Transpersonal psychology in Heart-Centered therapies

Journal of Heart Centered Therapies, Spring, 2003 by Diane Zimberoff, David Hartman

Abstract: We look at areas of potential conflict in spiritual involvement in psychotherapy: the degree of the therapist's personal openness, dogmatic rigidity or unresolved spiritual conflicts that may influence the client through countertransference. We review areas of intersection between spiritual realms and Heart-Centered therapies, particularly ways of directly accessing the client's soul or, conversely, healing loss of soul through soul retrieval. One of the traditions that provides the needed "technology of consciousness" is the shamanistic healing approach. We note similarities between the shamanic state of consciousness (SSC) and that of clients in Heart-Centered therapeutic states, as well as the experience of young children ("Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven"). Other traditions that provide "technologies of consciousness" for incorporating spiritual with psychological growth include Jungian psychology and Kundalini meditation.

Primary topics

1. Spiritual realms--the soul

2. Shamanic healing approach

3. Chakras and Kundalini meditation

Spiritual Realms--the Soul

If we want to create a trans-systemic theory of psychotherapy we'd better include along with the many therapies also the spiritual exercises and forms of meditation: all the ways of growth. Once we do that we realize that there are certain ingredients that cut across schools and cultures and that have not been addressed as fundamental elements in our theory of psychotherapy. And I think one of these is spontaneity, letting go. Letting go is, of course, present in all forms of accessing the unconscious, techniques to allow the deeply embedded to rise to the surface (e.g., free association, psychodrama, dream work, hypnotic age regression, breathwork).

It is initially a matter of faith that by letting go you "let god." That letting go of the little mind, you allow something greater--call it the mystery of the greater mind or the mystery of nature. That by letting go of control, you give control to something that not only transcends the small mind but has its own greater laws (Naranjo).

The spiritual may be brought into psychotherapy in several ways. One is when the client defines the presenting issue(s) to be religious and/or spiritual. For example, an individual may be seeking clarity regarding his/her relationship with the church, or with those who represent the church or with God. Another avenue for spirituality to enter into psychotherapy is when the presenting issue(s) are not overtly spiritual in nature, but lead to source conflicts that are. For example, someone may be exploring a deep fear of abandonment, and working through traumatic abandonment experiences with parents, which in turn leads to an early experience of being "spiritually exiled" from God. Another form of spiritual involvement in psychotherapy is when a person is searching for support in the living of his/her life, perhaps in a traumatized age-regressed ego state, and becomes aware of a comforting spiritual presence. Finally, some psychotherapy focuses exclusively on the spiritual or religious aspects of the individual, e.g., spiritual counseling.

Chandler et al. (1992) define human spiritual experience as an innate capacity to transcend the egocentric perspective from which people constantly experience and evaluate their lives, opening to a broader worldview, a heightened capacity for loving, and an increased motivation to enhance the greater good.

Elkins and associates research has yielded the following definition of spirituality (Elkins et al., 1988):

      Spirituality, which comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning
   "breath of life," is a way of
   being and experiencing that comes about through awareness of a
   transcendent dimension
   and that is characterized by certain identifiable values in
   regard to self, others, nature, life,
   and whatever one considers to be the Ultimate (p. 10).

What are the common elements in these experiences? Elkins et al. (1988) identify the following as components of spirituality: transcendence, personal meaning and mission in life, sacredness, material values, altruism, and high ideals, awareness of the tragic, and fruits of spirituality.

(1) Transcendent dimension. The spiritual person has an experientially based belief that there is a transcendent dimension to life. The actual content of this belief may range from the traditional view of a personal God to a psychological view that the "transcendent dimension" is simply a natural extension of the conscious self into the regions of the unconscious or Greater Self. But whatever the content, typology, metaphors, or models used to describe the transcendent dimension, the spiritual person believes in the "more"--that what is "seen" is not all there is. He or she believes in an "unseen world" and that harmonious contact with, and adjustment to, this unseen dimension is beneficial. The spiritual person is one who has experienced the transcendent dimension, often through what Maslow referred to as "peak experiences," and he or she draws personal power through contact with this dimension. (See Wuthnow, 1978; Keutzer, 1978; and Laski, 1961, for the "triggers" and effects of transcendent or "peak" experiences.)