Books by Larisa (Lara) Bardsley
Book The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Spirituality and Contemplative Studies, 2024
Organic Inquiry is a transpersonal research method that is ideally suited to researching spiritua... more Organic Inquiry is a transpersonal research method that is ideally suited to researching spiritual, meditative and transformative aspects of the human experience. Utilising the individual psyche and narrative voice of the researcher, Organic Inquiry offers a flexible and creative research structure that can facilitate personal and collective transformation. In this chapter, Organic Inquiry is introduced as both a research method for spiritual experiences and as a contemplative method. Informed by the author's experience of using Organic Inquiry, the merits, limitations, insights, and outcomes of this contemplative practice will be discussed.
Returning Home: A creative exploration of Self PhD awarded Nancy Millis Medal 2018, 2018
Postmodern theory indicates that a self-reflexive voice is a valid expression of cultural and tem... more Postmodern theory indicates that a self-reflexive voice is a valid expression of cultural and temporal influences on language and meaning making. Transpersonal theories propose that ‘self’ is multiple and layered, some aspects of consciousness are more easily accessed, others, deeply held and previously unconscious. Narrative is intricately embedded in human experience and is a potent means of shaping self-identity, imbuing meaning, facilitating insight and transforming awareness. The creative arts form a unique, evocative means of investigating and expressing emergent narratives, conveying meaning and facilitating individual and collective transformation. This creative, practice-led investigation explores the question: Who are we? Utilising an embodied and transpersonal methodology, a woman, artist and depth psychologist investigates the nature of self. The creative findings include fine art, photography, life-writing, a short film, an art novel and an exhibition. The researcher’s auto-ethnographic reflections discuss the impact of making the works, conclusions regarding their ramifications for understanding the nature of self, and their transformational potential. Returning Home alludes to the sense of cultivating a state of awareness where it is possible to compassionately witness the narratives of many selves, as well as the personal and global implications of doing so.
Returning Home, what it means to know ourselves., 2017
Within us are many stories, some we use to define our sense of self, others perhaps reside within... more Within us are many stories, some we use to define our sense of self, others perhaps reside within the depths of our psyche. For the past three years artist, writer and psychologist, Lara Bardsley, has used an intuitive methodology with the language of the arts to investigate the nature of self and the potential for continuing the evolution of human consciousness. 'Returning Home' speaks to this creative investigation and explores the stories that have emerged in answer to the question: Who are we?
Papers by Larisa (Lara) Bardsley
Quadrant, 2023
Ecologies are explored by a woman, artist and transpersonal psychologist as she narrates her inti... more Ecologies are explored by a woman, artist and transpersonal psychologist as she narrates her intimate relationship with the psyche as an internal landscape, while also reflecting on the environments in which she lives. Ecologies include her relationship with the land surrounding her rural home and studio on the southern coast of Australia and some of its inhabitants. The central desert of Australia features as soul-scape of the artist and creative artworks form part of the language for this reflection. Human relationships, dreams, insights, “conversations” with both the ordinary and extra-ordinary, internal and external landscapes, are navigated within a transpersonal, creative and self-reflexive framework, including the author’s autoethnographic reflections. The discussion references Jungian and Buddhist theory and reflects upon the importance of a personal, emergent, and creative voice in contributing to understanding the ecology of the human psyche as well as the potential for transforming humanity’s relationship with the planet and its inhabitants.
Embodied Ecologies, An intimate Relationship with the Psyche 1 Jun 2023QuadrantLII(1):79-94 (15 pages)C.G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology, 2023
Ecologies are explored by a woman, artist and transpersonal psychologist as she narrates her inti... more Ecologies are explored by a woman, artist and transpersonal psychologist as she narrates her intimate relationship with the psyche as an internal landscape, while also reflecting on the environments in which she lives. Ecologies include her relationship with the land surrounding her rural home and studio on the southern coast of Australia and some of its inhabitants. The central desert of Australia features as soul-scape of the artist and creative artworks form part of the language for this reflection. Human relationships, dreams, insights, “conversations” with both the ordinary and extra-ordinary, internal and external landscapes, are navigated within a transpersonal, creative and self-reflexive framework, including the author’s autoethnographic reflections. The discussion references Jungian and Buddhist theory and reflects upon the importance of a personal, emergent, and creative voice in contributing to understanding the ecology of the human psyche as well as the potential for transforming humanity’s relationship with the planet and its inhabitants.
Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine, 2019
Narrative is intricately embedded in human experience and is a potent means of shaping self-ident... more Narrative is intricately embedded in human experience and is a potent means of shaping self-identity, imbuing meaning, facilitating insight and transforming awareness. This article reflects on the creative findings of a three and a half year exploration of self. Through the researcher’s auto-ethnographic reflections, her experience as an artist and psychologist, the power of the humanities as a method of becoming whole are explored. This article discusses cultivating a state of awareness where it is possible to compassionately witness the narratives of many selves both our own and in the people we work with, and how such a practice can inform healing.
An interview by Dr Larisa Bardsley on what it means to have the trait of High Sensitvity, a form ... more An interview by Dr Larisa Bardsley on what it means to have the trait of High Sensitvity, a form of neurodiversity. Larisa is a Clinical and Counselling Psychologist, Supervisor of therapists, a published writer, academic and a practicing artist. She is also a highly sensitive person.
The Qualitative Report, 2020
This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is... more This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is most effectively applied to areas of psychological and spiritual growth. Organic Inquiry is a research approach where the psyche of the researcher becomes the instrument of the research, working in partnership with the experiences of participants and guided by liminal and spiritual influences. Organic Inquiry is presented as a unique methodology that can incorporate other non-traditional research methods, including intuitive, autoethnographic and creative techniques. The validity and application of Organic Inquiry, as well as its strengths and limitations are discussed in the light of the author’s recent investigation into the nature of Self.
As part of a practice led, embodied and auto-ethnographic exploration of the Persephone myth, I h... more As part of a practice led, embodied and auto-ethnographic exploration of the Persephone myth, I have explored its link with individual stories of illness, societal stories of ill-being and collective stories of suffering and hope.
This paper is the third part of an autoethnographic, transpersonal and practice-led exploration o... more This paper is the third part of an autoethnographic, transpersonal and practice-led exploration of the Persephone myth utilising the arts and creative writing as the language of the investigation.
This is a second part of my autoethnographic, transpersonal and practice-led exploration of the P... more This is a second part of my autoethnographic, transpersonal and practice-led exploration of the Persephone myth utilising the arts and creative writing as the language of the investigation.
An autoethnographic, transpersonal and practice-led exploration of the Persephone myth utilising ... more An autoethnographic, transpersonal and practice-led exploration of the Persephone myth utilising the arts and creative writing as the language of the investigation. In the finished painting (attached) Persephone is appears to be emerging, her expression reflective. The embodied sensation is that Persephone is uniquely positioned in liminal territory, both queen of the underworld and comfortable on the surface. She is often defined by her mother's grief and longing, or her husband's passion. The artist explores her curiosity about Persephone's own mind and heart, independent of the pull of those who love her.
Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine, 2019
Narrative is intricately embedded in human experience and is a potent means of shaping self-ident... more Narrative is intricately embedded in human experience and is a potent means of shaping self-identity, imbuing meaning, facilitating insight and transforming awareness. This article reflects on the creative findings of a three and a half year exploration of self. Through the researcher’s auto-ethnographic reflections, her experience as an artist and psychologist, the power of the humanities as a method of becoming whole are explored. This article discusses cultivating a state of awareness where it is possible to compassionately witness the narratives of many selves both our own and in the people we work with, and how such a practice can inform healing.
Lara Bardsley reflects on the value of collecting ‘familial stories of loss, trauma, separation, ... more Lara Bardsley reflects on the value of collecting ‘familial stories of loss, trauma, separation, suicide, and genocide’ for her research. Beautifully capturing her feelings of loss upon her PhD submission, she notes the ‘transformative power of witnessing our stories’ she has gained during the PhD, which she carries with her in her professional career.
Book Chapter, 2017
As we move through the layers of the stories we carry we find those narratives, inherited from ou... more As we move through the layers of the stories we carry we find those narratives, inherited from our ancestors, the transgenerational trauma that may have shaped us. In this life writing account, the author searches through her own life stories to find a constant witnessing consciousness, a Self untouched by the drama of life, a source of Hope.
The arts are a language of the spirit. As an artist, I have learned that we can connect more deep... more The arts are a language of the spirit. As an artist, I have learned that we can connect more deeply with ourselves through making art. However, the beauty of the arts is that they can touch the heart across divides. Humans can erect divisions-most often unconsciously. We can focus on our differences, our separateness rather than our interconnection with all life, each other and the planet. We often see 'health' as an external manifestation of certain ways of being and behaving in the world. The definition of 'health' and 'wellness' can differ, however, if we look at them through the lens of different cultures, different religions, even different times in history.
The arts are a language that can cross many boundaries, move across cultures and time and speak d... more The arts are a language that can cross many boundaries, move across cultures and time and speak directly to a part of us that is intuitive, felt and still. It is through the process of making or witnessing a creative work that something that resides within us can speak to us of its wisdom and can emerge to inform the way we live. This is my keynote address for the opening of the Art for Well being, at The Sacededge Festival, Queenscliff: 'the little festival with a big heart'.
Life story writing and Film- the Making of a psychologist, early years.
Providence is a collection of three short memoirs. The stories reveal a mother haunted by the l... more Providence is a collection of three short memoirs. The stories reveal a mother haunted by the loss of her family. Her child becomes a woman, shaped by the loss of her ancestors, deepened by the compassion for the suffering she witnessed and the resilience that grew from it.
“The mind is a fickle bedfellow. It will seduce you one moment with the smoothest of concepts and when you are disarmed, and wanting, it will deconstruct you. This world offers us the full smorgasbord — the sweetest fruits and the most bitter, the healing balms and the poisons. There are parts of us we can nourish and they will grow stronger. It was the searing pain of my mother’s passing when I was 21 that turned me irrevocably toward pursuit of an inner richness, something constant and that was secure because it lay within me”.
(Extract from Providence by Lara Bardsley)
The link to the publication and profile is: http://www.cutalongstory.com/authors/lara-bardsley/1527.html
Providence is a collection of three short memoirs. The stories reveal a mother haunted by the los... more Providence is a collection of three short memoirs. The stories reveal a mother haunted by the loss of her family. Her child becomes a woman, shaped by the loss of her ancestors, deepened by the compassion for the suffering she witnessed and the resilience that grew from it. “The mind is a fickle bedfellow. It will seduce you one moment with the smoothest of concepts and when you are disarmed and wanting, it will deconstruct you. This world offers us the full smorgasbord — the sweetest fruits and the most bitter, the healing balms and the poisons. There are parts of us we can nourish and they will grow stronger. It was the searing pain of my mother’s passing when I was 21 that turned me irrevocably toward the pursuit of an inner richness, something that was constant and secure because it lay within me”.
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Books by Larisa (Lara) Bardsley
Papers by Larisa (Lara) Bardsley
“The mind is a fickle bedfellow. It will seduce you one moment with the smoothest of concepts and when you are disarmed, and wanting, it will deconstruct you. This world offers us the full smorgasbord — the sweetest fruits and the most bitter, the healing balms and the poisons. There are parts of us we can nourish and they will grow stronger. It was the searing pain of my mother’s passing when I was 21 that turned me irrevocably toward pursuit of an inner richness, something constant and that was secure because it lay within me”.
(Extract from Providence by Lara Bardsley)
The link to the publication and profile is: http://www.cutalongstory.com/authors/lara-bardsley/1527.html
“The mind is a fickle bedfellow. It will seduce you one moment with the smoothest of concepts and when you are disarmed, and wanting, it will deconstruct you. This world offers us the full smorgasbord — the sweetest fruits and the most bitter, the healing balms and the poisons. There are parts of us we can nourish and they will grow stronger. It was the searing pain of my mother’s passing when I was 21 that turned me irrevocably toward pursuit of an inner richness, something constant and that was secure because it lay within me”.
(Extract from Providence by Lara Bardsley)
The link to the publication and profile is: http://www.cutalongstory.com/authors/lara-bardsley/1527.html