Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Dr. Tobi Zausner
C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology
Altered States of Consciousness Across Creative Domains
Abstract: In addition to the waking consciousness of daily living, we have the capacity for multiple altered states of consciousness that arise naturally during the creative process. They manifest across domains in the sciences, the arts, sports, and methods of self-transformation, arising in daydreams, visualizations, meditations, night dreams, focused attention, immersion, absorption, and flow. Collectively, these states of consciousness are aspects of a creative trance, a state common to all humanity appearing across cultures and throughout time. From Nobel Prize winning scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Barbara McClintock, and James Black to indigenous peoples including Australian Aborigines and the Benin people in Africa, creativity occurs during an altered state of consciousness. In addition to being an altered state, creativity may also encompass the subjective experience of multiple distinct locations of creative consciousness.
Bio: Tobi Zausner, PhD, LCSW, is a research psychologist, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a clinician in private practice, and a visual artist with works in major museums and private collections. Dr. Zausner, who investigates creativity, consciousness, nonlinear dynamics, and cognitive neuroscience, is on the Advisory Board for the Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research and an officer on the Board of A.C.T.S (Arts, Crafts, and Theatre Safety), a nonprofit organization investigating health hazards in the arts. Dr. Zausner has taught at the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology, Saybrook University, Long Island University, and The New School. Her 2016 book, When Walls Become Doorways: Creativity and the Transforming Illness, examines the positive influence of physical illness on the creativity of visual artists. Her 2022 book, The Creative Trance; Altered States of Consciousness and the Creative Process, published by Cambridge University Press, explores the creative process across domains, demonstrating that it contains multiple types of altered states of consciousness.
Dr. Tobi Zausner
C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology
Altered States of Consciousness Across Creative Domains
Abstract: In addition to the waking consciousness of daily living, we have the capacity for multiple altered states of consciousness that arise naturally during the creative process. They manifest across domains in the sciences, the arts, sports, and methods of self-transformation, arising in daydreams, visualizations, meditations, night dreams, focused attention, immersion, absorption, and flow. Collectively, these states of consciousness are aspects of a creative trance, a state common to all humanity appearing across cultures and throughout time. From Nobel Prize winning scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Barbara McClintock, and James Black to indigenous peoples including Australian Aborigines and the Benin people in Africa, creativity occurs during an altered state of consciousness. In addition to being an altered state, creativity may also encompass the subjective experience of multiple distinct locations of creative consciousness.
Bio: Tobi Zausner, PhD, LCSW, is a research psychologist, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a clinician in private practice, and a visual artist with works in major museums and private collections. Dr. Zausner, who investigates creativity, consciousness, nonlinear dynamics, and cognitive neuroscience, is on the Advisory Board for the Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research and an officer on the Board of A.C.T.S (Arts, Crafts, and Theatre Safety), a nonprofit organization investigating health hazards in the arts. Dr. Zausner has taught at the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology, Saybrook University, Long Island University, and The New School. Her 2016 book, When Walls Become Doorways: Creativity and the Transforming Illness, examines the positive influence of physical illness on the creativity of visual artists. Her 2022 book, The Creative Trance; Altered States of Consciousness and the Creative Process, published by Cambridge University Press, explores the creative process across domains, demonstrating that it contains multiple types of altered states of consciousness.
