 The entire EARS website has had a bit of a face-lift to make it easier to read and more accessible on mobile devices. I have also included some new additions to the site...  Resources: The EARS Library I now welcome visitors who may be interested in browsing the EARS library. Items include over 2000 books, journals, and DVDs, on spiritual topics. Items are not for loan but visitors are welcome to visit by appointment and enjoy a browse, a chat, and a cuppa! Resources: Stuff To Watch I have added an excellent video of William Bloom presenting on practical techniques for psychic protection. William says, 'This Psychic Protection class (based on the bestselling book 'Psychic Protection') is for experienced practitioners and beginners. Filled with practical exercises and great insights, it will help you maintain your strength and centre in disturbing vibrations'.  Spiritual Crisis A new page providing a summary of spiritual crisis or spiritual emergency. Spiritual crisis is often also referred to as ‘spiritual emergency’, ‘spiritual emergence’, ‘Kundalini awakening’ , or ‘spiritual awakening’. In the U.S. spiritual crisis is provided for by the inclusion of ‘spiritual or religious problem’ in the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual 5 (DSM-5) used by American psychiatrists. I am a registered Spiritual Emergence Coach with the IMHU and one of the Directors of the Spiritual Crisis Network (SCN) in the UK. I assist the SCN by responding to people going through spiritual emergency, co-facilitating the SCN Sheffield peer-support group, and providing training and awareness sessions.  Hypnotherapy
Another new page explaining a bit about hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy can be used to treat a wide range of issues and ailments including: anxiety, depression, bad habits, pain and discomfort, enhancing athletic or academic performance, and psychological disorders. I have a Diploma in Hypno-psychotherapy from the National College of Hypnosis & Psychotherapy (NCHP). I am a registered hypnotherapist with the National Society for Hypnosis, Psychotherapy & Mindfulness, the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), and a Trainee member of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
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 To support people concerned about, or distressed by, anomalous, religious, or spiritual experiences by:
 Social context of anomalous experiences in a spiritual support-seeking population
This study, by Charlie Heriot-Maitland, aims to explore relationships between social factors and anomalous experiences, like changes in perception, spiritual-type experiences, hearing voices, or extrasensory communications. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY? Many people describe having anomalous experiences. For some these experiences have a negative impact on their life and result in input from mental health services. For others, these experiences have a positive impact and can be life-enriching. This research aims to explore the protective social factors that might enable people to integrate their experiences in a helpful way. We would like to recruit people who have recently accessed a support network for spiritual crisis/emergence. For this study, it is not important how you describe or explain your own experiences, but if you have look for support through a spiritual network, then we would love to hear from you. WHAT IS INVOLVED? Taking part will involve meeting with the researcher, either in person or via Skype, to discuss your experiences. This will last about 1 hour, including a short interview about your experiences and some questionnaires about, e.g., how you see yourself in relation to others. We are able to offer you £15 remuneration for your time. If you are eligible to also participate in the online follow-up part of the study, we will be able to offer you a further £10 for each assessment point, so a maximum of £35 for all three assessment points (0, 3, and 6 months). HOW DO I PARTICIPATE? Please contact charles.heriot-maitland@kcl.ac.uk or visit http://research.anomalousexperiences.com/study3  A new research project at the Religious Experience Research Centre, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Lampeter.
The aim of this project is to understand the place of spirituality within a therapeutic (medical) context. In the first stage we asked psychologists, psychotherapists and others about their understanding of the role of spirituality in their work place. In this second stage we want to ask people active in religious communities about their understanding. The essential question we are asking is how important spirituality (or religion) is for developing a sense of wellbeing. Click here to take part in the research survey. Thank you very much for your participation. Prof Bettina Schmidt, Director of the Religious Experience Research Centre, University of Wales Trinity Saint David  An update from the Religious Experience Research Centre (UWTSD, Lampeter):
"The Religious Experience Research Centre has launched a new project about the place of spirituality within therapy in the UK and Brazil. Our aim is to understand the place of spirituality within a therapeutic context. We want to examine the role of spirituality within psychotherapy, counselling and other medical contexts as well as the understanding of spirituality among therapists. We have prepared two online surveys with a series of questions asking about experiences with spirituality in the therapeutic context, one in English and one in Portuguese. The essential question is how important spirituality (or religion) is in the work place, either as therapist or counsellor or as student of psychology. We would appreciate if you could spare some time answering the online survey: In English: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3130382/New-Survey In Portuguese: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3130430/Espiritualidade-e-Saude-Pesquisa We will treat all information confidential and anonymise all information given to us. Thank you. Prof Bettina Schmidt, Director of the Religious Experience Research Centre. Rev Dr Jeff Leonardi, Research Fellow at the Religious Experience Research Centre. Dr Everton Maraldi, Researcher at the Institute of Psychology, Universidade de São Paulo." The RERC (UWTSD) website can be found at: http://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/library/alister-hardy-religious-experience-research-centre/  An Update from Katie Mottram!
International Emerging Proud Launch: Premiere screenings of CRAZYWISE and Emerging Proud films, and Open Space event to ‘Re-think Madness’ What is Happening? Your participation shapes the outcome! Join us for the first ever International #EmergingProud day of connection and innovation happening simultaneously in 8 or possibly 10! countries around the world. Be part of catalyzing discussions about ‘Rethinking madness’;Exploring The Wisdom Of Falling Apart: from Stigma to Transformation. Together we are creating a new global movement towards a dream we all share... How We Got Here: We know that severe psychological distress is an ever-growing emergence problem for humanity. We know there is something inherently problematic with our current Western medical approach to mental health. The transformation potential of psychological crises into positive growth has never been examined by the medical model. The lived experience of many individuals, (indigenous communities included), speaks to this truth, bridging worlds and bringing new understanding. CRAZYWISE and #Emerging Proud add powerful voices to the growing conversation that believes a psychological crisis can be an opportunity for growth and potentially transformational, not a disease without a cure. None of us have the answers to what can be done alone; we need to join forces to explore what we can do to support this shift in perspective; Are you with us? Where is it Happening? The main hub for this International event is happening HERE in Central London at the beautiful Strand Palace Hotel - and YOU can be part of the LIVE events! Listen to all of the countries call in LIVE at the end of the day with the initiatives that have been catalysed! The Day Presents the Opportunity To: Come armed with an open- mind, open- heart and share your passion to support the shift; your voice is important. Join us in a powerful group process to quickly catalyze and support positive transformation through inspiring creative and collaborative solutions to these complex issues. Harness International wisdom through the energy and ideas we create together with our passion for change. Share your ideas, passions, and possibly inspire others to join you in carrying a particular project forwards… This is an interactive, inclusive event; please bring your laptop, cameras, notebooks and pens! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-emerging-proud-launch-event-exploring-the-wisdom-of-falling-apart-rethinking-madness-tickets-32229056977 https://katiemottram.com/  www.talkaboutspiritualcrisis.uk has now been updated with a couple of new features:
Events Page An events page shows a calendar view of upcoming events and conferences related to spiritual crisis, transpersonal psychology, and clinical parapsychology. Events will be added throughout 2017. People To Talk To This page contains contact details for a few 'spirituality-friendly' therapists working in the U.K. I will add more as I get to know about them. Also, included is a list of online therapist directories where you can search for therapists meeting your requirements. If you have any questions or comments, or want to talk about a spiritual experience that has caused you concern or distress, please get in touch. Cheers! Mike mike@talkaboutspiritualcrisis.uk  An update from Katie Mottram, author of Mend the Gap and co-founder of the International Spiritual Emergence Network (ISEN).
"I am overjoyed to announce that, thanks to invaluable contributor donations, the official #EmergingProud website is now live: https://emergingproud.com Please sign up there to keep up with ongoing campaign news! Emerging Proud is a Human Rights campaign. We’re entering a new evolutionary period for humanity, it’s time we normalised spiritual experiences to end stigma and the pathologising of them; International #Emerging Proud day aims to initiate this on 12th May 2017! Normalising spiritual experiences is fundamentally a Human Rights issue. Article 9 of the Human Rights Act states a right to Freedom of thought, belief and Religion. And yet certain spiritual beliefs are still being pathologised as mental illness. Will you #emergeproud to help the shift? The aim of this campaign is to initiate an International #Emerging Proud day on 12th May 2017, as part of Mental Health week, in order to raise awareness about the spectrum of spiritual experiences, and ultimately, to normalize them. May 12th will then mark INTERNATIONAL #EMERGING PROUD DAY every year from then on…"  Dream States, Spirituality and Wellbeing
Melina Ziemer Dream Research Institute & Religious Experience Research Centre In conjunction with the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre (RERC), the Dream Research Institute (DRI) in London is currently collecting accounts of people’s spiritual or religious experiences in dreams. If you have ever had a spiritual or religious experience in a dream, and are 18 years or older, you are invited to take part in our ‘Dream States, Spirituality and Wellbeing’ research project. Please click here to take part in the survey.  Last year I had an article published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies that critiqued one particular NDE case-study by Dr Penny Sartori. I want to explain why I wrote the critique.
It was originally written as an essay for my PGDip in Consciousness & Transpersonal Psychology a few years ago. I had to select and critique a published journal article. I can't remember why I chose Penny's paper, I think I just happened to have read it recently and recalled that I didn't agree with all of the conclusions. Later I decided to expand the original essay into an article for publication because it gave me the opportunity to explore alternative psychological explanations for NDEs that I had not had chance to do previously. I sometimes get asked why I am agnostic about life-after-death (and various other anomalous phenomena) when I am so interested in them. This was my opportunity to explain why. It was also a turning point for me in that my interest now lies less in the evidential value and more in the personal value of such experiences.
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