A psychospiritual approach to healing occurs at the interface of a psychological understanding of what is guiding a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and a spiritual yearning. In essence, this wholistic approach creates a bridge between the psychological and spiritual realms, incorporating both personal and transpersonal realms of the psyche.
As a practicing psychotherapist for over 30 years, I have encountered many forms of suffering—emotional, physiological, environmental. Most people who seek “healing” are hoping to find ways of managing and soothing discomfort. For some, the discomfort is minimal, and they can exercise it away, take a glass of wine to relax, call a friend to vent the day. For some, the discomfort is pervasive, and debilitating: people become fixated on early wounds, shame and guilt, and develop defensive adaptations to their trauma.
Early on, I learned to delve into a client’s early life to dislodge the stuckness that contributes to a repetition of painful and often dysfunctional patterns and beliefs. I learned the value of intervening in troubled relationships. Because no single intervention suits everyone, I trained in a myriad of methods ranging from depth psychotherapy to short-term cognitive therapies to stress-reduction techniques.
And while these techniques have all provided significant and satisfying results, I have discovered that there is always a missing piece, if I focus solely on the client’s “psychology.” More and more, I have come to believe that genuine healing occurs in the interface of psyche and spirit, and in facilitating access to that divine spark—or soul—in each person. The soul is assuredly…the radiant Godhead itself, in Jung’s words.
In my self-work and in my work with my clients, I am always seeking the attunement of spirit, psyche and soul. Indeed, it seems it is this sense of wholeness that brings about inner peace and deep well-being. Insight is often the first step in achieving attunement. Insight into one’s inner workings (psyche) is always useful, in that it helps people to interrupt the patterns that impede their development. Insight provides a great relief and a renewed sense of motivation. I see this as the stepping off point—the ease that makes it possible to make the leap into the deeper recesses of self.
We do this in so many ways, and the gifts of a psychospiritual approach to healing are myriad and unique to the individual who seeks them. In my psychotherapy practice, I have learned to keep eye on these openings to soul. It may come as a hint. A woman suffering from a chronic, debilitating depression whispered to me, I haven’t been whole since I put my paints away sixteen years ago. My deepest secret is that painting was my road to God.
Sixteen-years earlier, she was in her studio painting and did not answer her mother’s urgent phone call for help. Because her mother died shortly after making that call, my client vowed that she would never paint again, as punishment for her selfishness. She endured great psychic pain, guilt, and constriction. After gaining insight into the connection between her vow and her ongoing depression, she returned to her paints and experienced a renewed, life-affirming vitality. In this illustration, stunted psychological development and stunted spiritual development are deeply entwined.
Often, one finds a deeper access to soul through creative impulses. These include writing—memoir, fiction, poetry—drawing, painting, clay work, collage, mask-making, music, dance. And more often than not, our early encounters with the Creative astonish and surprise us. In my thirty-ninth year, I was experiencing great despair. One night, a friend advised me to write a poem. I couldn’t. The words wouldn’t come. I looked everywhere for my book, as I had always read to soothe myself. My book had disappeared.
Without thought, I found myself opening a box of modeling clay, pulled out a piece, and asked for a representation of my discomfort. I want to reiterate that there was no thought here—only a stepping out of my own way and watching, as a witness might, what would happen. Out of a clay blob, a woman emerged, seated in a lotus position, with a smile that beckoned me to her. She was stunningly beautiful to me, and like all archetypal figures, she contained contrasting energies: combining gentle grace and a commanding presence, she was simultaneously quirky and compassionate; ancient and eternal, embodied and inspirited.
This figure pointed the way for me to cross the threshold into my deep psyche. Stepping into my own darkness, I discovered light within a part of myself I had not known; on the spot, I experienced a soft embrace, and made a leap from my initial despair to a profound awe.
Through this creative expression, guided by my unconscious, I had engaged in an initiatory ritual of soul-making, and found myself gazing deeply into the eyes of a sacred Presence who came to me as a Muse and loved me fiercely. Breathing her into my body, I joined with her, meditated with her, and opened myself to her spirit.
I do not take this clay woman lightly: she remains my Muse.
To this day, I use creative practices to discover what lives inside of me. In the words of Marion Woodman, Jungian analyst and beloved teacher of mine, If the image is honored—meditated upon, danced, painted, put into music or words—it comes into conscious life with healing power—that is, power that brings wholeness. It is a bridge between the temporal and eternal worlds. Here, spirit, psyche and soul unite in an alchemical process that potentiates healing. This is God’s country, writes Woodman.
Soul-making is accessible to each of us. Think about your own healing experiences. Which tools do you use? What paths do you walk? What leaps are you willing to take? What dreams do you follow? What images and archetypal energies come to you intuitively? What do you find yourself doing that is outside of your control that astonishes you? What do you learn about yourself through these experiences? What obstacles get in the way?
A psychospiritual approach invites you to ponder questions such as these. Sit with yourself and invite your inner creative voice to come forward. You will marvel at the power of your unfolding when you give expression to your unconscious energies, and you will discover your unique path to self–discovery and wholeness.
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Nancy Weiss is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Spiritual Director in Los Angeles Her private practice focuses on the interface of spirit, psyche and the creative. She is a collage artist and poet and enjoys the cross-fertilization between poetry and collage She uses SoulCollage® regularly with her clients and directees, blending depth psychology, dream work, spiritual inquiries and expressive arts.