In this episode we welcome Dr. Donna Thomas, co-director of ICreates@UCLan and Perrott-Warrick Senior Researcher administered through Trinity College Cambridge. Donna investigates children’s and adults’ extrasensory experiences within human development, bringing together psychological, social-scientific, and parapsychological perspectives. As she puts it: “Having a wider understanding of what it means to be human will inform how we develop services for people.” We talk with Donna about the kinds of unusual experiences children report, how creative and participatory methods allow them to express what lies beyond language, and why taking these experiences seriously matters for wellbeing. She also shares insights from her research on children’s near-death experiences in paediatric intensive care, and invites us to rethink dominant assumptions about consciousness, reality, and what it means to be human.
00:01:01 – Origins of Donna’s Research Interest
00:05:29 – Personal Extraordinary Experiences
00:11:04 – Children’s Unusual Experiences
00:16:35 – From Research to Services
00:22:59 – Post-Materialist Worldview
00:26:24 – Extrasensory Experiences and Development
00:29:59 – Children’s Epistemic Authority
00:34:01 – Creative Research Methods
00:39:06 – Philosophical Dialogue with Children
00:42:07 – Children’s Intuitive Wisdom
Literature: