THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL CHALLENGES INHERENT IN DYING WELL

www.innersource.net The individual dying in an ancient or pre-industrial culture is equipped with a religious or philosophical system that transcends death, and is likely to have had considerable experiential training in altered states of consciousness, including symbolic confrontations with death. The approach of death is faced in the nourishing context of the extended family, clan, or tribe, and with its support—sometimes even with specific and expert guidance through the successive stages of dying.... The situation of an average Westerner facing death is in sharp contrast to the above in every respect. —Stanislav and Christina Grof Beyond Death When death approaches, the health care professional is—ready or not—often the default manager of complex psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual challenges. As the Grofs suggest above, however, our culture has not been particularly adept in cultivating the high art o