title: Apparitions and possessions as boundary objects: an exploration into some tensions between mental health care and pastoral care.
abstract: Apparitions and possessions can be taken as genuine spiritual events or as symptoms of psychopathology. We focus upon occasions when the two seemingly conflicting "interpretations" co-exist in order to explore these phenomena as kinds of boundary objects-polymorphous realities stable and graspable enough, yet belonging to different worlds at once. Related diagnostic knowledge is often uncertain and always incomplete. Yet it enables authoritative and effective professional interventions. We conclude by discussing the relevance of such a view for contemporary efforts to validate patients' spiritual experiences within mental health care.
authors.affiliation: Center For Theoretical Study, Charles University in Prague/Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Jilská 1, 110 00, Praha 1, Czech Republic. zdenek@konopasek.net
authors.forename: Zdeněk
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Konopásek
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paleček
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002835:Christianity; D018153:Czech Republic; D003702:Delusions / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D010327:Pastoral Care; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D035501:Uncertainty