Advanced Development Journal
The first and only professional journal to address the unique issues of gifted adults, published by ISAD since 1989.
The study of giftedness across a lifetime
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The study of giftedness across a lifetime 💎
A forward-thinking publication dedicated to unlocking undeveloped potential in gifted individuals, with a special focus on women and underrepresented communities. We explore advanced moral and emotional development, offering insights, research, stories that inspire transformative growth and leadership.
Advanced Development Journal Vol. 20
Dedicated to Dr. R. Frank Falk, Volume 20 addresses the theme of Authentic Belonging and includes “Kazimierz Dąbrowski: The Existential Therapist,” based on Frank's keynote address at the 2022 Dąbrowski Congress. The volume’s articles and thought pieces delve into self-reflection, masking, positive maladjustment, self-disclosure, and multilevel relationships that support growth and collaboration. Linda Silverman and Chris Wells each consider the history, future, and continuing value of the theory of positive disintegration.
Readers will enjoy the collection of poems, with themes of longing, discovery, and special relationships that spark creativity, growth, and wonder. Books by Deborah Ruf, Deirdre Lovekcy, and Laura Stavinoha are reviewed; all speak to the struggle of discovering and expressing one’s true self.
Dedicated to Dr. R. Frank Falk, Volume 20 addresses the theme of Authentic Belonging and includes “Kazimierz Dąbrowski: The Existential Therapist,” based on Frank's keynote address at the 2022 Dąbrowski Congress.
The volume’s articles and thought pieces delve into self-reflection, masking, positive maladjustment, self-disclosure, and multilevel relationships that support growth and collaboration. Linda Silverman and Chris Wells each consider the history, future, and continuing value of the theory of positive disintegration.
Readers will enjoy the collection of poems, with themes of longing, discovery, and special relationships that spark creativity, growth, and wonder. Books by Deborah Ruf, Deirdre Lovekcy, and Laura Stavinoha are reviewed; all speak to the struggle of discovering and expressing one’s true self.
Hex 24 Press will publish Advanced Development Journal
We are excited to announce a new publishing partnership with Hex 24 Press, founded by gifted education leader, Dr. Meryl Faulkner, to publish Advanced Development: A Journal on Adult Giftedness.
Founded in 1989, Advanced Development is the first and only professional journal devoted exclusively to the unique issues and inner experiences of gifted adults. Published by ISAD for more than three decades, the journal has served as a foundational voice in the fields of adult giftedness, advanced development, counseling of the gifted, creativity, spirituality, and higher human values.
Through this collaboration, Hex 24 Press (hex24press.com) will support the production, distribution, and promotion of the journal while ISAD retains full editorial leadership and intellectual ownership. The partnership will also expand access to the journal through:
Print on demand editions
E-book availability
Modernized cover and formatting design
Increased visibility through conferences, social media, podcasts, and marketing outreach
Future volumes of Advanced Development will continue under the editorial leadership of the ADJ team, with new editor, Dr. Jervaise Pilleggi, while benefiting from expanded publishing infrastructure and accessibility.
Hex 24 Press is thrilled to begin this collaboration. We look forward to helping Advanced Development reach new readers, researchers, counselors, educators, and gifted adults around the world. Stay tuned for upcoming updates, new publication releases, and opportunities to purchase newly redesigned print and e-book editions of the journal.
We are looking for new manuscripts for our next volume
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We are looking for new manuscripts for our next volume 〰️
New manuscripts for Vol. 21!
July 31st, 2026, for first consideration
Manuscripts are welcome at any time and will be considered as they are received for publication in the next volume. Those received by July 31st, 2026, will receive first consideration for Vol. 21.
And announcing a new section for publication: Uncommon Ground
When you have something to share, but it just doesn’t fit into an academic category. We’re seeking shorter pieces (under 1500 words) that draw on the author's personal knowledge and experience, giving readers a stimulating new perspective or tool.
Explore Previous Editions
E-Journal | Advanced Development | The inner experience of giftedness has been neglected in most research and theories, especially in adults. Consequently, definitions of giftedness that exist do not reflect how gifted adults see themselves and in what ways they value their giftedness. In this thought provoking volume, Guest Editor Willem Kuipers brings together articles from around the globe to examine the inner experience of giftedness. In these articles, authors explore the “higher intelligence” of intuition, the transformative power of mindfulness, the practicality of comprehending rational versus experiential thinking, and the role of persona in psychosocial development. “Lives of Positive Disintegration” is based on Michael Piechowski’s keynote address at the 2018 Dabrowski Congress. A poetic narrative, poetry, and two enlightening book reviews complete this volume.
E-Journal | Advanced Development | An exploration of Dabrowski's theory of overexcitability including translation of original texts, analysis and further research.
Advanced Development Journal | This volume features articles on counseling and psychotherapy for those struggling with issues related to advanced personality development.
ADJ TEAM
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Jervaise Pileggi, Ph.D., holds degrees in English (BA) and Curriculum and Instruction Leadership in Gifted Education (Ph.D.). She became the editor for the Advanced Development Journal in 2026. She has been an educator for over 17 years in rural and urban districts, working with gifted students and their families. She has been an adjunct instructor for the University of Denver for the last few years and has worked with doctoral students as a dissertation consultant and editor.
Dr. Pileggi’s doctoral research examined gifted adults’ self-perceptions of bibliotherapy, wherein she discovered self-determining bibliotherapy. This concept establishes that readers use literature to meet their socioemotional needs, whether through fiction or non-fiction, utilizing metacognition rather than formal discussion. She has a strong passion for the power of literature and for how it helps gifted readers throughout their lives. This work will be published in a book scheduled for release in early 2027.
She finds the work of Dabrowski fundamental for gifted individuals to truly understand themselves. She has presented at NAGC and CAGT conferences.
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Examiner, Editor of Advanced Development Journal, and Board Member
Nancy B. Miller, Ph.D., holds degrees in psychology and sociology and has received advanced training in family processes and children’s psychological adjustment. In 2008, she became Editor for Advanced Development, a journal on adult development. From 2002-2006, she was Executive Officer for Sociologists for Women in Society and taught courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level at the University of Akron, including socialization; children, youth and society; and sociology of the family. Her numerous publications focus on emotional development, gender and giftedness, women’s social support and adjustment, and family processes. She has worked with Dr. Silverman for more than 35 years and is committed to fostering children’s social and emotional development at home and at school. She brings a sociological perspective to the assessment of children at the Gifted Development Center. She also serves as a member of the board of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development.
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Consulting Editor
Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical and counseling psychologist. She directs the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, and its subsidiary, the Gifted Development Center (GDC) in Denver, Colorado, which has assessed over 6,500 children in the last 40 years. This is the largest data base on the gifted population. She and her colleagues at GDC have developed 40 instruments. For nine years she served on the faculty of the University of Denver (DU), in Counseling Psychology and Gifted Education. She developed a course on Assessment of the Gifted at DU, which was also a short course taught abroad. She has been studying the assessment, psychology and education of the gifted since 1961 and has written over 300 articles, chapters and books, including the textbook, Counseling the Gifted and Talented, adopted at 50 colleges. Her latest book, Giftedness 101 (Springer, 2013), contains a chapter on assessment. It has been translated into Korean and Swedish.
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Associate Editor
Michael M. Piechowski, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Educational Advancement, author of “Mellow Out,” They Say. If I Only Could, contributor to the Handbook of Gifted Education, Encyclopedia of Creativity and co-editor with Susan Daniels of Living with Intensity. Since 2002 he has been involved with the Yunasa summer camp for highly gifted youth. He collaborated with Kazimierz Dabrowski and published on emotional and spiritual giftedness.
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Board Member, Poetry Editor of Advanced Development
Bruce Allen is a graduate of Colorado State University and the University of Colorado. In his 42-year teaching career, he taught students 7th to 12th grade and those at Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado. Those years encompass public schools and private, where he was an instructor in English, gifted and talented, interdisciplinary studies, and history.
For the benefit of young gifted, he presents needed curriculum ideas for teachers and students. Near publication, his book, Pearl in a Petri Dish: Poetry, Gifted, and the Visual-Spatial Learner, verifies with student examples the potency of poetry writing for academic success.
He was the Gifted and Talented Coordinator at Northglenn High School in Adams 12, Colorado. His presentations include those at state and national conferences, CAGT and NAGC, and at the International Dabrowski Congress. In hiatus, he hopes to return to volunteer at the Colorado Horse Rescue.
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Assistant Editor
Kathee Jones, BFA, MA, has been an assistant editor for Advanced Development since 2015. She is a writer, artist, and long-time advocate for gifted children. She holds a BFA (Painting) and a MA (Anthropology/Sociolinguistics) from Arizona State University, and is a trained SENG Parent Model Group facilitator. She has decades of experience within the gifted community, with a focus on advocacy and non-traditional learning paths. Kathee has presented at NAGC and CAGT conferences and Dabrowski congresses, and her work has been published in Advanced Development Journal and 2e Newsletter. She is also the coordinator of the Dabrowski Study Group..