Finding Hope in the Lived Experience of Psychosis: Reflections on Trauma, Use of Power and Re-Visioning Psychiatry - Paperback

by Patte Randal (Author), Josephine Stanton (Author)

This book offers first-person accounts of the experience of psychosis from the inside and the outside, through the eyes of two doctors, one of whom has experienced psychosis and both of whom have worked for decades in the field of psychiatry.

Underpinned by rigorous academic analysis using an evocative duo-ethnographic approach, the book explores the cultural and subcultural influences from childhood onwards - both traumatic and resilience-building - that have shaped their lives. Both authors reflect on strategies they learned early in life for dealing with challenges, each managing to function at a high level while avoiding awareness of their vulnerability. They reflect on the potential dangers of using their expertise and position of power in psychiatry simply to diagnose mental illness and prescribe medication. The differences and similarities in the authors' stories provide a productive tension highlighting the complexities of this paradigm shift that is happening in psychiatry.

Written in the form of two interacting memoirs, this book is of great interest to researchers, clinicians, and practicing psychologists, as well as a general audience with interest in psychosis.

Author Biography

Patte Randal, LRPC, MRCS, DPhil, has personal experience of recovery from psychosis. Her published research includes evaluation of a therapeutic intervention she developed for people with treatment refractory psychosis, and qualitative exploration of doctors' experience of mental health care. Retired from 30 years of clinical practice, she now promotes the implementation of 'The Gift Box', a collaborative resilience-building tool based on her 'Re-covery' model.

Josephine Stanton, MA, MBChB, FRANZCP, is a psychiatrist working with adolescents, children, mothers and babies and their families. Her research has included qualitative studies of mothers who have killed their children, experiences of doctors who have become patients of psychiatrists, and referrers and young people's experience of engaging with an acute inpatient unit.