Spirituality and Transpersonal Therapy
Spirituality is a very subjective experience and practice, and Sojourn Psychotherapy strives to be inclusive to everyone’s personal approach to spirituality.
What is Transpersonal Psychotherapy?
Spirituality is a very subjective experience and practice, and Sojourn Psychotherapy strives to be inclusive to everyone’s personal approach to spirituality. Whether you resonate with a spirit, source, God or Goddess, eco-spirituality, Gaia or mother earth, the wisdom of the universe, your beliefs will be validated and can be integrated into your therapy journey. Transpersonal Psychology, or Spiritual Psychology integrates one’s experiences into modern day psychology. The term ‘transpersonal’ was first made known by Stanislov Grof and Anthony Sutich in the late 60’s, with their dissatisfaction of the humanistic movement of therapy. Grof has extensively studied and researched the effects of LSD, psychedelics, Holotropic breathwork, and non-ordinary states of consciousness on the human psyche.
Spiritually Transformative Experience
A spiritually transformative experience (STE) can occur through near death experiences, non-ordinary states of consciousness such as journeying with psychedelic or plant medicines, Holotropic Breathwork, and Sound Baths. Others seek out STE through ecstatic dance, yoga or kundalini, meditation, dreams and dream work, prayer, religious practices, drumming, or sensory experiences (deprivation tanks, cold plunge etc…). These experiences can bring into consciousness many different thoughts, feelings, and awareness which can be further explored and integrated into your life with the support of therapy.
Psychedelic and Plant Medicine Integration
Cultural traditions, history, and current research show that plant medicine and psychedelic medicine can assist with different presenting issues such as trauma, grief, addiction, and depression. While shifts occur during the ceremony (Ayahuasca, Rapé, Iboga, DMT, Psilocybin) or psychedelic assisted psychotherapy (Ketamine, MDMA, Cannabis, Psilocybin), the most important aspect of journeying is how one integrates their experience into their lives. If you are seeking support for post ceremony or psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, I am here to support you.
My Spiritual Beliefs and Current Practice
I would define my own sense of spirituality as eco-spirituality, or a connectedness to nature and all things. I use Tarot cards as tools to mirror my current experience and not necessarily as divinatory, as they are deeply symbolic of the human condition, with archetypal symbols. Jungian psychology utilizes symbols and archetypes as universal meanings, and dreamscapes as a language to decode the unconscious. AF-EMDR can also take us to spiritual places and be viewed as transpersonal, as you connect with deeper parts of the unconscious or body-memories, while using imaginal people, places, and things to help both understand and process memories.
