Phil Barker

This text explores spirituality and its relationship to mental health. It emphasizes the need to look inward and listen to the messages which are channelled through our beings, rather than dismiss these experiences as some form of "disorder". Part One considers spirituality as a reflection of the process of change. A brief overview of the contemporary history of spiritual inquiry in the field of mental health is provided. Part Two considers spirituality as a reflection of the process of meaning making. Part Three considers spirituality in terms of different forms of journey, including a consideration of the traditional concept of pilgrimage. Part Four considers the potential for healing that lies within even the most terrifying forms of madness. The book then concludes with a suggestion of the power of "waiting" and the rewards obtained by the careful, compassionate practice of life.

It could be argued that a more sensitive appreciation of the total reality of the ?madness experience?, of the interior perceptions, feelings and thoughts, and the exterior reactions based on them, is the single most important development that could improve the quality of life of those diagnosed mentally ill. This book aims to offer just that, presenting a number of personal experiences and providing an alternative to the received wisdom that mental illness is an affliction, an inevitably demoralising experience, which all patients would avoid if they could.

This book brings together a collection of the author's papers which, when taken as a whole, address many of the mostpressing issues in psychiatric nursing today. The papers are linked and present the 'backbone' of the author's philosophy of nursing. Each of the chapters deals either with the search to define the theoretical and practical basis of psychiatric nursing, or addresses more general issues in nursing which have some specific bearing on the practice of psychiatric nursing. Each chapter is followed by an invited commentary from respected psychiatric nurses, who were given the brief to draw out some of the main points of the chapter and put them in focus for today's nurses.Dynamic, charismatic author This book brings together the authors major works for the first time