Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis

by Paris Williams

Overview

As the research continues to accumulate, we find that the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia and the other related psychotic disorders has lost virtually all credibility. We've learned that full recovery is not only possible, but may actually be the most common outcome given the right conditions. Furthermore, Dr. Paris Williams' own groundbreaking research, as mentioned in the New York Times, has shown that recovery often entails a profound positive transformation. In Rethinking Madness, Dr. Williams takes the reader step by step on a highly engaging journey of discovery, exploring how the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia has become so profoundly misguided, while crafting a much more accurate and hopeful vision. As this vision unfolds, we discover a deeper sense of appreciation for the profound wisdom and resilience that lies within our beings while also coming to the unsettling realization of just how thin the boundary is between so called madness and so called sanity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780984986705
Publisher:	Sky's Edge Publishing
Publication date:	04/19/2012
Pages:	398
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.82(d)

About the Author

Dr. Paris Williams offers the very rare and powerful perspective of someone who has experienced psychosis from both sides—as a practicing psychologist and researcher, and as someone who has himself struggled with psychotic experiences:
In his late 20’s, while in the midst of a very successful career as a hang gliding instructor and competition pilot (winning a World Champion title and multiple National Champion titles), Paris Williams suddenly found himself plunged into a profound struggle with experiences that would have likely resulted in the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. Fortunately, he managed to avoid becoming entangled within the psychiatric system, and he instead embarked upon a journey of healing and self discovery, working to resolve his own personal crisis while aspiring to support others going through similar crises.
He has since spent over a decade deeply exploring both Eastern and Western understandings of mind and consciousness, studying intensive meditation from a number of different masters around the world, earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, working in numerous settings supporting people struggling with psychosis and other challenging and extreme experiences, and conducting a series of pioneering research studies at Saybrook University on recovery from schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. He continues to work as a psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area.