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Plain English Summary
Somewhere between a third and half of all people report paranormal-type experiences — seeing ghosts, sensing the future, feeling a mysterious presence — and nearly half of those folks find the experience genuinely distressing. So where do they turn for help? Most therapists have zero training for this. A clinic called CIRCEE (with over 750 counseling sessions under its belt) developed an approach called PPAE that threads a clever needle: therapists neither dismiss these experiences as delusion nor accept them uncritically. Instead, they explore what happened in fine detail, help the person process the emotional shock, and work toward making personal meaning from it. The key clinical stance is "undecidability" — staying genuinely open rather than judging whether the experience was "real." It is a refreshingly humane framework that treats the person's distress as valid regardless of what caused it.
Actual Paper Abstract
In this paper, we propose a clinical approach to the counseling of distressing subjective paranormal experiences, usually referred to as anomalous or exceptional experiences in the academic field. These experiences are reported by a large part of the population, yet most mental health practitioners have not received a specific training in listening constructively to these experiences. This seems all the more problematic since nearly one person in two find it difficult to integrate such experiences, which can be associated with different forms of psychological suffering. After having described briefly several clinical approaches already developed in this area, we outline the main aspects of clinical practice with people reporting exceptional experiences, in particular the characteristics of the clinician's attitude toward the narrative of unusual events. We then present the core components of a Psychodynamic Psychotherapy focused on Anomalous Experiences (PPAE) based on three main steps: phenomenological exploration, subjective inscription and subjective integration of the anomalous experience. Such an approach, based on a non-judgmental and open listening, favors the transformation of the ontological shock that often follows the anomalous experiences into a potential source of integration and psychological transformation.
Research Notes
Essential paper for understanding clinical practice with anomalous experience reporters. Describes the PPAE model developed through extensive clinical work at CIRCEE. Addresses the critical gap in mental health training regarding psi experiences. Bridges parapsychological research with clinical psychotherapeutic practice. Important for understanding how clinicians can ethically engage without pathologization or uncritical acceptance.
This paper presents a clinical approach to counseling individuals who report distressing subjective paranormal experiences, termed anomalous or exceptional experiences. Approximately one-third to one-half of the population reports such experiences, with nearly half experiencing difficulty integrating them. The author describes the main components of a Psychodynamic Psychotherapy focused on Anomalous Experiences (PPAE) based on clinical work at CIRCEE, which has conducted over 750 counseling sessions since 2009. The approach involves three steps: phenomenological exploration using micro-analysis techniques, subjective inscription (emotional containment, de-pathologization, and detachment), and subjective integration of meaning. The clinical attitude of undecidability and non-judgmental listening facilitates transformation of ontological shock into psychological integration.
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📋 Cite this paper
Rabeyron, Thomas (2022). When the Truth Is Out There: Counseling People Who Report Anomalous Experiences. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.693707
@article{kramer_2022_counseling_anomalous,
title = {When the Truth Is Out There: Counseling People Who Report Anomalous Experiences},
author = {Rabeyron, Thomas},
year = {2022},
journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.693707},
}