The Other Side of Things Ep 02 - "A Fight to Be" with Dr. Ron Bassman

00:00 Intro
06:04 How we met and how he finally published his book
07:30 Madness and Alternative states of reality
11:00 Mad in America and Others Stories
13:04 A Fight To Be - his book
14:07 Ron's 23rd Birthday in the Psych Ward
16:26 "You don't look schizophrenic."
17:00 Auntie Ray, Ron's Mentor
17:33 Fugitive Literature
18:28 Insulin Shock
19:01 "Coming Out" as a psychiatric survivor AS a psychologist
19:51 Michael's Soulchosis at 18
22:00 Being a Double Agent
24:42 What is psychosis? 
27:12 Madness as a search 
29:37 Neurodiversity
33:37 Underworld Journey
34:27 Soul Initiations
40:00 Exquisite Sensitivity, Empathy and Intuition
41:11 Intuitive Feelers
42:32 Reliance on Feeling is discouraged in our culture
45:33 Ron's visit to a Zen Ashram
48:21 Working with Families - Ron's new project
49:00 Typical Trajectory of someone who may be headed towards psychosis
50:00 Importance of a supportive family
52:00 Open Dialogue
58:14 The problem with trying to control what isn't controllable
1:06:00 Each person is on their own journey
1:10:00 Jesus vs Christ Consciousness
1:11:51 What truly heals?
1:12:00 Don't Push the River and Windhorse
1:17:00 The Ocean, The Mystic, The Madman and Swimming Lessons
1:19:00 Mind Freedom
1:25:00 Hearing Voices Network
1:30:00 Mad Pride and David Oaks
1:35:00 Ron's current work

Ron is an amazing human being, a resilient soul and a true elder and wise sage.  We first met when a mutual friend of ours introduced us.  Ron had not published his moving and poignant book, "A Fight to Be: A Psychologist's Experience from Both Sides of the Locked Door," yet and I'm so honored that our connection helped encourage him to finally publish it.  It is a riveting story that moved me to my core, given that I have had friends and family members and my own experiences with extreme states of consciousness that I prefer to call soulchosis.

I've wanted to have Ron on for a long time and we both finally found time in both of our schedules for this deep dive into psychosis, madness and soulchosis! Ron is also involved in a new family oriented approach to helping those experiencing madness that draws from Open Dialogue a process that has eradicated hospitalizations for psychosis in Lapland.  

Ron's website: https://www.ronaldbassman.com/
Ron's book: https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Be-Ronald-Bassman/dp/0979626609
Mind Freedom's website: https://mindfreedom.org/
Hearing Voices network: https://www.hearing-voices.org/
Mad in America: https://www.madinamerica.com/