Ep 18 - Isabel Clarke - Between Madness and Mystery: Psychosis, Spirituality & the Transliminal Mind

In this episode, I sit down with clinical psychologist and author Isabel Clarke to explore the deep waters where psychosis, mysticism, and spirituality meet. Drawing from her influential book Madness, Mystery and the Survival of God, Isabel invites us to reconsider what it means to be “mad” in a world that has lost touch with the numinous.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

00:00 Intro

02:20 Isabel’s journey into spirituality and psychosis

07:00 Mystical experiences and psychosis

08:20 The transliminal and schizotypy

11:00 Getting stuck in the transliminal

12:30 Barriers to integrating transliminal experience

15:00 Brain architecture and the numinous20:30 Understanding delusions in psychosis

22:00 Does psychosis have a reality function?

26:00 Pathology vs spirituality

33:00 Acknowledging delusional beliefs

40:00 The “Both–and” of spirituality and psychosis

42:00 Cultural neurosis and disenchantment

44:30 The Spiritual Crisis Network

49:00 Medicine and the mystical

56:00 Comprehend, Copy, and Connect

01:02 Where to find Isabel Clarke

Where to find Isabel Clarkehttps://www.isabelclarke.org/

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