Dancing With God Through The Storm: Mysticism and Mental illness

Dancing With God Through The Storm is a deeply spiritual and insightful book, written with faith and love in God. It is comprised from the testimony, advice and personal stories of approximately one hundred mentally ill participants. The result is an abiding and accessible text that surveys and analyzes the visions, spiritual journeys and holy experiences particularly experienced among the mentally ill. A thoughtful and moving presentation, Dancing With God Through the Storm is a unique and highly recommended contribution to the study of religion, psychology and metaphysics.

Author Jennifer Elam is a licensed psychologist who has studied, practiced and taught psychology since 1969. For most of her career, she has taught at the college level, worked in residential treatment and worked in schools with students aged preschool through adult.

In 1996 Jennifer took a four-year leave of absence from her psychology work. She became a student of Quakerism, mysticism, and art at Pendle Hill, a Quaker center for study and contemplation. During the 1997-1998 resident student year at Pendle Hill, Jennifer was a Cadbury scholar. She listened to many people’s stories of their experiences of God and recorded about one hundred of them, many of which came to influence the paintings that she was creating. Dancing With God Through the Storm grew out of the work that she did to integrate her career in psychology with her spiritual life.

For more of Jennifer Elam's writings, click here.