THE NADIR EXPERIENCE: CRISIS, TRANSITION,
AND GROWTH
Russell Stagg, Ph.D.
Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada
ABSTRACT: The author summarized research on the nadir experience, the experience of one of
the very lowest points of life. Although a sense of disintegration, powerlessness, and emptiness
marks its immediate aftermath, survivors of rape, bereavement, and maritime disasters have shown
that a nadir experience can also be an opportunity for personal transformation and psychological
growth. Severe trauma is more likely to lead to positive change, and reflection seems to play an
important role in this process. Among the positive changes observed are increases in personal well-
being, sense of meaning in life, spirituality, inner wisdom, and compassion. The author described
how he experienced such positive changes following a nadir experience in his own life. Therapists
dealing with persons undergoing the nadir experience should encourage reflection oriented toward
the future as well as the past. The author has suggested mindfulness meditation as a useful
technique to encourage such reflection.
KEYWORDS: nadir experience, posttraumatic growth, trauma therapy, reflection, rumination,
mindfulness, meditation, spiritual assessment.
Half a century ago, Thorne (1963) introduced the term nadir experiences to
describe the very opposite of peak experiences, the highly positive experiences
that transcend everyday life (Maslow 1964/1970). While peak experiences are
worthy of study, so too are the deep emotional traumas such as bereavement,
depression, loss, or a crisis of existence that Thorne was referring to. Despite
their devastating effect on a person’s quality of life, nadir experiences that
challenge core beliefs and offer the opportunity for reflection can become
opportunities for personal transformation and psychological growth.
Thorne (1963) defined the nadir experience to be the ‘‘subjective experiencing
of what is subjectively recognized to be one of the lowest points of life’’ (p. 248),
and claimed that both peak and nadir experiences could give valuable
information for clinical personality studies. He set about obtaining data about
such experiences in a systematic way, by asking subjects to write about the
three best and three worst experiences of their lives. He then created a detailed
classification scheme for the peak experiences, and observed that the nadir
experiences usually involve ‘‘death, illness, tragedy, loss, degradation or
deflation of Self ’’ (p. 249). Although he noted that his research was ongoing,
Thorne never published further information on the nadir experience. In a
preface to Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences written shortly before his
death, Maslow (1964/1970) called for more research on nadir experiences.
Copyright ’ 2014 Transpersonal Institute
Email: stagg.russell@gmail.com
The author gratefully acknowledges the helpful comments of Ms. Sara Kulba, Dr. Sharon Moore, Ms. Caylee
Villett, and the anonymous referees.
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The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2014, Vol. 46, No. 1
Although recent research such as that of Joseph (2011) has addressed the nadir
experience, there is still a lack of research into such concepts as spiritual growth
in the aftermath of trauma, and its implications for therapy. This article is an
attempt to address this lack.
Like a peak experience, a nadir experience is transcendent in that it marks a
dramatic shift from ordinary everyday life. However, it is transcendent in a
negative way. While the peak experience provides a sense of personal
integration and oneness with the world (Maslow, 1987), a nadir experience
initially leads to the opposite feeling: a sense of aloneness and vulnerability
(Kumar, 2005). My purpose in this paper is to investigate the nadir experience
and the circumstances under which it can result in positive growth. I describe
the types of initial events in the nadir experience, the characteristics of the
transition stage that follows, and the factors that allow a person to experience
growth and transformation and to return to a life that may have been much
changed by the event. I point out the ways in which the nadir experience can
result in meaning-making, spiritual growth, inner wisdom, and increased
compassion. I discuss the implications for counseling clients undergoing a
nadir experience. I also describe the positive results of a nadir event that
occurred in my own life. Since studies of the nadir experience date back five
decades, I examine both current and historical research on the subject.
C
HARACTERIZING THE
N
ADIR
E
XPERIENCE
In On Grief and Grieving, Kubler-Ross and Kessler (2005) described the nadir
experience of grief as consisting of five stages: denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance. Their use of the word stages is unfortunate, since
the authors cautioned that not all people go through all stages, and even when
they do, they do not necessarily go through them in order. How, then, should
one characterize a nadir experience such as grief ? First, I propose making a
distinction between the nadir experience and the nadir event. The nadir event
may be short-lived, but the nadir experience continues as a person deals with
the aftermath of that event. Persons living through the same nadir event may
have quite different nadir experiences, as the survivors of marine catastrophes
have demonstrated (Joseph, 2011; Joseph, Williams, & Yule, 1993). A person
who perceives a nadir event as challenging core values is more likely to
experience long-term positive change (Tedeschi, Calhoun, & Cann, 2007). In
fact, both Lancaster, Kloep, Rodriguez, and Weston (2013) and Boals,
Steward, and Schuettler (2010) found a positive correlation between
posttraumatic growth and event centrality (the degree to which a nadir event
challenges central concepts of self-identity). Regardless of the nature of the
traumatic event, however, nadir experiences share important characteristics.
One of these characteristics is the way a nadir experience divides into three
phases. For example, following the nadir event of bereavement there comes a
grieving period and finally a return to life after the loss. I propose describing the
nadir experience by including in it these three natural phases: the event, the
adjustment, and the return. In doing so, I shall make use of the terminology
Nadir Experience
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