Spiritual emergency : when personal transformation becomes a crisis

Introduction. Part 1 - Divine madness: psychology, spirituality, and psychosis. Spiritual emergency: understanding evolutionary crisis - Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof. Self-realization and psychological disturbances - Roberto Assagioli. Transcendental experience in relation to religion and psychosis - R.D. Laing. Part 2 - Varieties of spiritual emergency. Spiritual emergence and renewal - John Weir Perry. When insanity is a blessing: the message of shamanism - Holger Kalweit. Kundalini: classical and clinical - Lee Sannella. The challenges of psychic opening: a personal story - Anne Armstrong. The UFO encounter experience as a crisis of transformation - Keith Thompson. Part 3 - The stormy search for the self: problems of the spiritual seeker. Obstacles and vicissitudes in spiritual practice - Jack Kornfield. Promises and pitfalls of the spiritual path - Ram Dass. Part 4 - Help for people in spiritual emergency. Assistance in spiritual emergency - Christina Grof and Stanislav Grof. Counseling the near-death experiencer - Bruce Greyson and Barbara Harris. The hero's journey: ritualizing the mystery - Paul Rebillot. The spiritual emergence network (SEN) - Jeneane Prevatt and Russ Park. Epilogue: spiritual emergence and the global crisis - Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof. Appendix: Further reading

'Increasing numbrs of people involved in personal transformation are experiencing spiritual emergencies--crises when the process of growth and change becomes chaotic and overwhelming....Unfortunately, much of modern psychiatry has failed to distinguish these episodes from mental illness. As a result, transformational crises are often suppressed by routine psychiatric care, medication, and even institutionalization. However, there is a new perspective developing....'

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