Distinguishing Mystical Religious Experience and Psychotic Experience: A Qualitative Study Interviewing Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Professionals

Pastoral Psychology

Volumn 64, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 21-39

  DeHoff, Susan L ^a  

^a BOSTON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Diagnostic criteria; Mystical experience; Psychotic experience; Qualitative research; Religious experience

Indexed keywords

EID: 84891478544     PISSN: 00312789     EISSN: 15736679     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s11089-013-0584-y     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. American Psychiatric Association. (2008). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR (4th ed.). Arlington: American Psychiatric Association.
2. Aten, J. D., & Hernandez, B. C. (2005). A 25-year review of qualitative research published in spiritually and psychologically oriented journals. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 24(3), 266–277.
3. Benedict, P. (2002). Christ’s churches purely reformed: A social history of Calvinism. New Haven: Yale University Press.
4. Bouwsma, W. (1988). John Calvin. New York: Oxford University Press.
5. Brett, C. (2002). Psychotic and mystical states of being: connections and distinctions. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, 9(4), 321–341.
6. Browning, D. S. (1991). A fundamental practical theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
7. Calvin, J. (1948). Commentary on Isaiah (Vol. 1). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
8. Calvin, J. (1960). Institutes of the Christian religion. Philadelphia: Westminster Press.
9. Calvin, J. (1984). Calvin’s New Testament commentaries: The acts of the apostles Vol. 1. W. J. G. McDonald (Trans.). D. W. Torrance & T. F. Torrance (Eds.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.
10. Canlis, J. (2004). Calvin, Osiander and participation in God. International Journal of Systematic Theology, 6(2), 169–184.
11. Chadwick, P. K. (2005). Sanity to supersanity to insanity: A personal journey. In I. Clarke (Ed.), Psychosis and spirituality: Exploring the new frontier (pp. 75–89). London: Whurr Publishers.
12. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
13. Claridge, G. (2001). Spiritual experience: Healthy psychoticism? In I. Clarke (Ed.), Psychosis and spirituality: Exploring the new frontier (pp. 90–106). London: Whurr Publishers.
14. Cook, C. C. H. (2004). Psychiatry and mysticism. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 7(2), 149–163.
15. DePaulo, P. (2000). Sample size for qualitative research: the risk of missing something important. Quirk’s Marketing Research Review.http://www.quirks.com/articles/a2000/20001202.aspx
16. Edwards, J. (1832). Edwards on Revivals. New York: Dunning and Spalding.
17. Edwards, J. (2005). A divine and supernatural light. Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers.
18. Elkins, D. (2005). A humanistic approach to spiritually oriented psychotherapy. In L. Sperry & E. P. Shafranske (Eds.), Spiritually oriented psychotherapy (pp. 131–152). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
19. Fremantle, A. (Ed.). (1965). The Protestant mystics. New York: The New American Library.
20. Jackson, M. (2005). Psychotic and spiritual experience: A case study comparison. In I. Clarke (Ed.), Psychosis and spirituality: The new frontier (pp. 165–190). London: Whurr Publishers.
21. James, W. (1936). The varieties of religious experience. New York: The Modern Library.
22. Kohut, H. (1984). How does analysis cure? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
23. Lukoff, D. (1985). The diagnosis of mystical experiences with psychotic features. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 17(2), 155–181.
24. Lukoff, D., Lu, F. G., & Turner, R. (1996). Diagnosis: A transpersonal clinical approach to religious and spiritual problems. In B. W. Scotton, A. B. Chinen, & J. R. Battista (Eds.), Textbook of transpersonal psychiatry and psychology (pp. 231–249). New York: Basic Books.
25. Marks, L. (2004). Sacred practices in highly religious families: Christian, Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim perspectives. Family Process, 43(2), 217–231.
26. Maslow, A. (1968). Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
27. Maslow, A. (1976). Religions, values, and peak-experiences. New York: Penguin.
28. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
29. Miller, W. R., & C’de Baca, J. (2001). Quantum change. New York: Guilford.
30. Morse, J. M. (2009). “Cherry Picking”: writing from thin data. Qualitative Health Research, 20, 1–3.
31. Murray, J. (1978). Calvin on scripture and divine sovereignty. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
32. O’Connor, T. S., Meakes, E., Davis, K., Koning, F., McLarnon-Sinclair, K., & Loy, V. (2001). Quantity and rigor of qualitative research in four pastoral counseling journals. The Journal of Pastoral Care, 55(3), 271–280.
33. Pargament, K. I. (2007). Spiritually integrated psychotherapy: Understanding and addressing the sacred. New York: Guilford Press.
34. Richard, L. (1974). The spirituality of John Calvin. Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press.
35. Richards, P. S. (2005). Theistic integrative psychotherapy. In L. Sperry & E. P. Shafranske (Eds.), Spiritually oriented psychotherapy (pp. 259–286). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
36. Rogers, C. (1980). A way of being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
37. Signer, F. (1988). Mystical-ecstatic and trance states. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 296–297.
38. Siktberg, W. R. (1951). The mystical element in the theology of Jean Calvin (Unpublished master’s thesis). New York: Union Theological Seminary.
39. Smart, N. (1978). Understanding religious experience. In S. Katz (Ed.), Mysticism and philosophical analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
40. Smart, N. (1997). Dimensions of the sacred. London: Fontana Press.
41. Spilka, B., Hood, R. W., Jr., Hunsberger, B., & Gorsuch, R. (2003). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
42. Stevens, B. A. (2006). “Love supreme”: on spiritual experience and change in personality structure. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 34(4), 318–326.
43. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
44. Tamburello, D. E. (1994). Union with Christ: John Calvin and the mysticism of St. Bernard. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
45. Tamburello, D. E. (1996). Ordinary Mysticism. Mahwah: Paulist Press.
46. Tan, S.-Y., & Johnson, W. B. (2005). Spiritually oriented cognitive-behavioral therapy. In L. Sperry & E. P. Shafranske (Eds.), Spiritually oriented psychotherapy (pp. 77–104). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
47. Thalbourne, M. A. (1991). The psychology of mystical experience. Exceptional Human Experience, 9, 168–186.
48. VandeCreek, L., Bender, H., & Jordan, M. R. (2008). Research in pastoral care and counseling: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Eugene: Wipf & Stock.
49. Zachman, R. C. (2009). Oracles, visions, and oral tradition: Calvin on the foundation of Scripture. Interpretation—A Journal of Bible and Theology, 63(2), 11–129.