Bipolar Awakenings: Recent Episodes
Sean Blackwell
Sean Blackwell explores the spiritual dimension of bipolar disorder and other mental health challenges, as well as the potential for healing. Podcasts include interviews with some of the most interesting people around who are currently challenging the mainstream psychiatric paradigm - some of whom were Sean's own clients!
https//:www.bipolarawakenings.com, Bipolar Awakenings Podcast #14.
Author Jose Hoekstra talks about her new book, "Wings - Psychosis as a way to become a full human being" with Sean Blackwell.
https://bethhallidayresearch.sutra.co/, https://www.bipolarawakenings.com
At this time there is very little scientific research available to mental health professionals about how to support the integration of spiritual emergence and personal transformation. Beth Halliday has focused her university approved MSc research this year on validating a collection of practices that professionals have recommended, and would value your expertise in rating these practices. This online survey takes about 25-30 minutes to complete - which certainly is a contribution of your time - but the potential benefits are significant.
While it may be directly helpful to you to learn what practices others have used, your authentic experience will help to identify to the mental health community the most important practices for integrating profound personal change. Your participation will contribute to appropriate guidance and support for many others in the future.
More information about this research project and the survey are here - https://bethhallidayresearch.sutra.co
Thank you for your consideration, participation and support!
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Drunk on Too Much Life is an intimate and powerful documentary following the filmmaker’s 21-year-old daughter’s mind-opening journey from locked-down psych wards and diagnostic labels towards expansive worlds of creativity, connection and greater meaning. On their journey, the family begins to question the widespread idea that mental illness should be understood in purely biological terms and learns the myriad ways that madness has meaning. Recovery is not a straight path to being cured but a crooked and bumpy journey and series of small awakenings. Michelle Melles (she/her) is a seasoned director, writer and producer with a background in independent documentary media, non-fiction television, and magazine journalism. She has worked for some of the top broadcasters and television shows in Canada, produced and directed numerous short, nationally-broadcast and internationally-distributed TV documentaries. Under her banner Parallel Vision Pictures, she seeks to tell multidimensional and engaging stories that challenge preconceived ideas and offer unique ways of perceiving the world. She holds an MFA in Documentary Media from The Creative School at X-Ryerson University in Toronto (Gold Medal, 2021, summa cum laude); received the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant from the Canadian Government for her work in documentary filmmaking and transformative mental health (2020), and holds a BA from the University of Toronto (high distinction; faculty scholar, 1995). Drunk on Too Much Life is Michelle’s first feature length documentary film. Pedro Orrego (he/him) is a seasoned TV writer and producer and has worked on numerous series and documentaries for broadcast and festivals for the last 20 years. He won a Gemini (now called Canadian Screen Award) in 2004 for his work on the groundbreaking docuseries SexTV and was nominated a few more times. His short documentary Getting Wood was selected at the Hot Docs Film Festival in 2005. Along with his collaborator Steve Koven, he plays and records improvised music which is used in films and videos. Drunk on Too Much Life is his first feature length documentary film.
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Dr. Katrina Michelle is a holistic psychotherapist and founder of The Curious Spirit who specializes in spiritual emergence and psychedelic integration.
Katrina's dissertation on the resistance to spiritual emergence was pivotal in both catalyzing and supporting the integration of her own spiritual emergence. She is the former executive director of ACISTE which stands for the AMERICAN CENTER FOR THE INTEGRATION OF SPIRITUALLY TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES and is also a former director of the MAPS Zendo Project – MAPS - Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies – you’ve probably heard of it.
She is currently collaborating with a team of researchers to explore adverse psychedelic experiences and is working on producing a film, When Lighting Strikes, which is intended to illustrate the often “unsexy” side of awakening. Katrina and I have known each other for quite a while online and I thought she’d be a great person to catch up with.
Here’s what we covered in our podcast:
0:00 Introduction
1:30 Katrina’s Spiritual Emergence
4:50 The difference between a Spiritual Emergence and a Spiritual Emergency
10:00 How Katrina chose to do a Ph.D. on Spiritual emergence(y)
22:50 Her research on how we resist spiritual emergence.
25:00 The need for a cultural shift in our society in regard to these experiences.
28:30 Katrina’s work at ACISTE (AMERICAN CENTER FOR THE INTEGRATION OF SPIRITUALLY TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES)
30:30 Why you must get a diagnosis when you visit a psychiatrist.
35:00 How the psychedelic renaissance leads to greater awareness of spiritual emergence.
35:45 Katrina’s involvement in the MAPS Zendo project
39:50 Supporting a spiritual emergence versus supporting a psychedelic experience.
41:30 Katrina’s film project with Kate West.
43:00 Her research into challenging psychedelic experiences.
44:00 Sean psychoanalyzes Katrina’s coughing!
46:30 The need for normalizing spiritual experiences.
51:00 The difference between a difficult psychedelic experience and “psychosis”.
53:40 How Katrina finds research participants.
54:00 Alex Grey’s Chapel of the Sacred Mirrors.
55:50 Why Sean doesn’t use psychedelics.
56:30 Why psychedelics aren’t right for everyone.
59:40 Michael Pollan’s book and Netflix series, How to Change your Mind.
1:01:20 The safety of psychedelics versus other spiritual practices.
1:04:00 The need for a safe therapeutic container.
1:06:00 Our mutual connection with author, Jules Evans.
1:09:30 The Challenging Psychedelic Experience Survey and training program.
1:12:00 Dealing with licensing and the risk of being sued.
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Robin Timmers is an expert by experience from the Netherlands. 10 years ago he founded the first Hearing Voices Support Centre. There he developed a recovery and emancipation oriented approach to learning to live with hearing voices. Robin's work represents an important alternative approach to what is normally diagnosed as schizophrenia. His broad interests include recovery, spirituality and human rights. Here we talk about how got involved in the Hearing Voices Movment, his love of mosh pits, and my cat.
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Jen Macdonald entered into extreme states of consciousness while backpacking in India in 1998. Because she had a loose understanding and framework for these experiences, she recognized that they were spiritual and not necessarily signs of psychosis. Jen came across my book, Am I Bipolar Or Waking Up? about 10 years ago, and it validated many of her experiences. She even organized an event for me while I was back in Toronto in 2015. For the past 24 years, Jen has been involved in several online groups that seek to validate, support, and even celebrate experiences similar to the ones we've had. Currently, she's working on a book that she hopes will reassure people in psycho-spiritual crisis that they're not crazy and they're not alone. I wanted to interview Jen because I thought she'd be a great person to go in-depth with around the topic of spiritual experiences.
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Adam Gentry was featured in the documentary CRAZYWISE, by Phil Borges. The film gave a very intimate portrayal of Adam's struggles with non-ordinary experiences, diagnosed as bipolar disorder. A captivating person, I was very excited to hear that he was enthused about being interviewed!
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Born and raised in South Africa, the extensive travels of Josh Roberts include ventures deep into the state of mind called bipolar type 1. Josh combines his lived experience in the mental health system with his education in psychology (BA from the University of South Africa) and theology (MA from Fuller Theological Seminary). His passion is to create a synergy between the inner and outer worlds through optimizing mental health. He works with prominent mental health providers in San Diego, California including NAMI, Mental Health Systems, and Interfaith in supporting many of those who are most affected by mental health struggles. He’s an avid surfer, riding the currents of his American lucid dream with his wife and two young daughters.
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Here, Phil talks about how his experience with tribal shamanism got him curious about how we treat mental disorders in the West, all leading to his film, CRAZYWISE. Our interview turned around as Phil asked me about my own approach to shamanism, healing, and spirituality, as a whole!
For nearly three decades Phil Borges has been documenting indigenous and tribal cultures, striving to create an understanding of the challenges they face. His work is exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. Phil has hosted television documentaries on indigenous cultures and shamanism for Discovery and National Geographic channels. He regularly presents at universities, teaches workshops, and has spoken at multiple TED events. Phil’s documentary film CRAZYWISE reveals a paradigm shift that’s changing the way Western culture defines and treats “mental illness”. After eight years and countless interviews with mental health care professionals, neuroscientists, and individuals experiencing a mental health crisis, CRAZYWISE explores the deeper understandings of, and effective approaches to, a psychological crisis. The film highlights a survivor-led movement demanding more choices from a mental health care system in crisis.
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Here. Sean Blackwell interviews Phil Borges about how his experience with tribal cultures and shamanism have shaped his views of our society and the mental health system.
For nearly three decades Phil Borges has been documenting indigenous and tribal cultures, striving to create an understanding of the challenges they face. His work is exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. Phil has hosted television documentaries on indigenous cultures and shamanism for Discovery and National Geographic channels. He regularly presents at universities, teaches workshops, and has spoken at multiple TED events. Phil’s documentary film CRAZYWISE reveals a paradigm shift that’s changing the way Western culture defines and treats “mental illness”. After eight years and countless interviews with mental health care professionals, neuroscientists, and individuals experiencing a mental health crisis, CRAZYWISE explores the deeper understandings of, and effective approaches to, a psychological crisis. The film highlights a survivor-led movement demanding more choices from a mental health care system in crisis.
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Sean Blackwell goes deep on the Will Smith Slap, bringing up his own experiences with such a conflict along the way. He also talks about how the death of the Oscars may be part of our spiritual awakening.
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Kiana Fitzgerald is a freelance journalist with bipolar disorder who got in touch with me after my last podcast with Chris Cole. Similar to Chris, even though Kiana is still struggling with the disorder, she also sees the spiritual dimension and value of her non-ordinary experiences, so much so that she started a thriving Tik Tok channel in order to share her unique perspective. And, seeing what she was doing, I just had to meet her!
Our podcast also covers her interviews with Kanye West and Megan Thee Stallion.
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In this conversation, Sean Blackwell and Chris Cole cover a wide range of topics related to the spiritual dimension of bipolar disorder including:
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Chris's spiritual experiences in mania
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The inspiration for Chris's book, the Body of Chris
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Why Sean started a podcast
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The bipolar creativity of Kanye West
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The pros and cons of being "Woke"
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Why Sean got tired of YouTube
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The role of Buddhism in Chris's spiritual practice.
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Why you should always bring a suit to a psychiatric hospital!
Chris Cole is an author, podcast host, psychotherapist, life coach, and meditation instructor. After a confusing journey with bipolar disorder and spiritual seeking, his personal and professional interests focus on the intersections of mental health and spiritual awakening. Chris holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, from the Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling program of Naropa University. He hosts the Waking Up Bipolar podcast and is the author of The Body of Chris: A Memoir of Obsession, Addiction, and Madness. Learn more about Chris and his work at colecoaching.com.
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Sean Blackwell explains why he felt inspired to start a podcast now. He goes into some detail about his background in teaching about the spiritual dimension and healing potential of bipolar disorder, which started through his YouTube channel, bipolarORwakingUP in 2007!
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