1. Reconstructing Wonderland in Oakland California
Using professional support groups to help redefine the experiences formerly known as “Psychosis”
Solutions!!!
The group extensively reviews
eight skills that that if practiced
can allow us to continue to have
these experiences in smaller
doses, that helps give us balance
that can enable us to accomplish
the things we need to do to
survive in the Modern World.
(see packets of information for
more details
Techniques!!!
Special techniques to work with people in
“psychosis” that are based on this
reconstructed road-map, are collected in a
book that is currently being edited for
publication. What is believed is that once a
person has a clear view of what is going on
and helps a message receiver see accept and
articulate it, that a wealth of strategies come
up. The book makes an effort to document
just some of them.
The Results are as follows:
1. Special Messages: These are experiences that trigger the universal process. The group has established a rough description of 26 types of
experiences: from hearing voices, seeing and tasting things; to observing coded information from words via loosely associated linguistic
coincidence; to associating special meaning to numbers and symbolic objects found on the street, in various forms of media (like movies,
reading, music, or news broadcasts) in observing nature and human interaction. Special Messages also involve other experiences such as
seeing body language that gives one uncanny intuition; dreaming that reveal premonitions or covert information, magical ability to sense
reality, mind reading abilities (your own or others,) amplified perception of serendipitous natural experiences, hyper-sensitive
interpersonal observation (sense that people are hinting at things or beating around the bush.) If one considers each special message to
be like a letter in the alphabet, the potential for alternative experience is infinite.
2. Divergent Views: These are beliefs that arise from special messages that have a conspiracy flavor that give us unusual ideas about what is
really going on. Can be accurate much of the time in some ways that keep us on the lookout for more messages. Our consciousness of
them varies: aspects of them are highly conscious (particularly those we react to with intense emotion) while some issues of how the
conspiracies are physically possible tend to be less conscious.
3. Exploring the world for evidence: This phenomenon involves rationally trying to search for answers that confirm ones divergent views in
ways that give one more special messages. Indeed, being hyper-alert for clues often causes one to create more. Hence phenomena is
explored more and more. Special Messages become skills that strengthen with practice.
4. Retaliation Reaction: This involves becoming alarmed with what is going on so that one is compelled to take action, be it big or be it small,
(voluntary or involuntary) that stands out or that potentially gets one in trouble
5. Social Sanction: These involve socially prescribed punishments for ones reactions that result in devastating loss or social decline.
6. Stigma: The public’s tendency to irrationally disregard the message experience in a way that is reinforced by institutions. Stigma naturally
results in the message receiver developing irrational thoughts about themselves that make them lose their identity and that reinforces
social decline.
7. Tricksters: The odd reality that many special message experiences cause us to have divergent view that may be wrong, but if they are
believed strongly enough, will in fact com true (at least in a sense.) When tricksters come true it reinforces the message receivers beliefs
in the experiences and direct us to focus harder on our special messages.
8. Theories: Strong focuses on what are the cause of the messages accompanied by the tendency to believe that they are unilaterally caused
by the same one or two or three forces. Theories are a less conscious aspect of divergent views and are explored later because they
involve opportunity for advanced coping skills.
• Standard facilitation skills kept the group safe
in spite of the fact that in hosted up to fifteen
members. Constant feedback sharpened the
picture of what “psychosis” really is.
• The group focused on developing specific
coping strategies that if used could help lead
participants to recovery tasks and social
rehabilitation.
• Continually restructured, the focus was not on
research but rather on qualitative exploration
that amplified acceptance and external
functioning to decrease distress/conflict with
society
What’s Next:
The current plan is to train peer
counselors in the techniques that
have bee created from this approach
to help outreach institutionalized and
isolated individuals in “psychosis,”
who aren’t engaging in recovery
services. Then, outreach efforts will
be made to start similar support
groups with mixes of isolated
individual and peer counselors. If this
strategy works the hope is to form a
local local chapter of the Hearing
Voices Network in a way that can
optimizes such support groups in
ways that doesn’t leave any Message
Receivers behind.
From feeling like a puppet on a
string
The message process
is like: a rope,
a pony tail,
or a lanyard.
It may make you feel
controlled like a
puppet.
Divergent View
Special Message
Fear, Fascination
or Anger
Special Message
Divergent View
Divergent View
Special Message Exploring the
World for
evidence
Special Message
Tricksters
Retaliation
reactions
Divergent View
Special Message
Special Message
Divergent View
Special Message
Exploring the
World for
evidence
Special Message Retaliation
Reaction
Social
Sanction
Social
Sanction
Divergent View
Special Message
Exploring the
World for
evidence
Special Message Retaliation
Reaction
Stigma
Social
Sanction
Social
Sanction
Divergent View
Special
Message
Stigma
Special
Message
Theory
Trickster
Theory
Theory
Theory
Divergent View
Special
Message
Stigma
Special
Message
Tricksters
Lead to More Messages
Trickster
Self-fulfilling
Prophecy
Special
Message
Divergent View
Anti Stigma Cognition
Trickster
Resiliency
Psychology
Self-fulfilling
Prophecy- +
- +
Special
Messages
Anti Stigma Cognitions
Social
Rehabilitation
Stigma
The Message Receiver starts to be
more mindful of Special Messages
Slowing Down, the process,
more processes appear
Factor out external processes
like Stigma and Social Sanctions
Conceptualize how all
gets tied together
And Solutions that have always
been present Become amplified
Special Messages. Illustration. 7
I
Divergent View
Stigma
Special
Message
Theory dissolvedd
Trickster
• Groups were held that viewed the experiences
of psychosis as belonging to a legitimate
subculture that needed to be explored.
• The facilitator deconstructed his own
experiences with ”psychosis” by coining the
term Special Messages. This initiated the
process of reconstructing a roadmap of what
“psychosis” really is.
• Participants explored universal aspects of their
experience and decreased internal stigma by
bravely and humorously exposing experiences
of “psychosis” to their peers.
Story of the Special Messages Group
Spiritual “Weller than Well”
Social Relationships
Self-Exploration through Message Causation
Anti-Stigma Social Rehab
Message Divergent Views
R + R Tasks
Resilient Functional Flexible Theories
Positive Self-fulfilling Prophesy
Meaning
Message
Mindfulness
Clash Clash
Psychosis
Reconstructed
Into Special
Message
Paradigm
Special
Messages
Divergent Views
Social Sanctions
Stigma (Social, Institutional & Self)
Tricksters
T h e o r i e s
Normal Society
Searching the World
for Evidence
Retaliation Reactions