This book emphasizes the integral connections between imagination, creativity, and spirituality and their role in healing. Part One highlights the work of a neglected yet important psychoanalyst, Marion Milner - a painter and undeclared mystic - expanding her work on creativity, mysticism, and mental health. Part Two explores imagination and creativity as expressed in fostering hope and in spiritually-oriented therapies, particularly for mood, anxiety, and eating disorders - offering practical application of studies in imagination and the arts. Raab Mayo concludes that both creativity and the potential for transcendence are inherent in the human psyche and can work as allies in the process of healing from mental illness.

In this provocative collection of essays, an interdisciplinary group of eminent thinkers and writers offer their thoughts on how embracing creativity - tapping into the originality of everyday life - can lead to improved physical and mental health, to new ways of thinking, of experiencing the world and ourselves. They show how creativity can refine our views of human nature at an individual and societal level and, ultimately, change our paradigms for survival - and for flourishing - in a world fraught with urgent challenges.

This book emphasizes the integral connections between imagination, creativity, and spirituality and their role in healing. First, the author highlights the work of a neglected yet important psychoanalyst, Marion Milner - a painter and undeclared mystic - expanding her work on creativity, mysticism, and mental health. Second, she explores imagination and creativity as expressed in fostering hope and in spiritually-oriented therapies, particularly for mood, anxiety, and eating disorders - offering practical application of studies in imagination and the arts. Raab Mayo concludes that both creativity and the potential for transcendence are inherent in the human psyche and can work as allies in the process of recovery from mental illness.

"Creative Spirituality is a fascinating, brilliant, and suggestive book, to be read and appreciated both for its spiritual insights and for the author's astute observations on artistic creativity and spiritual practice. Robert Wuthnow explores the intimate engagements of art and spirituality in their common quests for meaning. This volume represents a substantial contribution to the growing literature on art and religion in the United States and an intelligent appeal to the artist and the truth-seeker in each of us."—Sally M. Promey is author of Painting Religion in Public and coauthor of The Visual Culture of American Religions "Wuthnow's careful listening to the voices of working artists speaking of their work, and his analysis of the rich variety of their experiences, show the universally human, transforming power of creativity. Creative practice reveals itself here as a primary spiritual practice. While some of these artists follow a traditional religious path and make fascinating connections between their working experience and their religious faith others speak directly of spirituality as a discovering of the power of Spirit. Whether religious or not, their voices are witness to the holy power of human creativity and to the mystery in which it leads."—Reverend Donald Schell, St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco "Robert Wuthnow has written a brilliant, insightful exploration of how contemporary artists struggle to express their deepest spiritual yearnings. At a time when the notion of spirituality seems inchoate, artists, writers and musicians can often eloquently articulate the mysterious otherness of our lives. Especially powerful are the personal testimonials which reveal the empowerment of transcendence over alienation and disbelief."—Marci Whitney-Schenck, Publisher and Editor, Christianity and the Arts "Here one finds wonderful stories about artists and of the creative spirituality arising out of their work. Wuthnow goes beyond telling us simply that these are people living at the edges of our culture, suggesting that they are spiritual models for our time—people who cultivate spiritual depth through sustained practice, or doing something that is fresh, expressive, and worthwhile. The book addresses the serious, many-sided aspects of their search—indeed, of our search—for 'moments of transcendence' today."—Wade Clark Roof, J. F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society, University of California at Santa Barbara and author of Spiritual Marketplace

For the millions of people who have uncovered their creative selves through The Artist's Way: a workbook and companion to the international bestseller. In this elegantly redesigned and user-friendly volume you'll find: - More than 110 Artist's Way tasks - More than 50 Artist's Way check-ins - Insights into the creative process - New ideas for Morning Pages and Artist's Dates The Artist's Way Workbook is an indispensable book for anyone following the path to creativity laid out in The Artist's Way.

Research has indicated that spiritual and religious factors are strongly tied to a host of mental health variables, both positive and negative. That body of research has significantly grown since publication of the first edition 20 years ago. The second edition of the Handbook of Spirituality and Religion and Mental Health identifies not only whether religion and spirituality influence mental health and vice versa, but also how and for whom. The contents have been re-organized to speak specifically to categories of disorders in the first part of the book and then more broadly to life satisfaction issues in the latter part of the book. Hence 100% of the book is now revised with new chapters and new contributors.

An exploration of how LSD influences imagination and the creative process. • Based on the results of one of the longest clinical studies of LSD that took place between 1954 and 1962, before LSD was illegal. • Includes personal reports, artwork, and poetry from the original sessions as testimony of the impact of LSD on the creative process. In 1954 a Los Angeles psychiatrist began experimenting with a then new chemical discovery known as LSD-25. Over an eight-year period Dr. Oscar Janiger gave LSD-25 to more than 950 men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 81 and coming from all walks of life. The data collected by the author during those trials and from follow-up studies done 40 years later is now available here for the first time, along with the authors' examination of LSD's ramifications on creativity, imagination, and spirituality. In this book Marlene Dobkin de Rios, a medical anthropologist who studied the use of hallucinogens in tribal and third world societies, considers the spiritual implications of these findings in comparison with indigenous groups that employ psychoactive substances in their religious ceremonies. The book also examines the nature of the creative process as influenced by psychedelics and provides artwork and poetry from the original experiment sessions, allowing the reader to personally witness LSD's impact on creativity. The studies recounted in LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process depict an important moment in the history of consciousness and reveal the psychic unity of humanity.

A transformational guide from the author of The Plot Whisperer to lead you—step by step—on a spiritual journey toward living your best, most creative life. Creativity engages our imagination and opens us up to thinking differently. It frees us from the constraints of everyday life, allowing us to access a part of ourselves that is not ruled by time, pressures, or conditions. It’s no wonder many of us long for more of it in our lives. When creative energy flows through us, it connects us to our deepest selves, as well as the world around us. If you’ve ever embarked on a creative project, you may have experienced moments of pure joy or a sense of higher consciousness, when creativity seemed to pour from you. It’s also likely you’ve encountered moments of feeling stuck or blocked, being full of fear and self-doubt, or just not seeing the point. The truth is, emotions have a way of powerfully disrupting our creative flow and dismantling our inspiration. And by examining how emotions affect creativity—how entangled we can become in our own negative thoughts and beliefs—we can learn to unblock channels of inspiration and reach our true creative potential. Boundless Creativity is designed to help writers, artists, and anyone feeling creatively blocked move beyond the self-doubt and criticism, past emotional wounds, and habits and patterns that keep you from realizing your artistic ambitions. Using a powerful technique called “The Universal Story”—a four-phase program with easy-to-follow steps and exercises—you’ll learn to identify and dissolve the emotional and energetic blocks that get in the way of your creativity. With these tips and tools, you’ll have the keys to unlock creative inspiration, intuition, and new ways of seeing yourself and the world—with acceptance, emotional balance, and a tolerance of imperfection.

This book describes The Artistic Theory of Psychology, in which a dominant focus is on the successful creative artist and mental health. However, the book also describes the relationship of the creative artist to mental disturbance in various contexts, including an innovative academic treatment, personal experiential essays written by the author, excerpts related to the author's semi-autobiographical novel, and illustrative blog excerpts from the author's struggling actor son. The main theme of the book is that through humanistic supportive environments for creative artists, the phenomenon of the successful creative artist in the context of success in both one's creative artistic endeavors as well as a satisfactory adjustment to day-to-day life, can be nourished and enhanced.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Clinical Practice" that was published in Religions