Spiritual Guidance

Spirituality

After many years in the field of psychology in a variety of roles and settings -- and many years steadfastly engaged in my own growth process, I have come to honor certain spiritual principles of healing. Here are a few:

We each possess an inner flow, an essence or a set of gifts that we are meant to share during our lifetime. We each also learn ways to cover or hide these gifts in order to survive or secure the love we need to grow. Healing is about helping us understand and dissolve the layers holding us back so that we can more genuinely connect with and express our authentic selves.

I have come to see psychotherapy as an effective resource in this culture to help people step more fully into their power and their joy. It is by no means the only avenue towards healing and growth. Community, spirituality, travel, meditation, bodywork, conscious movement, indigenous wisdom and a variety of alternative approaches provide additional paths towards life engagement.

Treatment is most successful when it involves healing on multiple levels: body, mind, heart and spirit.

“The wound won’t heal without a witness.” Whatever path one chooses, it’s difficult to grow past our wounds without sharing them with accepting, caring others.

In places of safety and trust, we tend to gravitate towards our own growth. I believe—and have seen—that we each contain an inherent wisdom that guides us towards healing. We intuit the timing that’s best for us. It is rarely, if ever, a coincidence when issues arise during the healing process. It usually means it is time for that issue to be addressed; we are ready to explore it and it is ready to be transformed.

Healing is not a linear process. It is cyclical. Each of us has a core lesson or two that we are here to learn. We revisit our lessons again and again, each time healing at a deeper level, each time emerging stronger and more in touch with our own true nature.
As we transcend our injuries and peel back the layers that protect us, we often experience a more potent sense of being alive. Along with this aliveness often emerges a desire to serve in some way. Whether it’s serving others, our planet, or ourselves more deeply, genuine healing often leads to life-affirming service.

As modern-day shaman, Wilbert Alix, says: "We grow in the light; we transform in the dark." It is indeed often our darkest, most desperate and isolated moments that bear the greatest fruits. If we can embrace these moments together with honesty and courage, we often emerge stronger and brighter than we ever thought possible.

There are parallel ingredients of the healing process on individual, communal and collective levels. Whether we stand alone or as part of a larger commmunity, we must traverse certain terrain as we grow and heal. Collectively and individually, the healing process must connect us with our gifts and with the meaning of our trials. It must awaken in us a sense of aliveness, interconnectedness and purpose; and it must honor mind, body, heart and spirit. It must be firmly rooted in the earth and must touch the sacred.

The most essential aspect of healing work is the healing relationship itself. To paraphrase Carl Jung, the therapeutic relationship is an alchemical one in which each person is transformed by the interaction. Healthy relationships—whether focused on healing or otherwise—are based on safety, honesty, trust, care and mutual commitment. These are the kinds of relationships I cultivate with clients and in my life.