IGL 250: Preface

MY SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY
In many areas of mental health, it is common to find professionals working with problems with which they themselves have had to cope. For example, substance abuse counselors are often ex-alcoholics and ex-addicts; persons working with bereavement and post-traumatic stress disorders frequently have had these experiences themselves.

Similarly, some of the contributors to the understanding of psychosis have reported having had psychotic breaks (e.g., Boisen — the founder of pastoral counseling and Jung). However, personal experience with psychosis is not a prerequisite for sensitive work with the psychotic experience. R. D. Laing, one of the most provocative thinkers on the treatment of psychosis has acknowledged his lack of personal experience with psychosis:

They [psychotic persons] are making the voyage. I have never made that voyage myself, and possibly none of us here [at the conference] have. Since in practically all psychiatric units, this journey is not allowed to take place, we can be sure that few of us have ever seen it. [1]

In 1971, I spent 2 months convinced that I was a reincarnation of Buddha and Christ, had a messianic mission to save the world, and was writing a new "Holy Book" that would form the basis for a new global religion. In my clinical practice as a psychologist and work with the Spiritual Emergence Network for the past 25 years, I have often found myself face-to-face with individuals with the same beliefs. I believe that my ability to work effectively with individuals in this state has been aided by my own similar experience. By giving me a rare opportunity to experience the complete cycle and phenomenology of a naturally-resolving psychotic episode, my spiritual emergency was a valuable clinical experience as well as a spiritual awakening!

I was able see the experience through to a positive resolution because of the support of my friends and family. Subsequent work with a Jungian analyst and with traditional shamans helped me to further integrate the experience. I am grateful that I did not receive traditional medical interventions, such as hospitalization or medication. Yet I know that spiritual crises are often misdiagnosed, medicated, and treated as a psychiatric crisis. My work with the Spiritual Emergence Network, my 50 publications of case studies and articles on spiritual issues in mental health, and this course are all part of the calling I found through my spiritual emergency. My personal experience is used as a clinical example in this course. My new mission is to provide resources for clinicians on religious and spiritual issues in mental health. Not quite a holy book, but I am still scribbling away.

1 Laing, R. D.(1972 ) Metanoia: Some experiences at Kingsley Hall. In H. M. Ruitenbeck (Ed.), Going crazy. New York: Bantam. p. 19