May 1 • 56M

A Personal Journey of Self-Discovery

Join hosts Emma Nicholson and Chris Wells for Episode 33 with David Sweeney

May 1

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Appears in this episode

Dr. Chris Wells

Emma Nicholson

What can be positive about disintegration? Join us for an exploration of positive disintegration through conversation and shared stories. It’s a framework for understanding a variety of intense experiences that often look and feel like mental illness, but which can also be viewed as building blocks for creating an authentic personality.

In episode 33, Chris and Emma talked with David Sweeney, a fellow traveler on the path to authenticity. Identified as gifted late in life, David shared his introduction to positive disintegration, his understanding of giftedness, and insights into how trauma early in life shaped his abilities.

We discussed discovering the theory of positive disintegration and overexcitabilities, dealing with sensitivities in daily life, and then talked about some of the reading rabbit holes David tumbled down like Alice! This includes his reading into giftedness, researching neuroscience, and discovering how trauma relates to his experience of being adopted.

The conversation then turns to mysticism, having mystical experiences, and some of the complications of discussing those experiences in the modern world.

Links from this episode

For more on Elizabeth Mika, see Episode 17

InterGifted

Personality-Shaping through Positive Disintegration by Kazimierz Dabrowski (2015 reprint)

PositiveDisintegration.com

Third Factor Magazine

Living with Intensity by Daniels & Piechowski

Kelly Pryde

Gifted Mindfulness Collective

Frames of Mind by Howard Gardner

The Highly Sensitive Person

The Mind Illuminated by John Yates