Jennifer Erickson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Social/Industrial-Organizational Psychology program at Northern Illinois University. Her primary research interests include the positive consequences of pain, altered states of consciousness, extreme rituals, and sadism. As part of the Science of BDSM research team, Jen has presented her work at several academic conferences and has presented workshops at several BDSM-community conferences and clubs.

Erickson is part of the research team that Phoenix B mentioned in our April interview. She talks to us about the research methodology used to study the hook pull ritual and why they chose those methods. We talk about a few different ways they gathered data, what that data tells us, and why these results are relevant for the broader population. I practice saying "Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory"; I never did get it right but Jen explains what this important measurement means.

We also learn the terms "flow" and "transient hypo-frontality". We talk about the chemical and brain wave changes a person goes through during these events, and she teaches us the difference between everyday sadism and pro-social sadism.

We dive into a discussion about the extreme rituals/intense events we experience in life, such as birth, how these experiences affect us, and we ponder why these powerful events are cloaked in suspicion and fear.

To join us for a live QA& on May 20th at 5:00 PM PDT, go to Our Website and click "Join our Community". Everyone is welcome and it's a free community, but joining as a supporting member gives you access to all the Q&A recordings and extended versions. I had to cut out 25 minutes of thought-provoking information from this fascinating conversation.

Here is a link to the Science of BDSM Research team's publications and presentations.