RESEARCH
Research and Work with Parkinson’s
In October 2020, Fergus was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which greatly impacted our lives. Since then, our focus has been on researching approaches to health, healing, and overall well-being.
Our work has three main aspects:
Exploring non-drug ways to reduce or eliminate Parkinson’s symptoms, often by addressing underlying causes of stress.
Investigating the deeper meaning of illness—not just as a limitation, but also as a potential catalyst for living a deeper, more fulfilling life.
Understanding the role that self-leadership can play in reshaping narratives of health and healing.
We have drawn from a range of disciplines, including psychotherapy, art-based methods, coaching, nutrition, movement and meditation, and also on our own backgrounds in qualitative research (see below).
We do not claim a cure, but we do aim to offer new and empowering narratives about what it means to live with a chronic condition. This, in our view, can make a huge difference to quality of life. Five years on from his diagnosis, Fergus remains drug-free and has reduced or eliminated many of the symptoms he had at the time of his diagnosis.
Film Project: A Journey of Discovery and Dialogue
As we continue with the work outlined above, we’ve decided to share our findings through a film. Our goal is to disseminate what we've learned, spark inspiration, and open up constructive dialogue on the approach we've taken. The film will not only serve as a tool for communication but also as a means to deepen and refine our own understanding of what we are doing. In this sense, the film is both part of our research process and a way to engage in dialogue with others.
We are excited to be collaborating with filmmaker and anthropologist Jeppe Lerche on this project. Together we’ll be working on the film over the next year, with a target completion date of September 2026.
For any inquiries you can contact us at this address: fma@crossfieldseuropa.com.
As well as the work with Parkinson’s, we are engaged in various other research activities, which are briefly outlined below.
Fergus’ Research
I completed my PhD in 2018. The title is The Dynamic Phenomenology of Conscious, Occurrent Thinking: A First-Person Approach. In it I explore the nature of the experience of thinking from a phenomenological perspective. Drawing on concepts and terminology from the field of cognitive phenomenology in philosophy of mind, I make various claims about the experience of thinking that challenge some of the current and traditional views. You can download the final text and other related papers here.
My PhD is also available as a paperback book which you can buy on Amazon here.
Charlotte’s Research
I have been an action researcher since 2007 and this method has become integral to how I work and live my life. My experience as an entrepreneur, executive, coach and educator is that a research mindset inspires an attitude of questioning and wonder.
Over the years, I noticed that the way we attend to ourselves and the world around us has moral implications. I started a process of capturing my own practice of attention and this led me to work with other executives in a longitudinal action research project that eventually culminated in a PhD. The process changed my life both professionally and personally.
At University of the West of England’s Bristol Business School, I have the privilege of teaching MBA and MSc students from all over the world. This work has inspired me to research how our personal narratives inform how we make sense of the world, how we act and what we choose to pay attention to.
I have a long-standing research partnership with Dr Peter Simpson in which we are investigating the interplay between the practice of attention and Negative Capability. We published a book that explores this in some detail - you can find it here.
A full list of my publications is available here.