Immanuel Presbyterian Church

Saturday, April 12, 6:30 pm

Quantum Change:  When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform Ordinary Lives

Abstract:  Sudden mystical transformation of personality is found in popular culture, such as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and the Frank Capra film It’s a Wonderful Life.  It is also reported in religious traditions as well as biography and autobiography.  Dr. Miller set out to find and interview people who had had such experiences, and discovered that they are far more common than one might imagine.  Drawing on fifty-five in-depth interviews and many more from correspondence, he will describe the common nature, antecedents, and consequences of such sudden and permanent life transformations, and their implications for the rest of us.

Speaker:  William R. Miller, Ph.D. is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico.  An ordained Presbyterian elder and deacon, he has been broadly interested in the psychology of change and the interface of spirituality and psychology.  He has published over 40 books and 400 articles and chapters focusing in particular on the treatment and prevention of addictions.  The Institute for Scientific Information lists him as one of the world’s most cited scientists.