What is psycho-spirituality and how can it help us?
Artwork by Lauren Mortimer
What is psycho-spirituality?
Well clearly psycho-spirituality is the merging of psychology and spirituality - the science of the mind and the belief that we are spirit. At its core psycho-spirituality is an understanding that we are not just mind and we are not just spirit, and problems of the mind can’t be solved by mind alone and problems of the spirit can’t be solved by spirit alone.
We are body, mind and spirit and if healing is to take place we need a holistic understanding and holistic approach to healing. These systems work incredibly well together, as spirituality offers the big picture meaning and perspective to the problems we humans face, while the science of psychology grounds that meaning in our everyday experience of reality. Both offer vital wisdom that can help us heal and solve problems.
Spirituality and the big three (psychologists) from Vienna
Three of the greatest and most influential psychologists ever to live are Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Adolf Adler. Both Jung and Adler worked with Freud in Vienna and shared much of the same theories and understandings, until, at some point in their respective careers, their understandings diverged and they split never to work together again. Each had very different perspectives and contributions to our understanding of religion / spirituality and its purpose and value within human psychology.
Freud, although raised Jewish was a self-proclaimed atheist and wrote several books discussing how religion was a dysfunctional coping mechanism of the unconscious mind. He viewed religion as the mind's need to feel secure and to absolve itself of guilt, while God represented a powerful and protective father-figure that compensated for a person’s fear and feelings of powerlessness. In short, Freud did not believe in God or our spiritual nature and was much more of a rational scientific materialist. Given most of our society’s psychological understandings have been influenced by Freud, it is unsurprising that rational scientific materialism is the dominant view within our society’s psychological understanding.
Unlike Freud, Alfred Adler’s position toward religion was mostly positive. He saw no conflict between religion and psychology and in fact, believed religion could support mental health. He himself was a Christian, but with exception to the belief that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself", which was fundamental to his teachings, he didn’t bring it into his psychology and was entirely respectful to all his clients religious beliefs. The reason for the general absence of spirituality within Adler’s teachings is probably because his focus was much less on the internal subjective and unconscious worlds (where spirituality is generally experienced) like Jung and Freud and much more on the outside conscious worlds. This is because he believed that “All problems were interpersonal problems, relationship problems”.
Although Christian, Adler's view on God was atypical. He defined God as the human understanding of greatness and complete perfection. In keeping with his particular brand of psychology Adler saw God more as a human ideal, something for us to strive towards - “There can be no question that the idea of God really includes within it as a goal; the movement towards perfection”. Adler believed one of the primary underlying motivations for humans was to become “God-like” (to be significant) and that this striving can manifest positively or negatively. He said “even the atheist wishes to conquer God, to be higher than God”. The other fundamental human drivers Adler talks about are the human need for meaning and the need for belonging, and he saw how religion could appease these needs.
Jung on the other hand felt very strongly that the spiritual experience was crucial to our overall well being. He stressed the importance of balance and cautioned that “modern humans rely too heavily on science and logic and would benefit from integrating spirituality and appreciation of the unconscious realm.” Jung held that “life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals” and that our greatest purpose was to discover and fulfil our innate and unique potential. To do this he offered up a process which he referred to as “individuation”, which in essence, is a person's journey to discover and become their True Self by merging the conscious and unconscious parts of their psyche.
Jung himself did not follow any particular religious belief, although he was open to and very interested in all religions. Jung believed “religion was a profound, psychological response to the unknown - both the inner self and the outer world”. He has been thought of as more of a mystic than a religious person, but he did very much believe in God, albeit his own unique interpretation of God. “All that I have learned has led me step by step to an unshakable conviction of the existence of God. I only believe in what I know. And that eliminates believing. Therefore I do not take his existence on belief – I know that he exists”. In Jung's view, the truth about God is complex because “God is a mystery whose nature is beyond human comprehension. In trying to understand God, we each create our own image of him – and the image is never accurate.”
Some beliefs about beliefs
As Adler teaches I see our beliefs, both those we hold about ourselves and those we hold for the world, as the fundamental motivators in our day to day existence. Our beliefs matter. They really matter. They inform what kind of work we do, what kind of relationships we engage in, how happy and fulfilled we are, how we see ourselves - what our identity is, and our behaviours, right down to the decisions we make.
If we have the conscious belief that life is “random and meaningless”, we will develop an attitude and compensating behaviours that support this belief, some of which may be positive and others that undoubtedly will be negative. If we have the unconscious belief, like most of us do, that we are inferior to others in some way, our life then becomes about trying to compensate for this feeling of inferiority. For example those that believe they are “not good enough” then make their life about trying to appear “good enough” or if you believe you are “unworthy of love” then you will make your life about earning love from others.
Thus, it is important that we hold good beliefs; beliefs that are aligned to our goals, dreams and desires for ourselves and the world. If they are not aligned to our goals, dreams and desires for ourselves and the world we are going to experience inner conflict and we are going to cause conflict with others.
In my mind, all beliefs are acceptable, but the question is; are your beliefs aligned to what you want for you, your family and your community? Not just now, but now and into the future generations after you have passed on. Do your beliefs expand you or limit you? Do they open you up to the richness of life or do they shut you down to it? Do they generate prosperity or scarcity? Do they promote kindness and generosity or meanness and selfishness?
This for me, is where spirituality comes in. We could debate all day as to the scientific evidence and validity of much of the specific dogma around spirituality, but we cannot argue that much of it holds profound positive wisdom and values around how we treat ourselves, how we treat each other and how we treat the world in which we live. Also, where science often seeks to put a limit on human potential (does everyone remember the 4 minute mile?) spirituality has an unlimited view of the human potential for greatness and creativity.
There is of course a great deal of outdated and divisive material around religion specifically (and in spirituality to a much lesser degree), but at the end of the day we are all free-thinking individuals and are free to adopt any beliefs that resonate with us and our values. We are free to create our own personal religion should we choose to. My advice to anyone interested in expanding or changing their belief system would be, to be open to everything, but to be incredibly discerning over what you allow in. A question everyone should ask themselves is, "does it move me toward unity and wholeness or does it move me toward separation and fragmentation?" Also “does this align to my fundamental values and the values I’d like my children and my children's children to have?” If the answer is no, then it should be politely rejected. If the answer is yes, then allow it in, but hold it lightly. A lightly held belief still functions as a belief, without the risk of it becoming restrictive or dogmatic - you can always let it go if a more functional and aligned belief comes your way.
How I use psychology in my own psycho-spiritual practice
As a practising shaman, self-taught in the techniques of shamanic journeying, soul retrieval and Tarot card reading, I have found an understanding of psychology and the workings of the human mind to be endlessly beneficial in my own personal development work and in that of my clients. The scientific psychological lens is to my mind the best way to interpret what otherwise might be seen as purely subjective and potentially meaningless experiences of a shamanic journey or Tarot card reading. It grounds the techniques and offers those of a rational scientific sensibility a lens for which to gain a helpful understanding of the experience they just went through. We are, after all, a science based society nowadays and I see the language of psychology to be a vital bridge between the worlds of science and spirituality.
I am primarily a student of Carl Jung and use his understanding of the unconscious, “the shadow” and the path of individuation - the path to becoming your True Self, as fundamental to my shamanic journey work, my guidance work and my own life’s path. I have also found the work of Adolf Adler to be tremendously insightful and illuminating and I use his understanding of the psychology of beliefs and interpersonal relations in conjunction with the personality profiling wisdom of The Enneagram to help clients understand themselves at an incredibly deep and practical level. The early sessions of my Paths To Freedom Guidance Program always begin by using psychological techniques to identify what the core negative beliefs clients have about themselves are, so they can clearly see which dysfunctional beliefs are driving which dysfunctional behaviours. Awareness is the first step toward healing and growing.
As always, if you are interested in a free consultation to learn more about what I do and how I can help you, feel free to get in contact.
With love, Your Friendly Neighbourhood Shaman
