John Elfers

• PhD Psychology
• Professor at Sofia University

The primary research question guiding this study was: In what ways do self-transcendent emotion-experiences (awe, gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness) correlate with interoceptive awareness? Two studies were implemented in 2024 to conduct the inquiry. The first was a correlational study involving a measure of interoceptive awareness and assessme...

This grounded theory study addressed the question What model explains the essential qualities, skills, and competencies of an effective supervisory relationship for transpersonal therapists in training? It emerged out of a recognition that current training models for supervisors were not inclusive of competencies to address the needs of therapist t...

This grounded theory study addressed the question: What model explains the lived experience of profound awe? It emerged out of a recognition that awe continues to be defined as a distinct emotion, and fails to account for the possible range of intensity of affect inherent to awe. Forty interviews were conducted with participants who identified as h...

The present study investigated the relationship between cultivating gratitude and coping with grief. The primary research question guiding this study was: What is the correlation between resilience in grief, transcendent gratitude, and nondual awareness? Five measures were administered to collect data for this study: Grief and Meaning Reconstructio...

This participatory action research was designed to create guidelines and strategies to improve the delivery of mental health services to immigrants from Central and South America to the US. The demand for appropriate strategies for addressing the mental health needs of this population is increasing. This study recruited 17 traditional healers and t...

Abstract: This article describes the unique and shared transformational elements in the adaptive experience of a group of transgender individuals with a goal of improving the health outcomes of the transgender community. Using a qualitative method known as collective memory work, four individuals who identify as transgender completed a personal det...

This participatory action research was designed to create guidelines and strategies to improve the delivery of mental health services to immigrants from Central and South America to the US. The demand for appropriate strategies for addressing the mental health needs of this population is increasing. This study recruited 17 traditional healers and t...

The lived experience of gratitude as it arises in the context of cooperation and exchange is discussed here. The chapter begins with a description of the features of first-order emotion experience with an emphasis on somatic responses. Based on a series of interviews, the phenomenology of gratitude is presented beginning with somatic descriptions o...

This final chapter summarizes the major themes of the book drawing from the research on the lived experience of gratitude and the major conclusions from social science research. A focus is placed on the distinction between personal, interpersonal, and transpersonal gratitude and the shifts in felt experience and the nature of benefit that occurs wi...

The structure and features of second-order emotion experience are used to extend the phenomenal experience of gratitude to the context of human relations. Various ways to categorize emotion, including approach/avoidance emotions and the negativity bias, are used to characterize the role of gratitude as a distinct, positive emotion experience. The i...

This chapter discusses the role and function of cooperation and reciprocity in the development of ultrasocial human societies. Patterns of sharing of resources that include kin selection and reciprocal altruism are described as well as the ways that social groups deal with the ever-present problem of free-riders. Emotions that accompany patterns of...

This chapter expands the discussion of the relational experience of gratitude to include the experience of transcendence. Models of transcendence are presented in the context of religious, spiritual, and secular traditions. The structure of gratitude in the transpersonal domain is discussed with an emphasis on the shifts in perceived benefits that...

This chapter presents an overview of the history of gratitude research and the many ways of understanding this important construct. The levels of development and complexity of gratitude are discussed with the goal of characterizing the range of features. The interdisciplinary nature of the study of gratitude is presented with recognition for the ma...

This chapter presents some of the current models of personality development with the goal of framing the relationship between gratitude and other dimensions of personality. Features of the prosocial personality incorporate many features of gratitude. Individuals may vary in their tendency to respond in a grateful manner, and the components of a gra...

This chapter extends the discussion of cooperation and reciprocity to include altruistic motivations and behavior. Research that describes the puzzle of altruism is framed from the perspective of multilevel selection theory. Concepts of the individual self and relational self are used to define the patterns of gratitude that go beyond mere exchange...

Gratitude is considered to be a moral emotion with a variety of relationships with moral functions. The evolution of gratitude in human development occurs in stages and these stages are discussed while drawing parallels to the origins of morality and moral development in children. Distinctions between moral cognition and affect are related to the r...

In order to better understand the dynamic role of gratitude in human functioning, theories of subjective wellbeing, eudaimonic happiness, and psychological wellbeing are contrasted. The measures used to quantify these constructs are presented with the goal of identifying them as distinct constructs. Examples from the current research on gratitude a...

Drawing from current research in psychology, the social sciences, and spirituality, this book presents a comprehensive investigation into the heart of gratitude as it arises within lived experience and its role in nurturing relationships. It explores the range and depth of the emotion experience of gratitude and identifies its relationship with oth...

The importance of gratitude in interpersonal relationships is well recognized, but less is known about experiences of gratitude beyond this domain. The authors sought to examine the lived experience of gratitude as it arises in a transpersonal context. Drawing from interviews with 68 adults, the authors generated 110 items. In two separate studies...

What happens when sex becomes sacred? In the modern West we have inherited a cultural antagonism between the experience and expression of sexuality on the one hand and religious and moral dictates that marginalize sexuality on the other. The purpose of this study is to assist the reader in comprehending the experience of consciously cultivating the...

The Adolescent Sexual Health Work Group commissioned the development of core competencies that define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for all providers of adolescent sexual and reproductive health. This article describes the background and rationale for this set of competencies, the history and use of competencies, and the process in...

This study broadens the construct of gratitude by exploring the lived phenomenal experience in a targeted sample of 51 participants with diverse demographic profiles. Participant descriptions of gratitude experience revealed both thematic patterns in somatic experience and a range of appraisals that included joy, love, awakening, release, awe, and...

The struggle between the Doukhobors, a nonviolent society committed to communal values, and the Canadian Government epitomizes the tension between values of personal rights and independence on the one hand, and social obligation on the other. The immigration of the Doukhobors from Russia to the Canadian prairies in 1899 precipitated a centurylong s...

Background: STD rates are disproportionately represented in adolescents; however, STD staff rarely posses, or are trained on the competencies essential for working effectively with adolescent populations on sexual and reproductive health. Objective: To develop adolescent-specific competencies appropriate for all staff that provide STD, HIV/AIDS,...