This talk was given at the Rebel Wisdom Festival in late May 2020. A spiritual emergency is a period of intense and extended disturbance to a person’s ordinary sense of self and reality, which can involve psychotic-like symptoms such as mania, ego-dissolution, a heightened sense of meaning, hallucinations and a confusion of inner and outer worlds. These experiences can be treated as symptoms of chronic brain disorders requiring psychotropic medication. However, they are better understood as attempts by the psyche to seek greater wholeness.If properly handled, they can be transitions to greater maturity, flourishing and wisdom. Jules Evans is a philosopher and author, his most recent book is 'Breaking Open: Finding a Way Through Spiritual Emergency', with psychiatrist Tim Read: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breaking-Open-Finding-Spiritual-Emergencies/dp/1912807696 Jules Evans' website: https://www.philosophyforlife.org/