Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry

330 Charles Knappthe first to speak, and much like once before, hesaid something simple, that “this sounded reallyright.” Others expressed support. Someone elsesaid, “What took you so long to figure this out?”from which we all got a good laugh.The last month went quickly while we saidour good-byes and packed up the house. Juliewas busy making her plans and saying good-byeto friends. Without a lot of sentimentality, sheended with us as individuals, as part of the group,and as the host of a lovely going away party. Thenshe was gone.In summary, this case shows the compensatoryrecovery environment in action. Julieentered treatment in a highly disturbed state, inwhich she was not able to care for herself andhad no sense of how to get back to a meaningfuland recognizable life. In a very real way, Julie’srecovery began as she became part of a recoveryenvironment that allowed her to have a life thatfunctioned, because the recovery environmentfunctioned in a comprehensive and synchronizedmanner with her and her mother fully integratedinto it. Simultaneously, the recovery environmentprovided specific and integrated psychologicaltreatment that identified and disorganizedconfusion-producing life patterns and behaviors,helped establish new ones based on health, andover time stabilized those new behaviors.In the beginning we saw Julie explore whethershe could trust the team, knowing that she neededto do something different or die, either literallyor die to herself as she knew herself. She thenlearned to tolerate difficult, life-changing insight,becoming fearless and attentive to the islands ofclarity that she had previously avoided. She wasalso continuing to live as an integral part of asane environment. This was a world with goodbody and domestic practices, strong and healthyrelationships, good rhythms that tended to supportthe harmony of the total environment, andadaptable intelligence and awareness. The mindexperience of the environment was strong witha sense of allegiance to sanity, maitri, and windhorse.By herself and in the varieties of dyadicand group relationships, the practice of wakingup to her sanity and developing confidence in herpath of recovery became a compelling and livedexperience, not unlike the contemplative and lifeexperience of the Windhorse Therapy clinicians.As Julie grew healthier and more independent,we collaboratively reduced the structure ofthe environment. This reduced the compensatoryeffect, and she progressively lived a less protectedand more normally engaged life, at a more comfortablerelationship distance with her mother.With solid skills around working with her moodstability and with confidence in her health andthat she was on a resilient recovery path, Julieleft treatment. By then, she had internalized atreasure of healthy experience gained from beingpart of the recovery environment.In Julie’s case, recovery included an abatementof her primary destabilizing symptoms anda return to normal life at a higher level of functioning.To herself and her family, after treatmentJulie looked like a mature and wiser version ofthat bright and good-hearted child they knewgrowing up.8. CONCLUSIONAfter twenty-seven years and hundreds of treatments,much has been learned about WindhorseTherapy. We know it is a highly adaptable formof psychological treatment that can work witha wide variety of complex mental health andlife problems. We create compensatory recoveryenvironments that range in size from beingquite small to being like small towns. Not everyoneneeds or wants this type of treatment, butfor many who do, it can really work. It works forthe client, it works for the family, and it worksfor the team itself. Those of us who have beenfortunate to participate in this process find eachteam, in its own way, to be a health-promotingand clarifying experience for our own growthas human beings and as clinicians. A significantreason for this is the ability to cultivate individualand collective windhorse energy, which promotesstaying committed, continually learning,and being unconditionally confident in eachperson’s possibility of recovery and growth,including our own.