During the past 25 years in my clinical practice as a psychologist at UCLA-NPI, Camarillo State Hospital, and the San Francisco VA, I have often found myself face-to-face with individuals who have had delusions similar to mine. I believe that my ability to work effectively with those individuals has been aided by being given a rare opportunity to journey through the complete cycle and phenomenology of a naturally-resolving psychotic episode. Thus, beyond serving as a spiritual awakening, my journey held within it the archetypal gift of the Wounded Healer, providng me with the ability to connect more deeply with persons recovering from episodes of mental disorders.
Based on what I learned from my own psychotic episode, and through my work with other individuals who had similar episodes, integrating such experiences into a personal spiritual journey. It involves three phases:
Phase 1: Telling one's StoryPhase 2: Tracing its Symbolic/Spiritual Heritage Phase 3: Creating a New Personal Mythologyread more... http://www.spiritualcompetency.com/recovery/lesson4.asp#mdsj