Embracing the Spirit - Spiritual Practice and Therapy

Written by Tammie Byram Fowles, PhD, LISW-CP

Moore maintains that when the soul is neglected, rather than simply fading away, it demonstrates its woundedness symptomatically in addictions, obsessions, the loss of meaning, and violence. Most therapists attempt to isolate or eradicate these symptoms, failing to understand that their roots lie in our lost wisdom about the soul.

Moore's understanding of psychotherapy, evolving over more than 15 years of practice and study, has come to involve bringing imagination (which he perceives to be the instrument of the soul) to areas that are devoid of it. It is Moore's belief that it is the expression of this void that is manifested by our symptoms.

Further, he notes that in our modern world, we have separated religion and psychology, spiritual practice and therapy. In his view, spirituality and psychology need to be seen as one. This shift would be manifested in a number of ways, one of them being a commitment to the process of ongoing care of the soul rather than engaging in efforts to cure it.

According to Moore, caring for the soul begins with an observance of how the soul manifests itself and operates, and then respecting what the soul presents. This involves not moving to root out that which the soul expresses and is seen as symptomatic, but to, instead, demonstrate its necessity and value. Moore invites us to regard the soul with an open mind in order to discover the messages that can be found in pain and the necessary changes that are requested by such symptoms as depression and anxiety.

One effective technique Moore shares in caring for the soul is to look with particular attention and receptivity at what the individual is rejecting, and then to speak favorably about that rejected element. For instance, one might point out to a client that in her frantic activity day in and day out, her headaches are the only thing that seems to allow her to pause and rest.

Moore also cautions against splitting experiences into good and bad, maintaining that much soul can be lost in such splitting, and that the soul can be aided in its recovery by reclaiming much of what has been split off. In elaborating on this, Moore turns to a version of the work of Jung's theory of shadows. Jung believed that there were two kinds of shadows: one consisting of the possibilities in life that are rejected because of certain choices that we have made (for example, the person we chose not to be), which is the compensatory shadow, and the other, darker, absolute shadow. The absolute shadow represents the evil existing in the world and within the human heart. Jung believed, and Moore concurs, that the soul can benefit from coming to terms with both kinds of shadow and learning to appreciate even the quirks and perversities of the soul. He adds that sometimes deviation from the usual offers its own special revelation of truth.

"When normality explodes into or breaks out into craziness or shadow, we might look closely, before running for cover and before attempting to restore familiar order, at the potential meaningfulness of the event"

Moore distinguishes between cure and care by pointing out that cure implies the end of trouble, while care offers a sense of ongoing attention. He believes that our work in psychology would dramatically change if we thought about it as ongoing care rather than a quest for cure, reminding us that problems and obstacles offer an opportunity for reflection that might otherwise be overlooked.

Moore is far from a solitary voice in the wilderness (so to speak) in regards to the value he places on honoring all aspects of the self, including our painful regions. David K. Reynolds, in his book, "A Thousand Waves: A Sensible Life Style for Sensitive People," lends his own voice to the reverberations of so many others. He proposes that traditional Western psychotherapy fails to adequately acknowledge the importance of our need to be unified with all natural aspects of ourselves. Reynolds advocates a more Eastern approach, which aims at helping us to honor our natural selves more fully, more specifically - to help us to become more natural again. He points to the nature of water and suggests we become more like this precious liquid stating that when the weather is warm, water becomes warm, and when it is cold outside, the water too turns cold. Reynolds observes that water doesn't wish that it was a different temperature, nor does it pretend to be other than it is. It merely accepts its present state and continues to flow. Unlike water, laments Reynolds, people deny reality. They also struggle with their feelings and hamper themselves by focusing on the way things should be or might have been. Water doesn't fight obstacles, says Reynolds; it simply flows around them, thus not getting distracted as people so often do by their feelings. Water is flexible and adapts to the particular circumstances it is in. Water flows at a natural pace, notes Reynolds. People on the other hand appear to be dashing around attempting to manipulate their lives or feelings into fitting into their particular notion of how things ought to be or how they wish them to be. Reynolds reminds us that feelings are neither good nor bad, they simply are. The best way to deal with painful feelings according to Reynolds is to simply recognize them, accept them, and then carry on. Because feelings keep changing, he recommends that an appropriate goal for both therapy and every day life is to, "...notice and accept these changes in feelings while keeping steadily on about doing the things that will get us where we want to go. Like water does."

Nietzshe made a decision at some point in his life to love his fate. From that point on, he responded to whatever happened to him by saying to himself, "this is what I need." While I fully believe in the tremendous value of Nietzshe's courageous approach, I'm a long ways from being able to adopt it. I question too much, and still carry too much fear. What I have been able to embrace is James Hillman's recommendation that what ever your experience, "You ask yourself: How does this event bear on soul making."