an introduction to the principles and practices of transpersonal psychotherapy, therapy and counselling
transpersonal therapy and psychotherapy; principles and practices
The transpersonal approach to therapy, psychotherapy and counselling builds on the humanistic therapy, integrating the psychoanalytic approachand cognitive-behavioural therapy. The hallmark of transpersonal psychotherapy is integration, valuing wholeness of being and self-realization on all levels
Transpersonal Principles
all experiences are valuable and potentially growth enhancing. Science has confirmed that everything is interconnected in a mutually influencing web of experience.
The transpersonal perspective of psychotherapy attempts to see all symptoms as part of a larger picture of "energy moving" .. attempting to make a connection between who we think we are and who we really are ... defined more by its orientation and scope rather than by a particular set of techniques or methods
- Integration brings together the
- memories contained in the DNA of the body unconscious
- the effects of in-utero and early childhood experiences
- the examination of how people process and assimilate information
- behaviours that are the result of conscious and unconscious conditioning
- the individual's compulsive journey towards self-actualization or greater wholeness.
Transpersonal therapy, psychotherapy and counselling approaches healing and growth through recognition of the centrality of a Self in the therapeutic process.
- Transpersonal psychotherapy emphasizes individual development
- beyond but including the ego
- it acknowledges the human spiritual quest
- it recognizes the human striving for unity, ultimate truth, and profound freedom
- it cultivates intuitive ways of knowing that complement rational and sensory modes.
- it recognizes the potential for growth inherent in "peak" experiences and other shifts inconsciousness.
transpersonal therapy practices
Transpersonal therapy, psychotherapy and counselling work towards the development of a whole oflife skill (integrating practices into everyday life) whereby the individual awakens from a limitedpersonal identity to expanded universal knowledge of self.
This process combines the awakening of personal awareness and intuition (non-rational knowing)with the body's ability to heal itself through compassionate self support.
Techniques may be taught and supported explicitly in the therapy session and, at times shifts in consciousnessmay be cultivated to allow the individual to develop immediate insight and inspiration that may not beavailable through more conventional means. This may provide clients with a skill theycan practice on their own.
Transpersonal psychotherapy also recognizes the need for both psychological and physical development to be integrated with spiritual growth.
Without this integration there is danger of "spiritual bypassing," where issues of psychological and physiological functioning (and healing) are avoided in the name of 'spiritual development'.