Experiencing Psychosis: Personal and Professional Perspectives

319 Pages·2011·1.96 MB·English

by  Jim Geekie, Patte Randal, Debra Lampshire, John Read

Experiencing Psychosis
Extensive scientific research has been conducted into understanding and learning
more about psychotic experiences. However, in existing research the voice of
subjective experience is rarely taken into consideration. In this book, first-person
accounts are brought centre-stage and examined alongside current research to
suggest how personal experience can contribute to professional understanding,
and therefore the treatment, of psychosis.
Experiencing Psychosis brings together a range of contributors who have
either experienced psychosis on a personal level or conducted research into the
topic. Chapters are presented in pairs providing information from both personal
and research perspectives on specific aspects of psychosis including: hearing
voices, delusional beliefs, and trauma as well as cultural, existential and spiritual
issues. Experts from the field recognise that first and foremost psychosis is a
human experience and that those who suffer from psychotic episodes must have
some involvement in any genuine attempts to make sense of the experience.
This book will be essential reading for all mental health professionals
involved with psychosis. The accessible style and compelling personal histories
will also attract service users and their families.
Jim Geekie is a Clinical Psychologist working in the Early Psychosis Service at St
Luke’s Community Mental Health Centre, Auckland District Health Board
(ADHB), New Zealand.
Patte Randal works as a Medical Officer in Rehabilitation Psychiatry at
Buchanan Rehabilitation Centre, ADHB, New Zealand.
Debra Lampshire works for Auckland University and ADHB, New Zealand,
leading the development in service-user involvement.
John Read is a Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Auckland,
New Zealand and is Editor of the journal Psychosis: Psychological, Social and
Integrative Approaches.
The International Society for the Psychological
Treatments of Schizophrenias and Other
Psychoses book series
Series editor: Brian Martindale

The ISPS (the International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the
Schizophrenias and other Psychoses) has a history stretching back more than fifty
years during which it has witnessed the relentless pursuit of biological
explanations for psychosis. The tide is now turning again. There is a welcome
international resurgence of interest in a range of psychological factors in
psychosis that have considerable explanatory power and also distinct therapeutic
possibilities. Governments, professional groups, users and carers are increasingly
expecting interventions that involve more talking and listening. Many now
regard skilled practitioners in the main psychotherapeutic modalities as
important components of the care of the seriously mentally ill.
The ISPS is a global society. It is composed of an increasing number of groups
of professionals, family members, those with vulnerability to psychosis and
others, who are organised at national, regional and more local levels around the
world. Such persons recognise the potential humanitarian and therapeutic
potential of skilled psychological understanding and therapy in the field of
psychosis. Our members cover a wide spectrum of approaches from
psychodynamic, systemic, cognitive, and arts therapies to the need-adaptive
approaches, group therapies and therapeutic institutions. We are most interested
in establishing meaningful dialogue with those practitioners and researchers who
are more familiar with biological based approaches. Our activities include regular
international and national conferences, newsletters and email discussion groups
in many countries across the world.
One of our activities is in the field of publication. Routledge has recognised
the importance of our field, publishing the ISPS journal, Psychosis: Psychological,
Social and Integrative Approaches ( www.isps.org/journal.shtml ). The journal
complements Routledge’s publishing of the ISPS book series, which started in
2004. The books aim to cover many topics within the spectrum of the
psychological therapies of psychosis and their application in a variety of settings.
The series is intended to inform and further educate a wide range of mental
health professionals as well as those developing and implementing policy.
Some of the books will also promote the ideas of clinicians and researchers
well known in some countries but not familiar in others. Our overall intention is
to encourage the dissemination of existing knowledge and ideas, promote healthy
debate, and encourage more research in a most important field whose secrets
almost certainly do not all reside in the neurosciences.
For more information about the ISPS, email
Other titles in the series
Models of Madness: Psychological, Social and Biological Approaches to
Schizophrenia
Edited by John Read, Loren R. Mosher & Richard P. Bentall Psychoses: An
Integrative Perspective
Johan Cullberg
Evolving Psychosis: Different Stages, Different Treatments Edited by Jan Olav
Johanessen, Brian V. Martindale & Johan Cullberg Family and Multi-Family
work with Psychosis
Gerd-Ragna Bloch Thorsen, Trond Gronnestad & Anne Lise Oxenvad
Experiences of Mental Health In-Patient Care:
Narratives from Service Users, Carers and Professionals Edited by Mark
Hardcastle, David Kennard, Sheila Grandison & Leonard Fagin Psychotherapies
for the Psychoses: Theoretical, Cultural, and Clinical Integration
Edited by John Gleeson, Eión Killackey & Helen Krstev Therapeutic
Communities for Psychosis: Philosophy, History and Clinical Practice
Edited by John Gale, Alba Realpe & Enrico Pedriali Beyond Medication:
Therapeutic Engagement and the Recovery from Psychosis
Edited by David Garfi eld and Daniel Mackler
Making Sense of Madness: Contesting the Meaning of Schizophrenia Jim
Geekie and John Read
Psychotherapeutic Approaches to Schizophrenic Psychosis Edited by Yrjö O.
Alanen, Manuel González de Chávez, Ann-Louise S. Silver & Brian Martindale
CBT for Psychosis: A Symptom-based Approach
Edited by Roger Hagen, Douglas Turkington, Torkil Berge and Rolf W. Gråwe
Psychosis as a Personal Crisis: An Experience-Based Approach Edited by
Marius Romme and Sandra Escher
Psychosis and Emotion: The Role of Emotions in Understanding Psychosis,
Therapy and Recovery
Edited by Andrew Gumley, AIf Gillham, Kathy Taylor and Matthias Schwannauer
Insanity and Divinity: Philosophical and Psychoanalytic Studies in Psychosis
and Spirituality
Edited by John Gale