Recovering Sanity: A Compassionate Approach to Understanding and Treating Psychosis

Recovering Sanity is a compassionately written examination of the experience of psychosis and related mental illnesses. By presenting four in-depth profiles of illness and recovery, Dr. Edward Podvoll reveals the brilliance and chaos of the psychotic mind and demonstrates its potential for recovery outside of traditional institutional settings.

Dr. Podvoll counters the conventional thinking that the millions of Americans suffering from psychosis can never fully recover. He offers a bold new approach to treatment that involves home care with a specially trained team of practitioners. Using "basic attendance," a treatment technique inspired by the author's study of Buddhist psychology, healthcare professionals can use the tools of compassion and awareness to help patients recover their underlying sanity. Originally published as The Seduction of Madness, this reissue includes new introductory material and two new appendices.

Edward Podvoll, M.D. (1936–2003), was a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and founder of the Contemplative Psychotherapy Department at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, which he directed for twelve years. He was also the founder and medical director of the Windhorse Project, an experimental and highly lauded psychiatric community whose focus is on compassionate treatment that emphasizes the patient's potential for sanity.