Abstract

The field of psychotherapy holds to the basic premise that what is experienced by people with schizophrenia is not normal or real. As a result, in psychotherapy there has always been a major emphasis on trying to help clients give a full account of their inner reality in words, pictures or other symbolic representations, admit they were delusional, and through learning to measure reality with the yardstick of the therapist to regain full grasp of normal reality. Bruce W. Scotton (2002) points out that Although traditional psychiatry and psychology have made impressive strides in the understanding the human mind and the brain, they adhere to an unnecessarily restrictive view of the psyche and its functioning, and in doing so they refuse to follow the scientific method. Specifically, our current sciences of the psyche fail to examine the data concerning, build theories to explain, and work therapeutically with spiritual experiences and experience of nonordinary reality. The goal of this article is to expand the existing model by questioning and rethinking assumptions about the basic nature of clients non-ordinary experiences. This article describes a non-traditional approach to treating people with schizophrenia that involves authentically accepting the persons story and symptoms as a valid reflection of an inner crisis, and treating the persons positive symptoms by respectfully using each aspect of their story as a direction from which healing can proceed towards spiritual integration and symptom resolution. The starting point of all these stories is the healing professional asking the person to describe their inner reality and then engaging and treating them from within that reality. This report is divided in the following sections: A brief overview of the challenges and perspectives on treating people with schizophrenia. A story of my personal path to healing A discussion on shared intentional focus and the validity of inner reality Case examples describing the challenges of reframing and resolution in achieving a successful treatment outcome Discussions of bioenergy field alterations that facilitate healing for these people. Summary of the approach and conclusions