Anton Boisen Reconsidered: Psychiatric Survivor and Mad Prophet

Anton Boisen was a seminal figure in the psychology of religion and pastoral psychology, but scholars have remained skeptical about his theoretical contributions and have perpetuated the stigma surrounding his psychiatric diagnosis and incarceration. I argue that Boisen was a prophet, ahead of his t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and health 2023-02, Vol.62 (1), p.228-254
Main Author: McCullough, Glenn J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Climate change
Clinical Psychology
Female
Humans
Imprisonment
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original Paper
Parturition
Pastoral Care
Practical theology
Pregnancy
Prophets
Psychiatrists
Psychiatry
Psychosis
Psychotic Disorders
Public Health
Religion
Religious Studies
Sociology
Spirituality
Survivors
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Anton Boisen was a seminal figure in the psychology of religion and pastoral psychology, but scholars have remained skeptical about his theoretical contributions and have perpetuated the stigma surrounding his psychiatric diagnosis and incarceration. I argue that Boisen was a prophet, ahead of his time, and that the academy has been slow to hear his salient critiques of the psychiatric system, and his contention that “psychosis” and “mystical experience” are overlapping phenomena. Most significantly, scholars have ignored the kernel of prophetic truth in Boisen’s own visionary experience, which, remarkably, in 1920, predicted the ecological crisis of our current age. Reclaiming Boisen’s unique voice might help us reclaim the uniqueness of the disciplines he helped birth.
ISSN:0022-4197
1573-6571
DOI:10.1007/s10943-022-01697-0