Psychiatry With Soul: About

Maureen B. Roberts, PhD

In the realm of the psyche, what we haven’t experienced we don’t understand . . .

After working as a graphic artist, photographer, musician and pastoral care worker, in 1983-4 Maureen worked through an acute ‘transformational crisis’ and to help make sense of this self-rebirthing experience, went through Jungian analysis in Australia. She later completed an original Doctoral [PhD] thesis, a Jungian analysis of the life and works of the 19th century English poet John Keats.

Having completed three University degrees, in 1998 Maureen began work as a psychotherapist after befriending and helping several gifted, sensitive, highly creative folk who had been labelled with ‘schizophrenia’ and (often forcibly) treated with psychiatric drugs. Clearly, these intelligent, soulful people were not receiving the kind of help they wanted or needed from the Mental Health System.

In response, Dr Roberts founded Australia's only Schizophrenia Drug-free Crisis Centre as a source of support, education and therapy for people in crisis and their families.

Maureen convened numerous public ‘mental health’ forums and in 2002 she convened Soul Down Under, the first Australian international conference on drug-free crisis care for psychosis. The main guest speaker was US Professor of Psychiatry, the late and highly respected Loren Mosher, MD.

Following soul-centred psychiatrist C. G Jung's pioneering spirit, Maureen understands that crisis resolution can take place through compassionate, non-authoritarian dialogue which creates a safe, non-judgmental space in which crises, trauma and conflicts can be worked through in the context of the person's unique story and distinctive psychospiritual profile. She recognises that the whole person - psychospiritual and physical, conscious and unconscious - needs to be respected, nurtured and responded to if crisis resolution is to occur.

Dr Roberts has been flown overseas and interstate by families for psychotherapeutic work with relatives who are unhappy with drug-based treatment, which is an inadequate and soulless response to psychospiritual crises. To work non-medically with schizophrenia and psychosis, for example, requires an in-depth knowledge of comparative religion and mythology, since 'archetypal' material of this nature frequently surfaces in these altered states. Many folk are (therefore) misleadingly diagnosed as 'mentally ill' when they are - from a soul-centred perspective - going through a transformational psychosis, spiritual emergency, or self-rebirthing process.

25 years experience in ‘mental health’ research, therapeutic practice, teaching, publishing, training & course facilitation
PhD [University of Adelaide] Field of study: Jungian Psychology & Romanticism
Convener: Pioneering 2002 International Conference on Drug-free Care for Schizophrenia
Guest ‘Mental Health’ Lecturer: University of South Australia
Design & Teaching of Courses for The University of Adelaide
PhD Thesis Examiner [Depth Psychology field]: University of Western Sydney
Winner: Sir Archibald Strong Memorial Prize for Literature [1983]
Guest Speaker: C. G. Jung Society of South Australia Inc.
Bachelor of Science and BA (Honours) First Class, University of Adelaide

Psychiatry with soul

Psychiatry with Soul

Psychiatry with Soul

Maureen B. Roberts, PhD

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