Psychotherapy and the Spiritual

Some people don’t see psychotherapy as spiritual at all.
And the way psychotherapy is practiced by some, you could say “it really isn’t.”
Some people do all sorts of things to “make” psychotherapy appear spiritual.
Others do things to make apparent the inherent spiritual nature of psychotherapy.

Still others simply know and honor the deep, intrinsic connection between psychotherapy and the spirit.

One thing is for sure: When psychotherapy is practiced so as to help people heal their wounds to the root … the core connection between the therapy, the healing, and people’s spirits is revealed more and more.

This is how I explain that connection and the crucial nature of healing to the root to my clients.

When we’re young, innocent, open, undefended, the experiences we have that are painful, hurt to the core of our being.
And we feel all the feelings that are natural in response to that pain –
whether it be simply pain, or trauma, or even agony and torture. At that young age, that primal level of our feeling is so intense,
so piercing, so raw, that in limitless ways
we reflexively try to protect ourselves from the pain.
We may numb or deaden ourselves.
We may flail involuntarily, lashing out at anything or anyone coming near.
We may cut off our awareness from our bodies.
We may “leave our bodies.”
Numerous clients have told me they were still alive,
but found themselves looking down at themselves from the ceiling.

We may close our hearts … and more.

These kinds of instinctive responses to the pain will inevitably interfere with a
child’s connection with his/her spirit.

With each response … the passageway connecting mind, body and heart with spirit is blocked a bit more.
Numb. Deaden. Lash out. Cut off. Leave. Close.

The child also pushes down feelings and the memories that have caused them.
Pushes them down. Represses them. Buries them.
Further blocking of the passageway connecting human self and spirit self.

And then both consciously and even more, unconsciously,
the child starts creating layers of defenses and coping mechanisms that become defenses
to hold both the feelings and the memory of the experience at bay.
The layers block the child’s connection to his/her own spirit more and more and more.

The passageway between one’s human self and one’s spirit or Divine Self is clogged.

At some point the person feels the pain of that blockage …
and wants to reconnect, often only to reenact the early trauma
and then prove all the things s/he decided in the midst of the original trauma.
This is called a “re-enactment,” and adds another layer to the blockage.

Although the child’s original reflexive attempt at self protection
may have early on saved his/her life or sanity,
eventually …
it becomes a defense and creates some of the very things it was
originally meant to protect against.
The defense and defenses grow and grow,
harden more and more and more,
get frozen within us,
get more and more frozen and brittle,
and eventually split off and take on a life of their own.

At that point, they cause us and those around us great discomfort, pain, even harm.

We may ignore what’s occurring –
allowing the vicious cycle to go on and on –
defending ourselves once again from our own experience and feelings
and also defending ourselves against the experience and feelings we have caused others.

Or . . .
we may seek help to heal.

If we stay in the vicious cycle, we add more and more layers to the blockage in the passageway between our human self and our spirit.

And in adding layers, we cause more and more needless suffering in our world – both up close and personal and far away.

If we seek and find the kind of help that truly assists in consciously healing to the root of the wound . . . each early experience, memory, feeling we can go through will help clear a little bit of the passageway between our human and Divine Self.

Full commitment, ongoing growing consciousness, continued deepening healing, and a therapist who is a right match – who knows this work both from doing it in their own healing process and from learning how to do it with others – can step by step by step clear the passageway in yourself between your human self and your Divine Self.

When we make that commitment, and take our first steps – or our next steps – in this sacred journey, we may begin to open to insights and inspirations that were previously blocked by our unhealed wounding. We begin to uncover more and more of who we truly are . . . our true gifts, our true callings, our true Essence, our true Divinity. We realign ourselves with our core compass, real Truth and Love. We can begin to move in our world, undefended, deeply feeling our feelings, making real connections with ourselves, our loved ones, those with whom we come into contact, Life itself.

I hope this informs, intrigues, inspires, and touches you –
this way of understanding how healing to the root is inherently and deeply connected with the spiritual.

My heart’s calling is to help you in your healing journey.

Many blessings . . .
Judith