Wolfgang Fach
Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Freiburg, Germany
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Introduction: The Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP) offers free information and counseling, which is requested by several hundred people with exceptional experiences (ExE) every year. The average age of clients is 43 years, and two-thirds of them are women. Most clients are burdened not only by ExE but two-thirds also by their general life circumstances. Around 40% had previously undergone psychotherapeutic or psychiatric treatment, and about 25% actually received psychotherapeutic care. Analyses of around 2,400 counseling cases show that six ExE-patterns, which essentially make up the IGPP counseling volume, correlate significantly with characteristics of personal autonomy and social bonding (partnership, marital status, living situation, etc.).
Background: Inspired by Metzinger’s theory of mental representations, Fach developed the Model of Phenomenon Basic Classes (MPBC). According to the MPBC, ExE can be classified as internal phenomena in the self-model or external phenomena in the world-model as components of an overall phenomenal reality model. Furthermore, phenomena can manifest as deviations from ordinary psycho-physical relationships between self and world, either as coincidence phenomena or as dissociation phenomena. Statistical and phenomenological analysis of 2381 counseling cases showed that six typical ExE-patterns cover more than 95% of the IGPP counseling requests and that they are highly significantly correlated with different characteristics of social bonding like partnership and marital status.
“Bonding” is a more general term than “attachment” and applies to all kinds of human and social relationships. Attachment research describes typical attachment patterns of infants, which are the basis of bonding styles in adults. People with a secure-autonomous bonding style are most likely to have close and satisfying relationships that they characterize as trusting and intimate. People with an insecure-dismissing bonding style tend to avoid close relationships and emotional dependency. Clients with an insecure-enmeshed bonding style have ambivalent attitudes toward their partners and are torn between demanding and submissive behavior.
Method: A pilot study will be conducted to investigate the relationships between ExE-patterns and bonding styles. The Adult Attachment Prototype Rating (AAPR) will be used to assess the bonding styles of 30 IGPP clients, five of each representing one of the six ExE-patterns. The AAPR in the German translation (EBPR) is a standardized and proven interview procedure. The interview is semi-structured and focuses on early and current relationship experiences. It deals with bonding in the primary family as well as past and current relationships with other significant people. Prior to the interviews, ExE, bonding styles, motivational aspects, basic need satisfaction, and personality traits are recorded using various questionnaires.
Outlook: The presented study belongs in the context of a still-developing clinical parapsychology, which deals with people with distressing ExE. The observation that avoided autonomy is represented by phenomena in the world-model and blocked bonding by phenomena in the self-model points to self-organizing principles at the level of organismic and psychophysical wholeness. If counseling helps clients recognize and understand that recurrent and distressing ExE are rooted in their life history and bonding style, it can serve as a bridge and motivate them to engage in psychotherapy.
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Wolfgang Fach is a researcher at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP) in Freiburg, Germany, focusing on exceptional experiences, clinical parapsychology, and the Model of Phenomenon Basic Classes.
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Published on March 12, 2026
