The Stormy Search for the Self: A Guide to Personal Growth through Transformational Crisis
This work presents a persuasive case for the existence of "spiritual emergencies"--extreme mental states experienced by some individuals in the process of personal metamorphosis. The Grofs (editors of Spiritual Emergency, Tarcher, 1989) denounce Western psychiatric practices that label persons in such states as mentally ill. They instead distinguish between psychiatric disorders and spiritual emergency, offering alternative modes of therapy for the latter. As the Grofs aim to show, the cycle of inner death and rebirth that typifies spiritual emergency ultimately leads to personal transformation and healing through a connection to a transcendent Higher Power or Higher Self. The last section offers self-help strategies, plus guidelines for family, friends, and mental health professionals. A bibliography is included. This radical treatise is recommended for large public and academic libraries.- Amy A. Canadee, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., ClevelandCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.