Neo-shamanism and Mental Health


Book Description

This book explores the contemporary practice of Neo-shamanism and its relationship to mental health. Chapters cover the practice of Neo-shamanism, how it differs from traditional shamanism, the technology of the shamanic journey, the lifeworlds of some of its practitioners, as well as its benefits and pitfalls. The author’s analysis draws on an in-depth study of existing literature, original qualitative-phenomenological research into the lifeworlds of practitioners, and nearly three decades of observation and experience as a student, teacher and practitioner of Neo-shamanism. She discusses the potential role of Neo-shamanic journey technology as an approach for psychology-based studies of consciousness and anomalous phenomena; its value as a tool for self-exploration as part of a supervised curriculum; as well as the possible therapeutic applications of the journey and shamanic healing protocols for use by mental health professionals. This book is a rich and timely resource for students and teachers of psychology, anthropology and sociology, psychotherapists, and anyone who is interested in consciousness and parapsychology.




Neo-shamanism and Mental Health


Book Description

This book explores the contemporary practice of Neo-shamanism and its relationship to mental health. Chapters cover the practice of Neo-shamanism, how it differs from traditional shamanism, the technology of the shamanic journey, the lifeworlds of some of its practitioners, as well as its benefits and pitfalls. The author's analysis draws on an in-depth study of existing literature, original qualitative-phenomenological research into the lifeworlds of practitioners, and nearly three decades of observation and experience as a student, teacher and practitioner of Neo-shamanism. She discusses the potential role of Neo-shamanic journey technology as an approach for psychology-based studies of consciousness and anomalous phenomena; its value as a tool for self-exploration as part of a supervised curriculum; as well as the possible therapeutic applications of the journey and shamanic healing protocols for use by mental health professionals. This book is a rich and timely resource for students and teachers of psychology, anthropology and sociology, psychotherapists, and anyone who is interested in consciousness and parapsychology. Karel James Bouse is the Director of the Institute of Esoteric Psychology, USA. She earned her Ph. D. in Psychology from Saybrook University, USA and her Ph. D. in History/American Studies from the University of Maryland, USA. She has been a student, teacher, and practitioner of Neo-shamanism for nearly 30 years.




Finding the Phoenix


Book Description

A journal of self-discovery, Finding the Phoenix, by author Dr. Karel James Bouse introduces seven tools for transformative self-discovery, including how to deconstruct one’s lenses, consciousness and identity; use expressive arts to access hidden elements of the self; connect with nature from a mystical perspective; find the meaning of your dreams; use Neo-shamanic techniques for interdimensional self-exploration, demystify anomalous experiences and phenomena; and construct a personal mythology to discover your life purpose. Used synergistically, these tools facilitate a deep, personal investigation that bridges and integrates the conscious with the unconscious, and the mythic with the mundane. Bouse provides you with background information based in academic, scientific, and professional psychological research, and detailed exercises as you follow the fictional “Lucy” through a series of workshops designed to help you find the phoenix of your authentic self. Finding the Phoenix offers a combination of thoughtful instructions, rich personal narrative from the perspective of Lucy, and experiential exercises designed to evoke insight, creativity, and personal development.




Finding New Cosmologies


Book Description

This book deals with a broad range of shamanic activities in contemporary Europe. Based on fieldwork in France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, it provides a comprehensive overview of European neo-shamanism and its various directions and currents. The study does not focus on casual practitioners but on neo-shamanic healers with many years of experience. Their work, ritual techniques, worldviews, social networks and relations to shamans outside of Europe are analysed - as well as the transformation of shamanic techniques and cosmologies in an increasingly globalised world.




Millennials, Spirituality and Tourism


Book Description

This book offers a conversant and comprehensive overview of the themes and concepts in spiritual tourism and Millennial tourists. Providing interdisciplinary insights from leading international researchers and academicians, this makes a critical contribution to the knowledge around spiritual tourism. Organized into four parts, the edited book provides modern and cutting-edge perspectives on important topics like linkages between spirituality and tourism, the predicament of spirituality in tourism among Millennials, anthropological views on spirituality, the work-life-balance, marketing of spiritual tourism destinations and the issues, threats and prospects of spiritual tourism in the emerging era. Part I introduces core concepts, theories on spiritual tourism and links it with the Millennial world. Part II explores the inclinations of millennials towards spirituality and their travel motivations, experiences, behaviours with special reference to spirituality. In Part III, on holistic tourism, the role of digitization in spiritual tourism adoption, marketing and management perspectives with special reference to Millennials are discussed. Part IV examines the issues, threats, policies and practices linked with spiritual tourism. This part also aims to explore the future challenges, opportunities for spiritual tourism development and to propose research-based solutions. Overall, the book will be a suitable means of getting insight into the minds of the diverse, experimental and open-minded generation of millennials. This book will fill the gap of research on spiritual tourism. As an edited book, it will add on new research and knowledge base with high quality contributions from researchers and practitioners interested in tourism management, hospitality management, business studies regional development and destination management.




Ecotherapy


Book Description

In the 14 years since Sierra Club Books published Theodore Roszak, Mary E. Gomes, and Allen D. Kanner's groundbreaking anthology, Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind, the editors of this new volume have often been asked: Where can I find out more about the psyche–world connection? How can I do hands–on work in this area? Ecotherapy was compiled to answer these and other urgent questions. Ecotherapy, or applied ecopsychology, encompasses a broad range of nature–based methods of psychological healing, grounded in the crucial fact that people are inseparable from the rest of nature and nurtured by healthy interaction with the Earth. Leaders in the field, including Robert Greenway, and Mary Watkins, contribute essays that take into account the latest scientific understandings and the deepest indigenous wisdom. Other key thinkers, from Bill McKibben to Richard Louv to Joanna Macy, explore the links among ecotherapy, spiritual development, and restoring community. As mental–health professionals find themselves challenged to provide hard evidence that their practices actually work, and as costs for traditional modes of psychotherapy rise rapidly out of sight, this book offers practitioners and interested lay readers alike a spectrum of safe, effective alternative approaches backed by a growing body of research.




Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers


Book Description

This exceptional book responds to the intense current interest in defining and understanding the contribution of traditional medical knowledge and the intervention techniques of traditional healers to national mental health services around the world. First book on traditional healing and transcultural psychiatry Delineates the knowledge and clinical skills of traditional healers from diverse cultural areas around the world Describes the clinical and social roles of traditional healers in their communities and the challenges of constructing national mental health programs that include traditional knowledge and healing techniques Assesses issues on efficacy and safety of traditional healers' interventions Includes contributions from leading scholars in this field from South Africa, India, New Zealand, Andorra, Canada, USA, Italy, and the Quichua and Sioux Lakota Nations of South and North America Theme of culture versus science: The psychiatrists discuss the effects of local culture upon mental health and consider the impact, benefit and incorporation of traditional healing as a tool for the clinical psychiatrist. Easy to use with case studies and vignettes throughout and a glossary to explain any technical terms Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of a wide array of mental health trainees, researchers and professionals interested in cultural psychiatry in general and the role of traditional healers around the world.




Pandemic Providers


Book Description

Emanating from a working group of the American Psychological Association, this comprehensive volume provides a blueprint for pandemic preparedness for health and mental health professionals. It reviews the actual experiences faced by practitioners during the current Covid crisis, and provides historical context of past health crises, such as the 1918 flu epidemic. Lessons learned from previous health disasters are utilized to provide guidelines and best practices for managing large scale health crises. The goal of this book is to offer the tools for health providers to mobilize, collaborate and provide effective and compassionate services. Relevant to psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers and others, this volume is an invaluable resource for the present and for the inevitable pandemics to come.




Spiritual Competence For Mental Health Professionals: A Culturally Inclusive Perspective


Book Description

Spiritual Competence for Mental Health Professionals takes a holistic developmental approach toward spirituality in psychotherapy and counseling. This means that it considers an understanding of spiritual development to be as germane to mental health practice as an understanding of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development and that it views spirituality as shaped by developmental processes. Common spiritual issues at each stage in the individual and family life course are discussed. Tools for understanding one's own and one's clients' spiritual orientations and goals along with interventions and practices that foster spiritual growth in the client and the practitioner are presented. Reflection and discussion topics are provided at the end of each chapter. Ultimately, this book aims to help mental health practitioners, educators and students to change their approach from 'meet the client where they are spiritually' to 'meet the client where they are spiritually and help them develop further.'




Idioms of Sámi Health and Healing


Book Description

The Sámi—Indigenous people of northernmost Europe—have relied on Traditional Healing methods over generations. This pioneering volume documents, in accessible language, local healing traditions and demonstrates the effectiveness of using the resources local communities can provide. This collection of essays by ten experts also records how ancient healing traditions and modern health-care systems have worked together, and sometimes competed, to provide solutions for local problems. Idioms of Sámi Health and Healing is one of the first English-language studies of the Traditional Healing methods among the Sámi, and offers valuable insight and academic context to those in the fields of anthropology, medical anthropology, transcultural psychiatry, and circumpolar studies. Idioms of Sámi Health and Healing is the second volume in the Patterns of Northern Traditional Healing series. Contributors: Kjell Birkely Andersen, Anne Karen Hætta, Mona Anita Kiil, Britt Kramvig, Trine Kvitberg, Stein R. Mathisen, Barbara Helen Miller, Marit Myrvoll, Randi Inger Johanne Nymo, Sigvald Persen.