Psychosis and Spirituality

The new edition of this successful text builds on the very latest research to present an original and unique exploration of the psychology of both spirituality and psychosis. The editor brings together fascinating perspectives from a broad range of distinguished contributors.

• This new edition covers the most recent body of research, both qualitative and quantitative, in its exploration of the interface between psychosis and spirituality, and investigation into anomalous experiences
• Ten new chapters added and the remaining text completely updated
• New to this edition is an expanded clinical section, relevant to clinicians working with psychosis
• Offers a fundamental rethink of the concept of psychosis, and proposes new insights into spirituality
• Includes feature chapters from a distinguished list of contributors across a broad range of disciplines, including Peter Fenwick, Peter Chadwick, David Kingdon, Gordon Claridge, Neil Douglas Klotz and David Lukoff

List of Figures.

Acknowledgement.

Notes on Editor and Contributors.

1 Psychosis and Spirituality Revisited: The Frontier is Opening Up! (Isabel Clarke).

Section 1. Neuropsychology.

2 The Neurophysiology of Religious Experience (Peter Fenwick).

3 Cognitive Neuroscience, Spirituality and Mysticism: Recent Developments (B. Les Lancaster).

Section 2. Spirituality Revisited.

4 The Polarities of Consciousness (Natalie Tobert).

5 Missing Stories: Psychosis, Spirituality and the Development of Western Religious Hermeneutics (Neil Douglas-Klotz).

Section 3. The Mystical Face of Psychosis: The Psychotic Face of Mysticism. The New Continuum.

6 'On Not Drinking Soup with a Fork': From Spiritual Experience to Madness to Growth – A Personal Journey (Peter K. Chadwick).

7 Spiritual Experience: Healthy Psychoticism? (Gordon Claridge).

8 'Psychopathology', 'Psychosis' and the Kundalini: Post-Modern Perspectives On Unusual Subjective Experience (Richard House).

Section 4. The Discontinuity Hypothesis and its Philosophical Implications.

9 Psychosis and Spirituality: The Discontinuity Model (Isabel Clarke).

10 Knowledge and Reality (Chris Clarke).

Section 5. Research.

11 Are Delusions on a Continuum? The Case of Religious and Delusional Beliefs (Emmanuelle Peters).

12 The Paradigm-Shifting Hypothesis: A Common Process in Benign Psychosis and Psychotic Disorder (Mike Jackson).

13 Transformative Crises (Caroline Brett).

14 Exploring the Transliminal: Qualitative Studies (Sharon Warwick and Roger Waldram).

Section 6. Clinical Implications.

15 'What is Real and What is Not': Towards a Positive Reconceptualisation of Vulnerability to Unusual Experiences (Isabel Clarke).

16 Visionary Spiritual Experiences (David Lukoff).

17 Learning to Become Centred and Grounded and Let the Voices Come and Go (Nigel Mills).

18 Mapping Our Madness: The Hero's Journey as A Therapeutic Approach (Janice Hartley).

19 Spirituality, Psychosis and the Development of 'Normalising Rationales' (David Kingdon, Ron Siddle, Farooq Naeem and Shanaya Rathod).

20 Endword (Isabel Clarke).

References.

Index.

"The new edition of this successful text builds on the very latest research to present an original and unique exploration of the psychology of both spirituality and psychosis. The editor brings together fascinating perspectives from a broad range of distinguished contributors." (Studies in Spirituality, 2011)

"This book is an updated and expanded version of a collection of essays first published about ten years ago, when some of the ideas it explores were fairly news ... This book is generally written at an accessible level, and draws on much useful recent research in this area. Section 5, entitled ‘Research', would be the most fruitful part for a non-specialist to sample." (The Way, 1 January 2012)

"This book is aimed at anyone interested in the phenomenon of psychosis." (Mental Health Practice, 1 March 2011)

Isabel Clarke is a consultant clinical psychologist, working in acute mental health in the NHS. She is the author of Madness, Mystery and the Survival of God (2008), and co-editor of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Acute Inpatient Mental Health Units: Working with Clients, Staff and the Milieu (with H. Wilson, 2008). For more information, please visit www.isabelclarke.org. The new edition of this successful text builds on the very latest research to present a unique exploration of the psychology of both spirituality and psychosis. The editor brings together fascinating perspectives from a broad range of distinguished contributors, including Peter Fenwick and Gordon Claridge, to develop and support the link between these two areas of human experience. This text offers a fundamental rethinking of the interface between psychosis and spirituality, proposing new and original insights.

Since the publication of the first edition, there has been an increased momentum to this field, which in turn has enabled a more hopeful and less stigmatizing perspective on psychosis. The second edition reflects the most recent body of qualitative and quantitative research, and the latest clinical initiatives. This has led to the addition of ten new chapters, and an expanded clinical section, which will be highly relevant to clinicians working with psychosis.

This new perspective will be important for those with a professional interest in both psychosis and spirituality, such as therapists and priests, in addition to those seeking a well-grounded framework for their own personal explorations in this area.

‘Spirituality is the key strand that unites the great variety of cultural understandings of psychosis with recovery. This text contains contributions from leading authorities in the field; it points towards a more complete human approach to psychosis, and challenges long-held assumptions about the nature of human experience. It should be read by all mental health practitioners and students, and will be of interest to academics in theology, anthropology and philosophy, as well as service users and carers.’
—Professor Philip Thomas, University of Bradford, UK