describes how to identify the symptoms of these aftereffects as well as how to provide psychological treatment from a Jungian point of view.

Dr. Kirklin has had the opportunity to provide mental health services in private practice, county mental health, and hospitals in Mexico and the United States. Dr. Kirklin works with adults, children, teens and families, and treats a wide variety of mental and emotional disorders ranging from normal repercussions of daily life to pathological conditions, terminal diseases and near-death experiences. She provides counseling to help people cope with difficult circumstances, grief and sadness, spiritually transformative experiences, depression and anxiety, and dealing with the aftereffects of NDEs. Utilizing the depth and breadth of her experience, as a compassionate clinician, she helps people make important and everyday decisions, as well as adjust to the stresses and strains of life, through interpersonal dialogue and a variety of treatment modalities.