Transformation in psychosisLudi Van Bouwel

23 September 2017

Introduction

• Central issue

‘What can be learned from people around the world

who have turned their psychological crisis

into a positive transormative experience?’

• Gratitude versus

– Phil Borges, Adam and Ekhaya

– Huguette Beyens and Willem Versteeg

– you all

Introduction

• Fight against:– Strict medical discourse in psychiatric hospital

– Dereiled managment discourse in organisations

• Inspiration from:– People in a psychotic crisis and their family members

– My co-workers

– Scientific and other literature:

• WR Bion, Darian Leader, Peter Gotszche

• Antropologists and filosophers (Renaat Devisch, Paul Moyaert…)

• Tragedy writers (Euripides, Shakespeare) and other authors

Overview

A. Essence of good psychiatric care

– Fragments of citations of Gabor Maté and Adam

B. Link between shamanism, psychosis and ‘becoming a healer’

– Fragments of citations of Alberto Villoldo, James Baraz, Angeles ArrienRoshi Hallifax and Phil Borges

C. Example of a a good therapeutic attitude

– Fragment of interview between Phil and Adam

A. Essence of good psychiatric care

• citation of Gabor Maté (p 9) 00:17:31

Essence of good psychiatric care (Gabor Maté)

• The best place in the world to be schizophrenic is a place

– Where acceptation and being different is possible

– Where links are not destructed but restored

– Where you are not excluded but where you are wellcome

– Where you can find space to do what you have to do and to expresswhat you have to express

– Where the whole community starts singing with you and organises a ceremony

– Where you can find an ‘meaning’ for your crazyness

Internal drives External traumatic events

Affective overwhelming

Attacks on linkingThanathos

Creative processEros

Psychotic crisis: new created reality

Affectivedysregulation

Origine of a psychotic crisis

Essence of treatment of psychosis: a search for linking

• ‘Being with’: to create a place and to make time for a real encounter

• Preverbal forms of contact

• Language as the ultimate form of linking

• Links in time: present, past and future

• Links with familymembers and own peergroup.

Essence of treatment of psychosis: a search for linking

• Being with: to create a place and to make time for a real encounter. The care giver is able to give: – Permanent presence and psychological admissability

– Attitude of receptivity, maximum openness and acceptance

– Sincere curiosity

– No memory, no desire, no understanding

– Negative capability: ability to tolerate own anxiety, uncertenties anddoubts

– Resonation with own inner world

– Patience and security

– Intuïtion (language of Achievement)

‘Being with’ ‘Becoming new’

Essence of treatment of psychosis: a search for linking

• Preverbal forms of linking:

– Unconscious communication by rhythm, sound, motion, colour, shape

– Music: making music together

– Walking and moving together, dancing

– Painting and making photographs, film together

Musictherapy, psychomotoric therapy, art therapy make it possible

to resonate with the inner pain of the person in crisis and

to transorm the painfull things into a new experience

Essence of treatment of psychosis: a search for linking

• Language as the ultime form of linking

– Dreams are the precursors of language: let people talk about theirnightmares, hallucinations and delusions witch can be seen as a first way of ‘dreaming a painful reality’

– Finding words together for the reality that is often to painfull to speakabout

– By listening and talking together one can find the meaning of thepsychotic crisis

Essence of treatment of psychosis: search for linking

• Finding connection in time

– Finding connection with the own past

– Creating a future that is hopefull

– Continuity of care is essential

• Finding links again with the family and the own peergroup

– Familymembers are the most important persons in the continuity of life. Familymembers can help to search a meaning for the psychosis(cfr Open Dialogue of Seikkula)

– To be a member of an own peergroup stimulates acceptance, self-esteem, mental grow and hope for the future

B. Shamanism, psychosis and becoming a ‘healer’

• Rumi: ‘The wound is the place where the light gets in’

• Peter Brosens: Khadak

• Leonard Cohen: There is a crack in everything, that ‘s wherethe light gets in’.

• Fragment uit film 3

– citaat Alberto Villoldo 00:36:38 tot en met

– citaat Roshi Halifax 00:37:29

– citaat Phil Borges (na tonen van ritueel in Ecaudor) 00:40:21 vanaf uitspraak ‘ Ik wil inheemse volkeren niet romantiseren’… tot ‘Ik geloof dat dit iets is wat we van hen kunnen leren’

Psychosis and the receptivity for something ‘Real’

• Something ‘Real’: what is this?– Primordial Identity or Participation Mystique (Jung)

– ‘The void and formless Infinity’ ( Milton)

– ‘Le silence eternel des espace infinies’ ( Pascal)

– ‘Ultimate Reality or O’ (Bion)

Many mystics express their experience of direct access to the deity in terms of light, but light is not the only model used. Jewish mystics in particular find thevoice a telling representation of the experience. St Paul found light and voice a telling representation of the experience’ (Bion 1970 p 81)

• Something ‘Real’:– Religuous connotation: mysticism

– Painfull reality whitch can not be spoken: war, traumatic events in families that are kept secret….

Shaman in foreign cultures and the ‘genius in a group’

• Cultures not affected by Western monotheistic religions

– The shaman with receptivity to ghosts and with healing forces becauselinked to the community and to nature

• Our culture:

– The genius with a ‘messianistic idea’ (Jezus, Newton, Freud, …)

Renaat Devisch (prof emeritus antropologist KULeuven)Western healer after contact with Yaka in Congo

C. Example of a good therapeutic attitude

Adam in conversation with Phil Borges 00:56:35

• Respectful empathy

• Real encounter

• Open and serene receptivity

• Sincere curiosity

• Adam feels safety and security by warm gaze of Phil

• Phil is in resonance with the bad feelings of Adam and createsa climate where tranformation of these feelings are possible

Conclusion

‘To professionals in care I’d like to say: Please become a little bit crazy…

And for experience experts I’d like to use another quote: The paradox is that if you accept yourself, then you can change. So let’s embrace our craziness, because there is wisdom to it. Let’s use our insanity to connect to our deepest emotions and learn

from that. With that knowledge we could help other people. Let’s translate our craziness into art, science, philosophy and

meaningful action. That might just make all the difference in the world.’

Griet Daemen

Thanks