Anton Boisen Resurrected: Prophetic Vision and the Hermeneutical Treatment of Psychosis.

Anton Boisen's most overlooked theoretical contribution is the hermeneutical treatment of psychosis, which he developed from his own 1920 psychotic episode. During that episode, he sensed his visions were describing inner conflicts and pointing toward a cure, independently replicating ideas of Freud and Jung. His visions contained a Jungian mandala, the "Family of Four," which appeared before he encountered Jung's work. Although Boisen intuited the significance of his visions, he could not fully interpret them. The article offers an interpretation of Boisen's visions as a case study in hermeneutical treatment of psychosis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Anton Boisen (1876-1965) was a pioneering figure in the psychology of religion and pastoral psychology, yet scholars have largely overlooked his most important theoretical contributions. His unique corpus emerged from his own experience of psychosis in 1920 and his subsequent incarceration in the psychiatric system. I argued in an earlier article that Boisen was a prophet, ahead of his time, and that the scholarly consensus is only beginning to catch up to him. In this article, after summarizing four aspects of Boisen's prophetic vision, I concentrate on what is likely his most significant and most overlooked theoretical contribution: the hermeneutical treatment of psychosis. During his 1920 episode, Boisen sensed that his visions were attempting to describe the conflicts within his own psyche and point toward a cure. With this intuition, he was independently replicating certain ideas of both Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung. In fact, Boisen's visions have at their core a Jungian mandala, the "Family of Four," which is notable because his visions preceded his encounter with Jung's work. While Boisen intuited the significance of his own visions, he was never able to fully interpret their meaning. The article ends with an interpretation of Boisen's visions, as a case study in the hermeneutical treatment of psychosis.