By Jevon Dängeli, PhD student
Jevon’s research interests involve exploring the phenomenology of applied Open Awareness (OA), particularly how OA can promote healing and eco-logical (win-win-win) outcomes – individually and collectively. Investigating the characteristics of OA was the focus of his MSc research project, including OA for stress regulation and burnout prevention. The Transpersonal Coaching Psychology methodology incorporates OA at its core – serving as a means for practitioners to hold a compassionate and potentially transformative space for clients.
Current PhD research
This research aims to explore how trauma care practitioners experience the integration of an open awareness and compassionate companionship (OA&CC) approach in their work. Although everyone might perceive OA differently, it is commonly perceived as a fluid state in which the person experiences an expanded self-concept and a deep sense of interconnectedness (Dängeli, 2020a). Compassionate companionship is the relational process when one or more people utilise OA to hold a caring and nurturing space for others.
Through this research Jevon plans on refining the OA&CC approach according to the latest research in the fields of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and compassion-based trauma care. PTG is described as a transformation following trauma, when the individual allows the lessons from the experience to be integrated (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995). Compassion-based approaches in trauma care have been found to be effective for healing the shame and self-criticism that often stem from trauma, while helping practitioners to prevent vicarious trauma and empathy fatigue (Neff & Germer, 2024).
The project will also explore if an OA&CC approach helps to mitigate vicarious trauma, which is the experience of absorbing others’ pain so deeply that it affects one’s own well-being, often resulting in empathy fatigue, the emotional numbing and distancing which compromises one’s ability to care for others . By extension, this research will also consider if OA&CC might help to promote vicarious post-traumatic growth, characterised by positive changes that result from vicarious trauma.
Beyond refining this complementary non-pathologizing approach to trauma care, the proposed research aims to raise awareness about PTG facilitation, as well as contribute to trauma care knowledge, competencies and compassionate peer-support among practitioners. The overarching objective of this project is to expand access to trauma care for those facing stigma-related barriers to quality support (Knaak et al., 2017).
The research questions include:
- Which factors and frameworks are helpful in promoting and sustaining PTG?
- Does OA&CC support traumatised individuals in experiencing PTG? If so, how?
- How do trauma care practitioners experience the integration of open awareness and compassionate companionship in their work?
An expected outcome of this project is the development of a refined transpersonal coaching methodology to safely support clients who are suffering from trauma in a manner that fosters the potential of PTG. Through this research Jevon hopes to make trauma care more widely accessible to people who might otherwise not receive adequate care in the wake of trauma.
The results of this research will be added to this page, as the project unfolds.
Open Awareness and Transpersonal Coaching Psychology journal publications
Dängeli, J. (2025). Fertilizing the ground for post-traumatic growth with open awareness and compassionate companionship. Transpersonal Coaching Psychology Journal, 4, 16-30. https://iactm.org/tcpj
Dängeli, J. (2024). Post-traumatic growth with the support of transpersonal coaching. Transpersonal Coaching Journal, 3, 7-17. https://iactm.org/tcpj
Dängeli, J. (2023). Trauma-informed coaching: a transpersonal perspective. Transpersonal Coaching Psychology Journal, 2, 8-24. https://iactm.org/tcpj
Dängeli, J. (2023). Transpersonal coaching psychology: An introduction to the theory and practice. Current Research in Psychology and Behavioral Science, 4(1), 1083. https://doi.org/10.54026/CRPBS/1083
Dängeli, J. (2020a). Exploring the phenomenon of open awareness and its effects on stress and burnout. Consciousness, Spirituality & Transpersonal Psychology, 1, 77-93. https://doi.org/10.53074/cstp.2020.9
Dängeli, J. (2020b). Open awareness inquiry. Integral Transpersonal Journal, 14, 54-63. Download PDF
Dängeli, J. & Geldenhuys, H. (2018). Open awareness: Holding the liminal space in transpersonal coaching and therapy. Integral Transpersonal Journal, 10, 117-63. Downlaod PDF