Psychiatry With Soul: Vision Statement

A New Soul-centred Approach to the Care of People in Crisis

Maureen has proposed that we explore and put into place a radically new approach to the ‘care of soul’ that would take place within the broad context of a new field, which she has named ‘soul-centred psychiatry’, the art of ‘healing the soul’ - the literal meaning of ‘psych-iatry’.

Soul-centred psychiatry is the de-institutionalized, de-medicalised, de-professionalized, non-authoritarian approach to care, therapy and support at the heart of a new paradigm and ‘practical vision’ for genuine reform, which Maureen has named 'Temenos', a community based therapeutic network for people in crisis.

Since we have redefined ‘psychiatry’ as (in soul-centred psychiatrist C. G. Jung’s words) the ‘art of healing the soul’, by ‘soul-centred psychiatry’ we mean all the conditions for and contributors to the healing of soul - environmental, social, psychospiritual, relational, physical, creative, natural, residential, educational, therapeutic, communal, supportive, cultural and legal.

Soul-centred psychiatry, in other words, is not an alternative 'treatment', but rather an alternative to 'treatment', since it honours and facilitates the soul/psyche's ability to heal itself and find its own path in life.

It makes no attempt to medicalize normal life problems; the guiding perspective is, rather, based on ‘crisis resolution’ instead of on the ‘treatment’ of ‘mental illness’, the latter being a culturally entrenched construct and subjective opinion, not an objectively verifiable medical fact.

‘Temenos’ is a Greek word which refers to a universal instinct to create an inner and/or outer safe space - symbolically akin to a garden, piece of sacred land, guarded castle, or womb - in which to heal, reorganize and regenerate the fragmented, depressed, or traumatized personality.

Inspired by the former successful US Soteria and Diabasis programs, Temenos is the nurturing environment in which the new soul-centred approach to care is implemented. It is the compassionate community and safe space in which, through soul-centred psychiatry, persons in crisis can resolve their crises in a home-like environment and in a natural, creative, supported and wholistic way.

The Therapeutic Trialogue: Depth Psychotherapy as a Shared Soul Journey

by Maureen B. Roberts, PhD

More specifically, training, education and practice in general practice medicine focuses almost exclusively on physical/biologic medicine, not on the psychospiritual ‘anatomy’ and needs of the psyche in crisis. The duty of medical practitioners is, accordingly, to help alleviate genuine (i.e. objectively verifiable) medical problems, not attend to the life and needs of the psyche.

Training, education and practice in (Government funded) mainstream psychiatry is based on a biologic approach/dogma, which believes in the existence of ‘mental illness’ as an objective medical fact, assumes that such illnesses, or ‘disorders’ are caused by ‘chemical imbalances’ in the brain, and ‘treats’ these hypothetical imbalances with toxic drugs that can have serious side-effects - including permanent brain damage - or (in some cases) cause death.

Mainstream psychologists respond to cognitive and behavioural problems with a range of theoretical and practical approaches aimed at modifying behaviour, or cognition. They do not provide drug-free care and psychotherapy for people in psychosis, nor do they have an in-depth understanding of the structure and dynamics of the psyche, or a focus on caring for the psychospiritual life of soul.

In contrast, soul-centred psychiatry does not medicalize distressed states of consciousness, nor aim to modify behaviour and cognition, but is instead a perspective and approach based on ‘crisis resolution’ as a naturally occurring, spontaneous ability of soul/psyche to find its own ‘path to wholeness’ , through a process of transformation which C. G. Jung described as ‘individuation’.

Soul Down Under: Schizophrenia, Temenos & Cultural Healing

[opening address at 2002 international Soul Down Under conference, run by Temenos Therapeutic Network]:

by Maureen B. Roberts, PhD

Guest speaker was US Professor of Psychiatry Loren Mosher, MD, who spoke at length about the successful ‘Soteria’ residential community care project (for people in psychosis), which he ran for 12 years in California.

Temenos can be imaged as a set of 7 concentric, dynamic spheres, radiating outward from the innermost sphere, as follows:

intrapersonal sphere: the inner drama and dynamic life of the individual psyche
interpersonal sphere: one-to-one mentoring and relatedness, and equal therapeutic dialogue
communal sphere: community-based support, education and residential crisis care centres, open community forums, media and legal liaison work, fundraising
social sphere: the wider network of Temenos communities within a city, or state
national/cultural sphere: networking and exchange of ideas, national teaching and training programs, support and information helplines
international/global sphere: online support, consultation (e.g. via Skype), teaching/training forums, conferences and networkin
cosmic sphere: recognition of the universal dynamic interplay of opposites and of the oneness, interconnectedness and interdependence of all being as a ‘community of soul’, based on compassion, truth, natural law and the intuition of an underlying unitary Ground of Being (Tao).

. In relation to its guiding ethic, practical application and principles, Temenos recognises that:

in terms of what is therapeutically effective, valuable, or necessary, the importance of human intervention, or ‘professional help’ is often overestimated
networking and equal relationships are crucial in order to nurture a sense of belonging, community, support, shared knowledge, safety, mutual respect, personal empowerment and refuge
people in (non-violent) psychosis can - in a caring, safe, supportive and homelike environment - resolve their inner crises without ‘treatment’, or professional intervention
Temenos staff, both non-professional and professional, need to have desirable personal qualities and an enthusiastic desire to nurture, support and respect the life of the psyche, for example, by (when appropriate) encouraging and helping people in crisis to participate in ‘soulful’ activities, such as gardening, the care of animals, music, creativity, healthy food and lifestyle, uplifting relationships, exercise, helpful spiritual practices (such as T’ai Chi, yoga, meditation), beneficial community activities, helpful physical therapies (such as massage, reflexology, iridology, homeopathy, naturopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, nutritional medicine (funded by Medicare) and Chinese medicine), and ‘soul-centred’ approaches to psychotherapy - which require specialized education and training - including transpersonal, Jungian and archetypal psychology, psychosynthesis, rebirthing, psychoshamanic healing, psychoanalysis and spiritual emergence facilitation.
family members and/or friends wishing to care for (non-violent) individuals in psychosis in a home environment need to be given support, information and education to help them understand the needs of a person in psychosis and to offer them (when needed) relief as carers

Dr Peter Breggin, MD www.breggin.com

“Nothing in the field of mental health will do more good and reduce more harm than encouraging withdrawal from psychiatric drugs. The time is past when the focus in mental health was on what drugs to take for what disorders. Now we need to focus on how to stop taking psychiatric drugs and to replace them with more person-centered, empathic approaches. The goal is no longer drug maintenance and stagnation; the goal is recovery and achieving well-being.” ~ Dr Peter Breggin, MD [psychiatrist/founder of ‘Empathic Therapy’ approach]

Soul in Crisis: Why Cultural Healing Must Replace the 'Mental Illness' Fiction

by Maureen B. Roberts, PhD

"I believe that signiﬁcant harm is being done to patients under the guise of modern psychiatric treatment." ~ Dr David Kaiser, MD {Psychiatrist]

"What psychiatrists do is to inﬂict a closed head injury on people in spiritual crises." ~ Dr Peter Breggin, MD [Psychiatrist]

"All biopsychiatric treatments share a common mode of action - the disruption of normal brain function. They never improve the brain. They "work" by impairing the brain and dampening feelings in various ways." ~ Dr Douglas Smith, MD [Psychiatrist]

This ‘vision statement’ is the basis of a book-in-progress: Creating Temenos: A New Soul-centred Psychiatry for People in Crisis [a practical vision for genuine ‘mental health’ reform . . .]