Based on a transtheoretical definition of corrective experience (CE), the authors interviewed 25 adults who could identify a pivotal event or relationship they had experienced, at any point in their lifetime, as positively transformative. The narratives show that the CEs described by participants often had a negative precipitant or took place during a life transition. CEs involving other people tended to occur when an important relationship ended or was reflected upon in retrospect. Many participants had a new cognitive understanding while the CE was occurring as well as long afterward. Interestingly, the life-changing consequences of the CEs were similar to desired outcomes in psychotherapy: positive outlook, changed relationships, self-affirmation, and determination. Notably, the few individuals who had discussed the circumstances surrounding their specific CE with a therapist reported the importance of common change factors (support, validation, emotional release). Results are examined for their theoretical and practical implications.
AlexanderF.FrenchT. M. (1946). Psychoanalytic therapy: Principles and application. New York, NY: Ronald.
2.
ArminenI. (2004). Second stories: The salience of interpersonal communication for mutual help in Alcoholics Anonymous. Journal of Pragmatics, 36, 319-347.
3.
BergsmaA. (2008). Do self-help books help?Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 341-360.
4.
BienT. H. (2004). Quantum change and psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology/In Session, 60, 493-501.
5.
BogdanR.BiklenS. (2007). Qualitative research for education (5th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
6.
CastonguayL. G.HillC. E. (Eds.) (2012). Transformation in psychotherapy: Corrective experiences across cognitive behavioral, humanistic, and psychodynamic approaches. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
7.
C’de BacaJ.WilbourneP. (2004). Quantum change: Ten years later. Journal of Clinical Psychology/In Session, 60, 531-541.
8.
CreswellJ. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
9.
GonçalvesM. M.MatosM.SantosA. (2009). Narrative therapy and the nature of “innovative moments” in the construction of change. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 22, 1-23.
10.
HillC. E.KnoxS.ThompsonB. J.WilliamsE. N.HessS. A.LadanyN. (2005). Consensual qualitative research: An update. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 196-205. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.196
11.
HillC. E.ThompsonB. J.WilliamsE. N. (1997). A guide to conducting consensual qualitative research. The Counseling Psychologist, 25, 517-572.
12.
JamesW. (1902/1994). The varieties of religious experience: A study in human nature. New York, NY: Modern Library. [Original work: The varieties of religious experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.]
13.
KnightZ. (2005). The use of the “corrective emotional experience and the search for the bad object in psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 59, 30-41.
14.
MaslowA. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
15.
MaslowA. H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York, NY: Viking Compass.
16.
MastenA. S.BestK. M.GarmazyN. (1990). Resilience and development: Contribution from the study of children who overcome adversity. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 425-444.
17.
MatosM.SantosA.GonçalvesM.MartinsC. (2009). Innovative moments and change in narrative therapy. Psychotherapy Research, 19, 68-80.
18.
MillerW. R. (2004). The phenomenon of quantum change. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 453-460.
19.
MillerW. R.C’de BacaJ. (1994). Quantum change: Toward a psychology of transformation. In HeathertonT.WeinbergerJ. (Eds.), Can personality change? (pp. 253-280). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
20.
MillerW. R.C’de BacaJ. (2001). Quantum change: When epiphanies and sudden insights transform ordinary lives. New York, NY: Guilford.
21.
PolkinghorneD. (2001). The self and humanistic psychology. In SchneiderK. J.PiersonJ. F.BugenthalJ. F. T. (Eds.), The handbook of humanistic psychology (pp. 81-100). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
22.
ProchaskaJ. O.DiClementeC. C. (1986). The transtheoretical approach. In NorcrossJ. (Ed.), Handbook of eclectic psychotherapy (pp. 163-200). New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.
23.
RobitschekC. (1998). Personal growth initiative: The construct and its measure. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 30, 183-198.
24.
RobitschekC.KashubeckS. (1999). A structural model of parental alcoholism, family functioning, and psychological health: The mediating effects of hardiness and personal growth orientation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 159-172.
25.
RobitschekC.KeyesC. L. M. (2009). Keyes’s model of mental health with personal growth initiative as a parsimonious predictor. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 321-329.
26.
RogersC. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 95-103.
27.
SuireJ. G.BothwellR. K. (2006). The psychosocial benefits of Alcoholics Anonymous. American Journal on Addictions, 15, 252-255.
28.
TaylorS. J.BogdanR. (1984). Introduction to qualitative research methods: The search for meanings. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
29.
WhiteM.EpstonD. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends. New York, NY: Norton.
30.
YalomI. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. New York, NY: Basic Books.
