Applied Psychology Research
April 24, 2026
Jeffrey Overall
Spiritual awakening, specifically kensho, is not just a cognitive shift but an embodied and relational reconfiguration of experience. Analysis of in-depth interviews with 13 participants who had kensho experiences in retreat settings revealed three categories: inner peace, big release, and heightened senses, each with affective, cognitive, and somatic dimensions. A second analysis using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis identified that inner peace arises from a combination of karmic processing, heightened sensory awareness, and inner guidance, while trusting in the unknown involves sensory awareness, inner guidance, and physical sensation. The findings highlight the overlooked roles of simplicity, sensory awareness, and karmic activation in transformation.
Integral Transpersonal Journal
March 15, 2026
Jeffrey Overall
Six primary blockages to kensho—a Zen enlightenment experience—emerged from interviews with 13 retreat participants who did not achieve it despite optimal conditions including Charles Berner's self-inquiry protocol and access to psychedelic medicines. The blockages are delusion and confusion, strong emotions, blockages, seeking externally, searching for something greater, and belief in something greater. Qualitative comparative analysis identified seeking externally and the ego's need for control and the necessity of surrender as the most significant barriers. The absence of psychedelics as a factor in not achieving kensho did not appear in the analysis, shifting focus from external to internal processes.
Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion
January 1, 2026
Jeffrey Overall
Psychedelic experiences can catalyze career realignment by dissolving ego-based ambitions, enhancing somatic awareness, and reorienting motivation toward value-based, purpose-driven work. Based on 28 in-depth interviews and grounded theory analysis, four integrative categories emerged: psychedelic influences on work, creativity and innovation, personal transformation, and career transitions. Participants often integrated spiritual insight and sacred intuition into professional life, reframing labor as a mode of existential expression rather than a means of achievement. The findings extend psychedelic science into underexplored domains of career development, entrepreneurship, and organizational behavior.
Applied Psychology Research
June 26, 2025
Jeffrey Overall
Fear experienced during 5-MeO-DMT sessions is therapeutically productive, functioning similarly to exposure therapy, rather than being a negative side effect. Emotional catharsis and somatic release are essential for psychological healing. Key conditions for positive mental health outcomes include trust and letting go, emotional release, healing the inner child, using psychedelics as therapeutic tools, and interpersonal healing in parent-child relationships. Three core themes emerged: fear and letting go, mental health improvements, and healing and love. The findings suggest that 5-MeO-DMT facilitates deep psychological transformation by engaging core affective and relational processes, with intergenerational insight central to therapeutic change.