Paul Kiritsis is pleased to announce the third Dorothea Dix Award for all those who have overcome or battled mental or physical illness, disability, or injury. For 2015-2016, entrants are required to answer one of the following questions in 800-2500 words.
Non-fiction
What therapeutic practice (i.e. meditation, yoga, reiki, hypnosis, past-life regression, guided imagery, mindfulness-based stress reduction, expressive arts therapy, shamanic journeying) did you adopt that helped you heal from mental and/or somatic illness, disability, or injury. Tell your story.
OR
“Medications do not change the social relationships that have shaped and continue to maintain the person’s brain. Drugs can override this for a time, but not forever. Then the conditions of our lives overcome the drugs and force us back to where we were before the medications. This is because the brain is a socially maintained organ. On the whole, social relationships and experience are perhaps more powerful in changing our brains than drugs.”
–Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD., PhD, in, “Healing the Mind through the Power of Story.”
Describe your experience with the contemporary health care system. What in your opinion are some of its major pitfalls? What needs to change for the sake of collective movement towards wholeness and psychospiritual health?
The Dorothea Dix Award judge/s: Paul Kiritsis
Paul Kiritsis is a scholar, professional writer, and poet with interests that straddle cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, and the philosophy of mind on one end and esotericism, comparative religion, and mythology on the other.
Kiritsis inaugurated the Dorothea Dix Award in 2014, enabling those who have suffered mental/physical illness, disability, or injury a chance at recognition through the written word. He is involved with various non-profit organizations; formerly the Vice President of the Greek-Australian Cultural League, he is now both the elected Chair of the San Francisco Psychological Association of Graduate Students (SFPAGS) and the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students’ (APAGS) campus representative for Sofia University. He is the author of 240 articles and twelve books, and is the recipient of thirteen awards, including the Paracelsus Award which honors and recognizes outstanding web resources.
Prize: The Tree of Life handmade crystal from Ricaro (valued at $300). These crystals are individually handmade and shaped directly at the furnace without the use of any molds. The winner will also receive an Amazon Gift Card valued at $500.
The Dorothea Dix Award will run for twelve successive years (2014-2026). Each of the twelve winners will have their names inscribed on a perpetual trophy and the twelve entries combined will form a core component of a substantial book that Paul Kiritsis will publish on consciousness, illness, and belief.
The winner will be announced on October 21st, 2016 at the annual meeting of the Jung Society of Melbourne. The results will also be posted online.
Enquiries: 650-619-2580 (US number)
Closing Date: Friday 30th September, 2016 at 5pm
Submissions can be sent to: paul@paulkiritsis.net with “Dorothea Dix Award in subject line. Remember to include signed entry form.
Dorothea Dix Competition Entry Form
