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Psychotherapy
and Spirituality
by Wendy Freebourne
I greatly appreciate Alawn Tickhill's concise definition of Shamanism in Medicine Ways and his clarification of what is meant by `Medicine Ways.'
Sometimes words get bandied around until they lose their meaning in common parlance and, every so often, a time comes for redefinition.
This prompts me to attempt to redefine another term which has taken quite a beating over the years - viz: `Psychotherapy.' What does it mean?
`Psycho,' comes from the Greek, `Psyche,' the soul. `Therapy,' also comes from the Greek. It means, `to nurse,' or, `to heal.' So Psychotherapy is the Healing of the Soul.
But I wonder how much it has been seen this way.
Psychotherapy has been associated with the, `mind;' with the talking cure and, hence, with the intellect.
This is an interesting point, because, `Psyche,' also means mind. But how can, `Soul,' and, `Mind,' be the same thing? In Western culture the mind is associated with the intellect and is commonly thought to reside in the brain. In Buddhism we are taught that the mind does not reside in any part of the body, but is that part that is before the body and continues to be after the body – that is, after death. The mind is that part that goes on. It is our essence; another word for the, `Soul.'
So, when we are healing the mind, what are we, in effect, doing?
I want to say some words in defence of orthodox psychotherapeutic practices, because I feel that they tend to be shunned by those seeking a spiritual path, maybe as base, material, simplistic, or plainly unspiritual, unevolved. I would like to look at the gap between psychotherapy, and its base in psychology, and other forms of, `Medicine Path.'
I am not a psychologist, although I have studied psychology. Psychology gives me a tool for understanding behaviour. Its stance is mainly observational. Psychotherapy gives me a tool for healing.
If we trace the evolution of psychotherapy, we can see that it is an art; the art of psychotherapy is still evolving.
The evolution of psychotherapy has followed the evolution of man/woman, starting with the biologically-based, sexually-oriented psychoanalysis pioneered by Freud and his followers. Psychotherapy has evolved a great deal since the time of Freud. In my opinion, it has become more spiritual, but, at the same time, I do not believe that Freud was not involved with the soul. He was involved in a way that did not think of separating the soul from the body. What, I believe, he was beginning to discover was that the soul has been separated from the body and that the essence of all disease, physical and spiritual is the wound created by that separation and the human urge to heal that wound; and to return to the source, their own source, and, from there, to become part of something greater.
This is what I believe Alawn Tickhill sees as the prerequisite to true and effective Shamanism. It is true that we cannot master Universal resources when we have not yet mastered our own. I have learned this from my practice of astrology.
I believe that it is this wound and this urge which causes us to seek, `Medicine Ways.'
I would like to put psychotherapy forward as another, `Medicine Way.' If it is a means to reclaim personal power, personal medicine, then it must be a, `Medicine Way.' For me it is.
Just as Mystical Ways, Shamanic Ways, Spiritual Ways, Pagan Ways, are frightening and strange to those who do not know them, so psychotherapy is a threatening mystery to those who do not know its ways. We tend to malign what we are afraid of. I would like to cut through some of the mystery and some of the bias.
The major tool of psychotherapy is the transference. There are many practitioners of, `Therapies,' which use techniques – various ones – which, in fact, avoid confronting the transference issue. They put something between the client and the therapist, which becomes a, `focus,' object. This is often the technique itself. This is a way for the therapist to avoid getting personally involved in the therapy, particularly emotionally.
In these cases transference does happen, but it tends to get dealt with more by accident or necessity, rather than by intention. Sometimes its existence gets denied completely.
There are also, `Medicine Ways,' which use transference and have proved its value.
Basically, the transference is the, `healing relationship,' between the therapist and, `patient.' This relationship is of the essence of true healing and can be seen between the teacher and the disciple. That is, the true teacher.
That presence of another human being, in relationship, is the magic that makes the therapy work. No other relationship is quite the same. There is one that is similar, which I will come to later.
Here I would like to say something about, `gurus,' and, `cults.' Those who hold themselves out to be Shamans and are not yet healed themselves; those who try to take people further than they have gone themselves; those who are not honest about their own limitations; are not true healers, true teachers or true gurus, (a guru is a teacher.) They are certainly not true Shamans.
Those who collect a band of followers in order to enhance their own glory and feelings of power, while openly proclaiming this process to be for the good of their disciples and, just as vociferously, denying any personal wish for gain in the matter, are not being honest either. They are, for want of a more effective definition, `tripping.' I mean ego-tripping, deluding themselves and deluding others, who obtain a false sense of power from being part of something, `big,' which is, in fact, inflated; a bubble which can burst and usually does, in time. These kinds of teachings are not grounded in reality and are therefore dangerous. They are only effective as long as the cult lasts and need the cult itself to sustain their apparent effectiveness.
So, this does not mean that one cannot help others while still, `On the path,' – still in that process of healing oneself. What is required is the honest entering into a relationship. Without this, I believe that no tools are valid, whatever they are and, with this, all tools are valid, all techniques, however ancient, and however more-recently tailored to modern needs.
Maybe psychotherapy has discovered the laws of the ancients, but I believe that it has found a language which speaks more easily to modern man/woman, without jargon or mystification, and without the glamour of adopting foreign, exotic cultures; although this initial fascination can often help to lead one to the, `Path,' in the first place.
Perhaps now, also, psychotherapy needs to develop a language that speaks to spiritual man/woman, after so many years of dealing with the material.
Usually it is common misery that leads one to psychotherapy. Unfortunately, along with this goes a feeling of disease, illness, rejection from society. You do not have to be sick to use psychotherapy – only searching.
It is the honest healer that knows that the, `guru,' is inside you. Their task is to reflect, to mirror, to draw out and to give back to you. A true healer does not take away your personal power. A true teacher does not try to replace your inner teacher, your only possible teacher, and create a dependency in order to keep you around, feeding their own personal power – or inadequacy. A true teacher is ready to learn from their pupil, but not at their pupil's expense; and is ready to let you go when the time is right and they can teach you no more.
Now I want to say something more about dependency and that relationship that is similar in its magic to the, `therapeutic,' the healing relationship.
This is the relationship between the child and the mother. In Native American teachings we are told that, `Everything is born of woman.' That is also of the earth, of nature and that first biological relationship, (not, of course, denying the father, his role and his biological contribution), is the most important in formulating our future physical and spiritual natures.
It is in the first instance, and only in the first instance, responsible for the bringing into the world and the development of our souls. After that it is up to us – and our psychotherapist – or any other healer/teacher that we choose. That is why biology and the Healing Relationship (the transference) are so important. In healing our biological roots, through the transference, we heal our wounded souls. It is in the transference relationship that we are able to heal those very early relationship(s) which started to shape our lives and, through the opening up of our inner teachings, to reclaim those models, which are more suitable for the development of our souls than those, which were originally given to us.
So the psychotherapist takes the place of the mother, or the parent, in the transference relationship, but they do not enforce their own models upon the client; they allow the client to develop their own models, to seek and find what they want for themselves. It is this allowing which is the magic in the relationship.
The soul is allowed to speak in the transference relationship.
If we come all the way back to Freud, to biology, to developmental psychology in this manner, we have the essence of what the ancients were trying to understand in mystical language and to what our scientists of today are trying to understand in empirical but complicated and highly technical and intellectualised terms, often divorced from human nature itself.
Perhaps psychotherapy can form a synthesis which is understandable to the common man and woman.
The Tree of Life of the Kabbalists is a fairly rigid structure, very defined, yet, in usage, continues, as a symbol, to reveal endless secrets. It is an intellectual concept, which can profoundly influence the emotions, thus creating psychological and spiritual changes.
The Native American Path deals with the Earth. Pagan and other Earth Rituals create a physical structure for emotional expression, which leads to greater psychological awareness and thus spiritual growth. This may happen consciously, but often happens unconsciously.
Pagan peoples did not question; they just did. And what they did came out of their biology and what they saw around them. The scientific approach has sought to measure this, in order to understand it, but has possibly become too rigid, in an attempt to control what it does not understand, only to discover that there is no rigidity in nature, except for its laws, which cannot be controlled or changed.
The ancients used many approaches. Some questioned too much, analysed too much, and some accepted blindly, without the benefit of understanding or clarity. It is not by accident that man/woman has reached a stage of greater intellectual understanding, greater scientific, analytical ability and, therefore, possibly, the ability for greater spiritual sophistication.
This seems to be a long way from the mother and the baby.
Psychotherapy, for me, can span the entire spectrum from that first, magical, grounding, earthy, physical relationship, to the intellectual sophistication needed to understand and interpret the spiritual meaning of our existence on this planet.
Psychotherapy covers the whole gamut from our roots in our animal natures and dependency to the reason why we draw breath, `spirit,' and the reason why we have life, `spirit;' and then on to our interdependence with one another.
So, `Spirituality,' becomes something that we demystify and bring down to meet animality, materiality and biology. Biology becomes something that we transform, transmute, in order that it may meet spirituality and form a marriage. We do not deny one in order to have the other.
Without the body, this, `precious human birth,' as the Buddhists describe it, we cannot act. We are helpless and useless. The soul needs its home in the body, on earth, in order to fulfil its purpose.
Psychotherapy is the healing of the soul's wounds and its bringing through from one life to another in order to function within biology.
If we deny one part of ourselves in order to have the other, that which is denied falls into the unconscious shadow, both personally and collectively and rises up to meet us as an enemy – one that we cannot escape, whichever path we take. Most dangerous is the shadow side of spirituality. Much harm has been done by religious fanaticism. Most difficult to escape is the shadow in psychotherapy – because the psychotherapist is on the line too, in there, with the, `client.' And the psychotherapist is a human being too – with biology.
It is this humanness which is essential in the Healing Relationship, together with that particular detachment which is special to the transference relationship; being involved but remaining neutral. It is a non-interfering, being there, but allowing oneself to feel deeply, which creates the safety of the therapeutic space and enables the magic to take place. This is not unlike the ideal, or at least good enough, caring which enables a child, a soul, to develop.
The soul demands that we be whole and the body demands that we have life in it; this is the marriage of psychotherapy and spirituality.
I, too, would appreciate feedback. I believe that there is more scope
for discussion.
Adapted and reproduced from a paper published in Medicine Ways in 1989
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