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Life as A Mirror: A Perspective on Spiritual Issues in Psychology
A major societal issue that we all experience is the apparent stigma surrounding individuals who claim to have had any type of spiritually-related experiences. For these reasons, many clients may be hesitant to report such phenomena to a therapist due to fear of being thought of as "crazy." Due to my focus in spiritual psychology, I have had more than a few clients report that when they were previously in therapy, they did not report experiences, and/or if they did, the therapist had responded in a less than supportive manner to their reports.
It may be in our best interest to ask ourselves, "How would I respond if my client brought up an experience that is outside of my belief system." The belief system that I personally endorse is that science is somewhat limited in its ability to measure parapsychological phenomena, and therefore, I may want to remain open to the possibility of the existence of such phenomena. Furthermore, a silent majority of the public believes in and has experienced such phenomena. It is indubitable that these "spiritually-related" experiences have value and meaning to our clients. Finally, I feel that it is not up to the therapist to define the "truth" of the individual, but instead, to gently guide the client to find their own truth. Helping them find their own truth further helps to empower them, building a sense of independence and decreasing any tendency for dependence on the therapist. I also believe that we, as professionals, have to question whether it is our purpose to instill our beliefs into other people’s belief systems.
A question we may want to ask ourselves when working with others is, "How is this client’s reality affecting my beliefs and emotions, and what can I learn about myself from my client?" Many times, when I look closely at the issues that my clients bring to the office, they are representative of something I can learn about myself. Questioning myself, my issues, and what I can learn from them helps me to remain both the student and the teacher. I firmly believe that when the teacher feels that their only purpose is to teach, they lose their ability to be in touch with their student. It is in this manner that life becomes the mirror and what others reflect to us in their experience is what we often need to see in ourselves so we can continue to learn and grow. Furthermore, if many of our clients are looking to us to be a model for them, then it is in the best interest of all if we continue to make efforts toward personal growth.
In discussions that I have had with other professionals, there are those that have had unexplainable experiences with clients, and often the reason they report not communicating their experiences to others is out of fear of what other colleagues may think. While we are often willing to offer understanding and empathy to our clients, we are quick to judge our peers. Perhaps our evaluation process should start with ourselves and our own professional views. The question then becomes "Why am I not comfortable with that approach?" If we are willing to look deeply and honestly, the answer is often that fear is at the root and quietly directs our defiance, arrogance, resistance, sarcasm and judgment. What would we feel if we discovered that what we had been doing for our client was not in their best interest?
As scientists, it is in our best interest to consistently maintain an open mind, yet be able to refer to science as a grounding agent. Yet even though we are scientists, we are still human, and it is in the best interest of all if we maintain our abilities to communicate with ourselves and others, especially our clients. There is an achievable balance involved in meeting the needs of our clients and working within professionally and ethically guided practices.
There are many of those in the public who are seeking services from a variety of service providers that may be more appropriately provided by psychologists. These services include hypnotherapy, current-life and past-life regression, rebirthing, spiritual readings, life counseling, and many other "new age" or spiritually-oriented procedures. The concern that I have is that many of these lay-"professionals" may not be properly trained and can sometimes do more damage than good with their attempts. It is my opinion that if the spiritually-aware psychologist, with their training and experience, is able to help the client to look within themselves for answers, then they will often stop seeking guidance and direction from other potentially less qualified sources. But if the public perceives that psychologists are not able to understand their spiritual needs, they will look elsewhere for help. We all have our gifts and abilities in our professional and personal life, and it is in our best interest to recognize them. Just as not all professionals are able to do cognitive-behavioral therapy, not all are suited to work with spiritual issues. It is in the best interest of us all to respect our abilities rather than judge them.
Life is full of challenges and opportunities for growth. It is up to each of us to identify our own opportunities and learn from them. The world is continuing to change. We, as a profession, can either change with it, or be left behind.