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The Magazine for Democratic Psychiatry Autumn 2011 Volume 18 Number 3 £4.00 Sales and subscriptions Tel 01989 763900 www.pccs-books.co.uk Information the magazine for democratic psychiatry Asylum Collective www.asylumonline.net An international magazine for democratic psychiatry, psychology, and community development Incorporating the Newsletter of Psychology Politics Resistance the magazine for democratic psychiatry Volume 18, Number 3, Autumn 2011 ISSN 0955 2030 CONTENTS © Asylum and Asylum Associates Limbrick Centre THE SPIRITUAL CRISIS NETWORK Limbrick Rd Catherine G Lucas 4 Sheffield, S6 2PE [email protected] STRANGE CHANGES: A PSYCHOTHERAPIST’S APPROACH TO SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY Executive Editor: Courtenay Young 5 Phil Virden: [email protected] REDISCOVERING WHOLENESS: ANNABEL’S STORY General Editors: Annabel Hollis 8 Prof Alec Jenner: [email protected] A JOURNEY OF SPIRITUAL EMERGENCE Lin Bigwood: [email protected] Frances Goodall 10 Business Manager: Peter Bullimore: [email protected] OPENNESS TO UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES: Poetry & Creative Writing: PSYCHOSIS AND SPIRITUALITY REORGANISED Clare Shaw: [email protected] Isabel Clarke 13 Phil Thomas: [email protected] POEM: ‘Symmetrical Poem’ by Dunstan Clarke 15 Members of Asylum Collective: POEM: ‘My Crisis’ by Anon 15 Jim Campbell: [email protected] Clare Crestani: [email protected] DARK NIGHTS BEFORE THE DAWN Kate 16 Jacqui Dillon: [email protected] BEYOND SPIRITUAL CRISIS: WHAT’S NEXT? David Harper: [email protected] Janice Hartley 18 Paul Hammersley A WALK IN THE WILDERNESS [email protected] Maria Ravisankar 21 Ian Parker: [email protected] FINDING HELP FROM RELIGION Lisle Ryder 23 Helen Spandler: [email protected] Stephen Ticktin: [email protected] POEM: ‘Shadows’ by Rywa Weinberg 24 Design & layout: SUPPORTING A PERSON IN CRISIS Old Dog Graphics Annabel Hollis 25 Administration & Distribution: PCCS Books THE ‘WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS NOT’ GROUP 2 Cropper Row, Alton Rd Isabel Clarke 26 Ross-on-Wye, HR9 5LA POEM: ‘The Walls of Silence’ by Janice Hartley 27 Subscriptions (see below for rates): POEM: ‘Communication’ by Emma Laughton 27 www.pccs-books.co.uk POEM: ‘Psychosis’ by Maria Ravisankar 27 [email protected] POEM: ‘Return from a Far Country’ by Emma Laughton 27 tel: 01989 763 900 fax: 01989 763 901 AND FINALLY ... ‘WHAT CAN WE DO? 29 Front Cover Picture: ‘Spiritual Crisis’ by Maria Ravisankar FURTHER READING 30 and her daughter, Iona Asylum magazine is a forum for free debate, open to anyone with an interest in psychiatry or mental health. We especially welcome contributions from service users or ex-users (or survivors), carers, and frontline psychiatric or mental health workers (anonymously, if you wish). The magazine is not-for-profit and run by a collective of unpaid volunteers. Asylum Collective is open to anyone who wants to help produce and develop the magazine, working in a spirit of equality. Please contact us if you want to help. The views expressed in the magazine are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the Collective. Articles are accepted in good faith and every effort is made to ensure fairness and veracity. © The Asylum Collective, on behalf of contributors. 2011 Annual Subscription — print, incl. delivery — online at www.pccs-books.co.uk, by phone: 01989 763 900 or send cheque payable to ‘PCCS Books’ to PCCS Books, 2 Cropper Row, Alton Rd, Ross-on-Wye, HR9 5LA UK Individual £15.00 Overseas Individual £17.00 Bulk orders/Trade/Resale call 01989 763 900 UK Organisation £26.00 Overseas Organisation £30.00 for information on discounts. Digital subscriptions — each issue as a colour PDF — available from www.pccs-books.co.uk UK Individual £13.20 (inc VAT) Overseas Individual £11.00 VAT payable on digital products by UK Organisation £24.00 (inc VAT) Overseas Organisation £20.00 UK customers EDITORIAL asylum autumn 2011 page 3 Welcome to this themed edition of Asylum magazine. generally we do not believe that diagnosing people The Spiritual Crisis Network (SCN) is delighted to with various stigmatising labels is helpful, and present it, and we hope to be able to introduce the we have found that psychiatric approaches sometimes concept of spiritual crisis and to give an idea of do more harm than good, especially as they tend who we are and what we do. The first article, by our to pathologise deeply meaningful inner experiences. founder, Catherine Lucas, explains in more detail who ‘Spiritual Crisis’ or ‘Spiritual Emergency’ is one we are. But, very broadly, we are a group of people perspective or possible conceptualisation. ‘Mental who recognise that spiritual experience and mental Illness’ is another. In the Spiritual Crisis Network health difficulties often overlap. Often by personal we believe that our perspective may be more meaningful experience, we have learnt that, given the right and empowering. But we leave it to you, the reader, circumstances, turbulent and extreme psychological to decide … disturbances may lead to profound personal Now to introduce this edition. First of all is transformation. And so we recognise and value a the letter from our founder, mindfulness trainer spiritual perspective towards such experience. Catherine Lucas, who talks about the history of What exactly might the spiritual perspective be? the Spiritual Crisis Network and how you can get This gets hard to explain, since the whole area of involved. Psychotherapist Courtenay Young then spirituality is highly subjective and value-laden. describes Grof’s concept of Spiritual Emergency. It can be closely linked to religious beliefs and Next follow two accounts of personal experience: practices, or it may be about a sense of connection Annabel Hollis highlights the impact of the cultural – with others, with nature or the universe, or with differences between her experiences in India and some spiritual reality greater than ourselves. It here in the UK, whilst Frances Goodall describes may be about finding a meaning and a sense of purpose the effects on the body’s energy systems in the in our lives, for example, by making sense out of form of Kundalini awakening and chronic fatigue suffering, or by learning more about ourselves and syndrome. Both Annabel and Frances have recently been others. The Spiritual Crisis Network recognises all interviewed by Conscious TV about their experiences. perspectives and has no affiliation or allegiance to This is recorded on YouTube. (Search for: ‘Conscious any particular faith or spiritual path. TV Spiritual Crisis’.) Next, clinical psychologist So, generally, in the SCN we tend to take a more Isabel Clarke talks about her work in this area, hopeful and optimistic approach towards mental health and offers a cognitively based framework for this difficulties, seeing them in a holistic context. type of experience. She highlights the difficulties We recognise that profound and unusual or altered of finding the right language, and stresses the states of consciousness are valid and meaningful dangers of trying to stick too rigidly to specific human experiences. But we also know that they can be theories or ideas. Kate describes her battles with disturbing and the cause of much suffering, distress the lows of depression and the heights of Kundalini and even danger. So we understand that people often awakening. My own article highlights the limitations need support and understanding when in crisis, and of the concept of ‘spiritual crisis’, the lack as a network we do what we can to help. For example, of any generally accepted coherent psychological we try to raise awareness that mental health understanding of unusual and extreme experiences, difficulties may have a positive potential, and we and the need for interdisciplinary approaches in this offer an email support service from our website: area. Maria Ravisankar describes how the support from www.spiritualcrisisnetwork.org.uk a church, and a spiritual frame of reference, helped A fundamental influence is the work of Czech her recovery. Lisle Ryder, a former deliverance psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, with his concept of ministry advisor, offers advice for those seeking ‘Spiritual Emergency’. Grof and his wife Christina spiritual support with their difficult paranormal established the Spiritual Emergence Network (SEN) in or spiritual experiences. In terms of therapeutic California in the 1980s, with the aim of providing approaches Annabel Hollis describes the work of the support for individuals in crisis. This was the Stroud Spiritual Crisis Network group in providing a original inspiration for setting up the Spiritual local support service to people in crisis, and Isabel Crisis Network here in the UK. (See the article by Clarke describes running her ‘What is real and what Catherine Lucas.) is not’ groups. We have also suggested some further Much of what we do is about raising awareness. reading. We would like to thank everyone for their Since we live in such a secular and materialist contributions and apologise to those whose work we world, spirituality is often a taboo subject, and could not include due to a lack of space! this seems to be especially so in mental health. We We hope you will also enjoy the pictures and poetry have found that simply letting people know that a which further illustrate the theme of Spiritual well-recognised spiritual perspective is available Crisis. For artwork, we thank John Hartley, Annabel can be enormously helpful, in itself. So we do what Hollis, Matthew Potticary, Clare Gill, Hara Willow, we can to get people together, either in local groups, Maria Ravisankar and her daughter, Iona, and Rev. or in an email group hosted by a founder member, Niradhara Marie (whose work may be purchased from clinical psychologist Isabel Clarke, on which people her website: www.777sangam.blogspot.com). For their can explore their unusual experiences in a safe and poetry, we thank Dunstan Clarke, Rywa Weinberg, supportive environment: www.isabelclarke.org Emma Laughton, Maria Ravisankar, and an anonymous Finding a suitable terminology can be tricky in contributor.
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