Ep143: Psychiatry & Religious Experience - Dr Caroline Van Damme

Apr 1, 2022

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In this interview I am joined by Dr Caroline Van Damme, an adult psychiatrist and family and systemic psychotherapist specialising in chronic psychotic disorders, and co-teacher of Buddhist guru and Sowa Rigpa doctor Nida Chenagtsang. Caroline discusses the cultural complexity of being raised in Belgium, how an early interest in the mind saw her train as a psychiatrist, and the reasons for her specialising in chronic psychosis. Caroline also recounts her first encounters with Buddhism, including a meeting with a mysterious Lama, and the story of her collaboration with Dr Nida Chenagstang to train counsellors informed by both Western psychology and traditional Tibetan medicine. Caroline draws on her professional experience to reveal rapport building skills for clinicians, as well as discussing religious experience as a form of psychosis, and the the pros and cons of the religious mind. … Video version: www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep143-dr-caroline-van-damme-psychiatry-religious-experience  Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 01:01 - Upbringing in Catholic Belgium 05:25 - Interest in Buddhism & neuroscience and studying in America 09:51 - Training to become a psychiatrist 14:17 - Specialising in chronic psychosis 16:39 - Brussels Night Hospital 18:54 - Cultural complexity of Belgium 23:45 - Choosing clinical practice over a research career 30:11 - Discovering Buddhism and co-teaching with Dr Nida Chenagtsang 34:55 - An encounter with a Tibetan guru 40:01 - Meeting Dr Nida 44:32 - What so impressed Dr Caroline about Dr Nida? 50:13 - The healing relationship 53:22 - Attachment theory 58:54 - How to build trust with a patient 01:03:57 - How to cut through evasive small talk 01:07:33 - The #1 reason patients lose trust 01:12:56 - Insights into parenting and setting boundaries 01:20:38 - Transference and keeping your centre as a therapist 01:30:35 - Is religious experience a kind of psychosis? 01:44:56 - Religiosity as pathology 01:47:50 - Scientism as over-reach 01:50:55 - Religious abuses 02:06:09 - Personality disorders and meditation gone wrong …  To find out more about Dr Van Damme, visit: - https://www.sowarigpainstitute.org/dr-caroline-van-damme Interviews with Dr Nida Chenagtsang: - https://www.guruviking.com/ep49-dr-nida-chenagtsang-heart-of-a-nomad/  https://www.guruviking.com/ep71-dr-nida-chenagtsang-karmamudra/ - https://www.guruviking.com/ep41-dr-nida-chenagtsang-pandemic-edition-guru-viking-podcast/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - https://www.guruviking.com/ Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James