Spiritual Counselling
The Canadian Professional Counsellors Association is dedicated to the recognition of competence and professionalism in counselling and psychotherapy.
The Bridging of Two Worlds in Spiritual Counselling
To be human is to be vulnerable in our humanness and indestructible in our spirits at the same time. In therapy we can open up to the loss, limitation and conditioning of our human lives. It is from our humanness that we are able to experience the whole range of feelings from the deepest of sorrow to the most incredible joy. Presence as I offer it as a therapist is loving, and non-judgmental and surrounds your sorrow and grief with unconditional compassion. In presence, every inner conflict and dark and light opposite can be embraced and reconciled.
Structured and Unstructured Consciousness
We alternate between two basic states of consciousness - the conditioned or structured state of consciousness - which is where we create all of our problems from and the unstructured or unconditioned state of being which is a "no problem state" where we rest in a place of stillness, insight and acceptance for whatever pain or loss is arising. This is the place where we can release and confess to our deepest feelings of grief.
We know when we are inside of our structured/conditioned awareness when we are searching for something missing in our lives and we feel compelled to do something to fill the void or change the feeling we are having. Presence therapy helps you distinguish between your alternating states so that you can begin to find a wholeness and peace even in the midst of loss and difficult feelings.
Natural Releasing of Feelings
When you sit quietly in the presence of a compassionate other, what needs to come up in the moment will come up for healing. When we sit with what is arising for you and you express it honestly in the moment, often you can experience a natural release without effortful emotional processing techniques. Catharsis will happen naturally during presence therapy and no structured techniques are required.
What You Resist Persists
Our suffering and feeling of loss persists when we resist what we are feeling in each moment. Most of our life energy goes into resisting difficult feelings. We also expend a great deal of energy, being overly busy, over-indulging or controlling and manipulating our lives to avoid our disowned loss, inner pain, and grief.
It is difficult to go through the grief process alone. As soon as you identify what inner pain you are resisting, and you can and hold it in compassionate awareness in a non-judgmental space of deep presence, you can eventually and naturally let it go. This is a very gentle way of releasing suffering and inner conflict in our shared human journey.
A Larger Perspective on Therapy
In therapy I will often ask you to pull back and look at what you are doing and believing in your life from a larger perspective. It is our conditioned mind's job to always create problems and we all could literally stay in therapy for years - each one of us with a personal non-stop supply of difficult circumstances and memories to draw upon. We will take the time to meet your grief unadorned and focus on helping you move through it in a whole and gentle way.
The Creativity of Presence
When you start to express yourself from your unconditioned mind you are in a creative state. If you speak and express your feelings from within the experience of your unconditioned awareness in therapy, often larger wisdom, paradoxes and intuitions can arise that can incite joy, and surprise and laughter and a way to move forward in your life. So much of our conditioned mind is invested in either trying to create problems or to appear sensible and sane. There is a natural creative exuberance that arises in a state of unconditioned presence and self-acceptance that is the key to your healing and wholeness.
How Can I Help You?
Write me a short note about what you are struggling with and I will contact you shortly.
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