Metanoia

My lovely fiance is going through the RCIA process to become a Catholic. RCIA stands for Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults. While he has always believed in the Christian faith, he has come to appreciate the more traditional/ritual based faith of the Catholic church. During this process, we attend a class every Thursday. Well two Thursdays ago the discussion was on metanoia, a Greek word. According to Wikipedia there are three definitions of metanoia; two I will list here.
Metanoia (theology): repentance
Metanoia (psychology): the process of experiencing a psychotic "break down" and subsequent, positive psychological re-building or "healing"

I think that with regard to faith, both are pretty adequate definitions, although the word psychotic might be a little much in my case. During the 40 days of Lent we are to look inward, discern our issues, and find growth (second definition) through our faith (hopefully) and the ultimate ending is repentance/healing (first definition) for our sins/failings, whatever they may be. So in this case, the second, psychological definition leads (hopefully) to the first, theological definition.

Why do I bring this up? I am currently going through my own experience of metanoia. In giving up my car for 40 days, I have had time to think more about my failings. With conscious effort and lots of support from my fiance and others, I am confident that I will be able to cope better. Truly this Lenten experience has been useful. By the way, I really love the way metanoia sounds.