Gaia: Integral Psychotherapy

Understanding human behavior from a Biblical perspective.

http://burnsrunner.gaia.com — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:44:09 GMT

I found this book to be especially helpful for any Christian who wants to be better trained or equipped to help others.

"The Missing Link," by Drs. Arno

Scope of Book:
This book teaches accountability for each individual's actions and helps the reader understand who God created him or her to be. Our primary goal for providing this book is to help you understand the mysteries of God's wonderful creation of the human race. It teaches how His wonderful plan, for us as individuals, works and how it can cause every person to be happy and fulfilled during this life. It will aid you in developing and maintaining relationships with others, especially with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consciousness and Conscience

http://seagull.gaia.com — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:22:31 GMT

Dear Friends,

I have been trying to figure out how to go about this other
than to simply ask you to read. I am
posting this on all the pods of which I am a member, and putting it on my blog.

All of
us who are members of GAIA are surely people who are seeking a higher
consciousness, and thus we all have a conscience - yes!
For me, those of us who have a higher consciousness have a sense of
responsibility for the world around us; all sentient beings, our animals both
domestic and wild, our ecology. In fact,
it’s not simply a responsibility it’s a
natural act of kindness to ourselves.

Last week I received an email from a trusted and dear friend
asking me to sign an online petition.
Now I receive these every other day, and some I sign, and others I
ignore, as, to be honest, I am not so sure how effective signing petitions are,
but I am assured by some people that they are a small means of transforming our
world.

In this case, I am talking about what is happening in China
and Taiwan with domestic animals. Cats
and dogs (all types, preferably long haired retrievers and Labradors) are being
stolen from urban areas, taken to secret locations, and are being ‘SKINNED ALIVE’. Yes, alive (because the pelt is more pliable
if the dog is alive while he is being ‘skinned’).

Every time you see a little furry toy kitten in Dollarama or
other Dollar our Pound shops, you can be sure when you feel the real fur, that
it was once a live terrified cat who was dragged by a hook from a packing case
and held down by the neck and skinned alive, and then left to die in absolute
agony.

I know that I am being graphic here, but I have had dogs and
cats as pets for 35 years, and they do feel; they have a consciousness!

Four years ago, I
watched a TV programme here in Ireland where an underground camera crew went to
China to film these happenings, and I watched it in tears. I called the producer the next day, and he
begged me to write to government official responsible for imports, to stop our
country importing these furs and these toys.
Also he recommended that I write to embassies, particularly German,
Italian, and Spanish, as these countries are the main importers of these furs,
again informing of the barbaric acts being done each day on terrified animals –
all for the sake of a few cents!! I am
asking the same of you dear GAIAN friends.

Please, please, if you did nothing else today, will you
sign this petition, and if you wish go further and join the organization –
Animal Saviors. It will cost you Twenty
Australian dollars. The page from the
site which I am copying here does not include the terrible scenes. And if you have time write to your senators,
government officials, embassies etc.,
Let us all send our love and light to the people who are ‘working’ at skinning live animals for pelts, and pray
that God will send his/her spirit to their hearts, as we once experienced, so that we might all sleep in peace.

Here is the web page.

http://www.animalsaviors.org/petition.html

Thank you all, and beannacht.

Clare

Robert Augustus Masters Gaia Group Formed

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:35:19 GMT

I just formed a group based on the work of Robert Augustus Masters, an integral psychotherapist based near Vancouver, B.C. (who does sessions and workshops all over the world). Of particular note is his Masters Integral Psychotherapy Practicum, a great training opportunity.

Here is a description of the group:

Robert Augustus Masters is an award-winning author, cutting-edge therapist and spiritual teacher based near Vancouver, British Columbia. His integral, intuitive work (developed over the past 30 years) blends the psychological with the spiritual (defined as “the cultivation of intimacy with the sacred”), emphasizing embodiment, authenticity, deep shadow work, emotional literacy, and the development of relational maturity.

Through his dynamic, creative mix of psychotherapy, bodywork, relational dynamics, emotional opening, and spiritual deepening, Robert deals just as deeply with the personal and interpersonal as with the transpersonal. Those who work with him are taught, among other things, how to turn *toward* and enter their pain so that they might pass through it, rather than rising above, spiritually bypassing, or otherwise avoiding it. This is not about finding freedom *from* limitation, but rather *through* limitation.

“At essence my work is about becoming more intimate with all that we are — dark and light, high and low, shallow and deep, neurotic and transcendent, dying and undying. Such intimacy is at the very heart of the healing we need, bringing us into the intrinsic wisdom, compassion, humor, and joy of Being.”

In addition to having written insightful and inspiring books such as Transformation Through Intimacy, Darkness Shining Wild, and Divine Dynamite, Robert — along with his wife, Diane Bardwell Masters — offers individual and couple sessions, a variety of workshops, and integral psychotherapy apprenticeship programs. (Diane recently released a CD featuring Robert's lyrics set to her music: O Breathe Us Deep; listen to samples at her website: WWW.DIANEBARDWELL.NET)

See WWW.ROBERTMASTERS.COM for more information, including essays, blog, newsletter, descriptions of his work, and more.

The Cultivator of this group is Arthur Gillard; from time to time he will send questions to Robert and post replies in the ASK ROBERT board.

About this group: This is a safe space for respectful sharing; no spamming, flaming, trolling or personal attacks, please. Contact one of the moderators (currently Liz, Juliee, and Arthur) if you see a problem or have any questions.

To check out or join the group go to http://pods.gaia.com/robert_augustus_masters

By the way, he also answers questions from group members once a week, if there is anything you'd like to ask him.

cheers,
Arthur

Re: new life?

http://headandheart.gaia.com — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:43:12 GMT

Hi Jon,
thanks so much for the ideas and for replying so quickly. Let's hope this has helped with breathing new life into the pod.

You've reminded me of the KISS principle which is particularly effective in presentations. You know? Keep It Simple Stupid.

Luckily integral theory lends itself very well to simplicity. Actually, I heard an interesting talk on TED about how simple, elegant theories tend to be true. There's a correlation between truth and beauty.

Anymore brilliant ideas for the pod?

Best,
Katherine

Re: new life?

http://lifeluvver.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 08:06:29 GMT

Hi Katherine, nice to see you again...been awhile.

Glad also that you are going to add some new life to this pod which I value greatly and which had receded to vanishing point in my awareness.

It's always tricky seeking a balance between the lowest common denominator and the vision-logiqued-out integralites in situaions like this and I have been there before....

Suggestions...

*Do not put too much into the workshop....I have given an exegesis of structure-states that I thought would last three quarters of an hour but lasted 2 hours and left me audience shell-shocked.....

*I may suggest you start with where folk are cognitively,say level of existential self, then step down developmentally using concentric circles, to show how we got here....then show where we are going briefly, using subtle, causal, nondual....but briefly...

*Map this onto Spiral Dynamics and bring the four quadrants into the equation in terms of LL culture and maybe leave it at that for the quadrants unless you have time to address the relationship of the psyche to neurophysiology (in which case i recommend Damasio and Le Doux for such stuff)...and socio-economic lebsenweldt or everyday worldspace.....

*Use loads of colour in yr diagrams and have plenty of them.

*Put in at least one experiential exercise and have a few more waiting in the wings in case they get bored....

Hope this proves of value....best of luck...Jon xx

new life?

http://headandheart.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:43:20 GMT

Hi all,
I thought I'd see if I could inject some new life into this long neglected pod and at the same time appeal to all of you for some ideas...I'm giving a talk about integral psychology at a local integral salon in a few weeks. Some of the audience will have read Wilber and have a fairly sophisticated understanding of Wilber, to some it will be their first exposure. Likewise with psychology, some will know plenty, others very litte. I'm looking for your ideas about how you would introduce integral psychology to a group like this. Of course I'll go over the four quadrants and developmental lines etc. But what else? Any brilliant ideas?

Thanks,
Katherine

Re: A Practical Integral Psychotherapy

http://headandheart.gaia.com — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 22:55:38 GMT

Hi everyone,

Patrick I'm interested in your take on the 3-2-1 process. Could you tell us more about that?

Also, I like what you were saying about challenging under and over evaluation. I often find that a challenge of over evaluation can send the client straight into guilt, which strains the relationship. I wonder if the challenge of overevaluation often calls for another challenge of the ensuing underevaluation and vice versa.

BTW the mandala is beautiful.

Durwin,
Congratulations on your new job. Glad you're loving it.

Thanks for the offer of the paper. I have a feeling I'll be challenging your underevaluation of it.

Best,
Katherine

Re: A Practical Integral Psychotherapy

http://durwinfoster.gaia.com — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 21:08:04 GMT

Hello there:
A brief update on where I am at: I have just started a new job that I plan to have serve as my clinical internship for my counselling psych doctorate. I wish I were in a transpersonal psych program right now, so that I might have an excuse to rest in formlessness :). But of course, grass is always greener...

My job is half-time school counselling at an elementary school with a large population of children dealing with neglect, abuse, refugee status, behavioral problems, learning problems, socioeconomic problems...and I am really loving it there.

I love it because I feel that my clinical interests have been re-awakened by the chance to work with children, who more easily evoke compassion from me (I'm so hard-hearted otherwise :). Plus, finding my way to this position marks a healing from an earlier career trauma (another story). The result of this experience is that I am more sensitive than ever to the impact of trauma on people's lives. So: integrally-informed trauma therapy v. important in my eyes.

I wrote a paper on integrally-informed pragmatic psychotherapy, which I am happy to send to anyone who is interested. It is an ok paper, not a great one. But if you want to read it, you could e-mail me directly at durwinfoster@gmail.com.

Cheers,
Durwin

Re: Empathy and Challenge

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:54:29 GMT

Bill, Nice text. As for me, it has alwys been clear that Wilber had no experience in the client-therapist relationship, in a professional way. This is not a problem for me, as I think it is not what he's working on, as Katherine rightly said. But, this becomes a hindrance when Wilber and I-I start to dig in psychotherapeutic tools, like the 3-2-1 process. This is supposed to be "great" shadow work, but I think it is a bit weak. This process completely avoids the relationship in the therapeutical process as you have both mentioned above. Katherine, When to empathise and when to challenge? Great question. I personally challenge self destruction and self glorification, or when people under evaluate themselves or over evaluate. Now the question is who decides what is over and under evaluation? Well, it is absence of a dynamic process for me which is the symptom of it. Stucked in non dynamic guilt (under evaluation) and stuck in non dynamic anger or inflation (over evaluation). Be well, Patrick

Re: Empathy and Challenge

http://integral-options.gaia.com — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:56:59 GMT

Hi Katherine,

Thank you for the thoughtful comments.

Durwin's response to the original posting of this topic was:

I hear your concerns about the challenge of going from the 50,000 feet of integral theory to the 5 feet of therapist and client. I think many of us who are interested in integral theory have struggled with this.

I agree that Wilber does include the full spectrum of developmental models, and hence an equally large number of possibilities for how a therapist relates to the client. I think this is one of the most useful (for me) elements of his work. And I also think it addresses the Rollo May quote you offered.

The "mirroring" that May witnessed is appropriate to a whole other level of wounding than May's existential approach. Mirroring, as far as I can tell, is most appropriate with clients who have a fragile self-sense and never received the essential mirroring they needed from the parents. I've seen this among my personal training clients that had abusive childhoods (I learn more about my clients in the training session than even their spouses know sometimes), and consequently have low self-esteem and a too-permeable self.

May's existential approach would seem more suited to those with healthy egos but who are seeking some deeper relationship with self and world. So to him, the session he witnessed would look "wrong." Clients with early developmental stage wounding might, however, initially need that entangled relationship with the therapist in order to build a more solid ego structure.

In regard to your questions about empathy and knowing when to challenge, I think these are important questions for all of us. There has recently (among integral bloggers) been some backlash against KW and II, a sense that it has become cultish (I have no idea if there is any foundation for this), and it has caused a lot of people to take a step back from KW's work, which I think is useful. Too many of us were simply blown away by the beauty of it that we didn't ask any validity questions -- I think that is changing.

Related to your thoughts, I wonder if there is a spectrum of empathy (a developmental line?), from mirroring all the way up to true compassion (in the Buddhist sense), which includes empathy, but can, as part of its "skillful means," also be challenging. I can only think about this as theory, since I am not a therapist, but it seems this might be one way to look at which form of interaction with clients might best serve their needs.

I agree completely with what say about the power of ego being shattered, how freeing that can be. But as you suggest, it's a fine line. The client would need to have a healthy enough ego to withstand such an experience. [One of the issues I have with Mark Epstein is that he doesn't make that distinction in his books -- all clients are candidates to have their egos dissolved.]

Thanks for the tip on the Willow Pearson article -- I downloaded it today.

I hope to hear what others hear think on these topics as well.

Peace,
Bill

Empathy and Challenge

http://headandheart.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:18:05 GMT

Hi WH and hi Clare too,

I think you raise a really important point, which is, what is a practical integral psychotherapy? I think this is really what this pod could aim to discover. My curiosity is definitely about how therapists are applying the model and the benefits they are seeing.

I also really resonate with your emphasis on empathy and the therapeutic relationship. Certainly, empathy and it's pre-requisite--presence are high order capacities.

My opinion with reagards to Wilber is that I think we need to keep in mind that Wilber's work is what he calls a map, not the territory. I've heard Wilber paraphrased as saying that his theory is the view from 10,000 feet. (I may have that slightly wrong but that the general idea. If anyone knows the actual quote please feel free to throw it in.) Or put another way his work is the theory, ours is the practice.

That said, Wilber's model includes the humanistic psychologists, specifically Carl Rogers with his emphasis on empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard, which you also, I think rightly, highlight in your post.

I think it would be a great place to start to examine our own beliefs and experiences about empathy and relationship from an integral perspective. I would offer that each of the psychological theories that Wilber includes has a distinct view of the client/therapist relationship with differing focuses ranging from transference/countertransference to safety, to creating enough distinction between client and therapist personalities. I was also really intrigued by Jon's assertion that transference/countertransference is largely a subtle realm phenomenon. An full spectrum analysis of the therapeutic relationship would be very interesting indeed.

I would like to put forth an idea/question to see if it sparks further interest and debate.

Rollo May one of the great existentialists was asked to judge a client-centered therapy session. His response was "that he often felt that there were not two distinct people in the room. When the therapist only reflects the patient's words, there transpires 'only an amorphous kind of identity rather than two subjects interacting in a world in which both participate, and in which love and hate, trust and doubt, conflicts and dependence, come out and can be understood and assimilated." May was concerned that the therapist's overidentification with the patient could 'take away the patient's opportunity to experience himself as a subject in his own right or to take a stand against the therapist, to experience being in an interpersonal world.'"

The larger quote is from Current Psychotherapies 6th edition year 2000 editors Corsini and Wedding.
The internal quote is from The Problem of Evil: An Open Letter to Carl Rogers by Rollo May, 1982 in The Journal of Humanistic Psychology

So my question revolves around an idea, which is relevant in therapy, in personal relationships, and in relationships with spiritual teachers. How do we know when to empathize and when to challenge/confront? Certainly, empathy is essential, however, sometimes empathy can be taken as collusion and we don't want to collude with clients' erroneous beliefs or their behaviours that are causing them difficulty. How much can you look after someone's ego and still give them an opportunity to grow?

I recently had an experience where I was given some no-holds-barred feedback about some work I had done. My ego was crushed. It's still lying on the floor in a million pieces, and right now I feel like I'm looking at it wondering if I should bother to pick it up and put it back together, or not. Clearly, a short term depression has set in. But the strange thing is, I feel oddly less defensive, more open, more loving, more humble. For me at least, moments of clarity and fullness of heart often follow experiences of loss, pain and ego-shattering failures. I feel stronger. And I have the opportunity to reflect on why I didn't do a better job, how I tend to castigate myself when I don't do well, and how I expect a very minimal effort to be rewarded with praise it doesn't deserve.

I wouldn't want to deny my clients the experience of realizing they are not prisoners of their ego desires. And at the same time some clients are very fragile. Serious depression is a real possibility and the therapeutic relationship can be destroyed by a lack of empathy.

I think it's simple to say that we need to be aware of both challenge and empathy. Simple enough to say we should have empathy for a client while at the same time challenging them. But, I think, in practice this very fine balance requires incredibly skillful means. I'd love to hear how exactly you/we as therapists negotiate it.

There is an interesting discussion on integral naked between Diane Hamilton, Sam Bercholz and Viddyudeva about this topic. I think you can find it on Integral Naked listed under Guests/Viddyudeva/A Cry for the Middle Way

Also Willow Pearson has a beautiful and thoughtful article about therapeutic presence called Integral Practice for Psychotherapists: Therapeutic Presencing. You can find it on her website www.lionessroars.org under Psychotherapy on her menu. Then, in the left hand column there is a link that reads: Integral Practice for Psychotherapists.

Blessings,
Katherine

Re: A Practical Integral Psychotherapy

http://seagull.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:31:58 GMT

Hear Hear William,

I resonate with your post.

Clare

A Practical Integral Psychotherapy

http://integral-options.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:16:09 GMT

[This was originally posted at my Integral Options Cafe blog. I am not a therapist (yet -- I start a PhD program in clinical psych at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology next fall). I'm still trying to understand what might constitute an "integral psychotherapy," and these are some preliminary thoughts. I welcome and encourage a discussion of these ideas, and pointing out, especially by those of you who are practicing therapists, where I might be naive in my views.]

Integral Psychotherapy

When I read Ken Wilber's Integral Psychology many years ago, I thought I had found the holy grail of psychology models. In some ways that is true -- Wilber's book offers a theoretical framework by which to look at various pathologies within a developmental model. Some therapies are more effective for certain pathologies than for others, depending in large part on the source of the pathology developmentally (for example, early childhood or existential). Understanding the spectrum of development and the available theories of treatment allows the therapist to tailor the therapy to the pathology. In essence, no one approach works for all clients.

As I have started "studying" some forms of therapy that are currently in use (self psychology, relational psychotherapy, internal family systems therapy, object relations therapy, and so on), what has become painfully clear to me is that Wilber has never worked a day in his life as a therapist. Theoretical frameworks are all well and fine, but they are generally useless in the therapy room. For all his understanding of theory, I can't recall a single instance in Integral Psychology in which Wilber speaks about the relationship between the therapist and the client, which from my experience is the foundation that must come before any theoretical model.

One book that I have recently started is Relational Psychotherapy: A Primer, by Patricia A. DeYoung. Until very recently, I had never heard of relational psychotherapy [thanks Susie!], but having just begun this book, it feels to me like an actual integral psychotherapy.

The last time I was in therapy, the single most beneficial moments came when I was able to express some fear or anxiety and Maude (my therapist) was able to hear me and respond with empathy -- not pathologizing my feelings in any way, but being totally present to what I was expressing.

In relational psychotherapy, empathy on the part of the therapist is the key to the therapeutic relationship. Without empathy, there cannot be the safety for the client to become open and relearn old and dysfunctional relational patterns.

The second key element of relational psychotherapy is the understanding that whatever fears, anxieties, and other difficult feelings the client has are not merely within the client, but rather were learned and are still expressed within relational patterns -- where the self interacts with others. Whatever challenges the client is facing are not inherent in the client -- they occur in the boundary between self and other.

DeYoung says:

[W]hat's wrong is neither entirely inside the client, in his psychological makeup or dysfunctional patterns, nor entirely outside in the world, in forces that impinge on him. Instead, according to a relational model of psychotherapy, the problem exists in those spaces or activities where outside influences and inside responses interact to create the shape and feel of a "self."

This is very similar to the internal family systems model. Moreover, what Richard Schwartz is doing in internal family systems with being totally present and responding with empathy at all times (knowing there will be lapses, and that those lapses must become a part of the therapeutic process) -- responding from the Self, the internal witness -- is not much different than this model. I suspect there are a lot of very good therapists operating from a relational perspective without knowing it.

The true value of this model as an integral psychotherapy is that therapists are free to -- and are encouraged to -- draw from a variety of therapeutic interventions, while always being aware that the authentic relationship with the client is the primary concern.

The therapist must be able to be open and fully present and empathic for the relationship to flourish. Empathy is not a low-level developmental trait -- it requires considerable self development and a significant degree of developmental advancement. If we consider empathy a developmental line, it can be developed separate from other lines, but this is more difficult.

It seems to me that in order for a therapist to effectively employ this model, there needs to be some familiarity with the Self, with higher order compassion and empathy, and with the ability to stay present even when his/her own emotions are being triggered by a difficult client or a challenging moment in the therapy.

Knowing one's parts, or subpersonalities, would be incredibly useful in doing this kind of work. If the therapist is able to recognize when a part has been triggered in the therapy room, and if s/he has some experience in knowing how to stay grounded in the Self, rather than letting the part take over, then the work would be much easier.

Any version of an integral psychotherapy must first recognize the value of the empathic relationship with the client, the value of multiple tools for different issues, and that the self/other relationship (aside from certain severe psychological defects) is the fertile ground where most pathologies arise.

Re: How is integral psychotherapy helping you and your clients

http://headandheart.gaia.com — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:41:26 GMT

Jon,
I am at long last coming round to replying to your very thought provoking and inspiring post. I mentioned to you privately, but will mention here again for other members of the pod, that I've been processing some procrastination that has its roots in fear. I love to write, but I find I get scared about being seen/heard. What if I say something stupid? What if I don't think of anything intelligent to say? What if I try too hard to sound intelligent and reveal my own insecurity and make an ass of myself while doing it. So this is my way of handling that. It's sort of a jump before you can be pushed approach. I'm not trying to solicit support just my way of facing my fear. It sort of works, usually.

I was very interested in your assertion that transference is as much a subtle body/causal body resonance. I certainly agree that the affect we have on our clients and they on us at the subtle level is both helpful and rife with unspoken, unconscious transference and countertransference. My guess would be that possibly the majority of therapeutic change (and mistakes) are keenly felt at this level by therapist and client. I have also noticed at times, that clients didn't seem to respond to dynamics that I thought they must feel at the subtle level. It seems as if there can be a sort of subtle numbness which can look like naivete and care-taking or bullishness.

I am also intrigued by the notion of transference as causal body resonance. I'd love it if you'd comment more on this.

There are so many other interesting pieces in your post, but for now I'd like to leave my comments to this discussion in the hopes that you and anyone else are interested in exploring this idea further?...

Re: How is integral psychotherapy helping you and your clients

http://headandheart.gaia.com — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:17:55 GMT

Hi Frans,
thanks for replying about how integral helps you and your clients. It is a great relief for me as well to have a framework for understanding clients that is all quadrant, all level. Before I found integral, trying to settle on one (or a few) theories of psychotherapy always felt like sawing off my left arm. In other words, nothing felt whole and therefore I didn't feel I was true to my own wholeness in adhering to a partial theory.

I'd love to hear more about how you work with dogs in nature.

Re: Role of therapy in post-postmodern context

http://lifeluvver.gaia.com — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:58:47 GMT

Thanks, Durwin

Re: Regression in service of ego -- telling my story

http://lifeluvver.gaia.com — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 01:29:20 GMT

My philosophy is one of transparency. Speaking personally, I am willing to windtunnel skeletally in the interests of fostering greater communion through transparent agentic missive.Blessings, jon x

Re: Regression in service of ego -- telling my story

http://durwinfoster.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 23:11:17 GMT

Thank you very much for this. I do not have words available at the moment. BTW, you write very well! This response has returned me to my body, a good thing for a sometimes disconnected heady guy. I'm under the weather at the moment -- I think I'll go lie down for a while.

Durwin

P.S. Professionally, I'm a little concerned about confidentiality on this stuff...

Re: Regression in service of ego -- telling my story

http://lifeluvver.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 23:00:26 GMT

I was moved, Durwin.

I feel strongly that a facet of that jewelled miracle of we-ness is that we can allow ourselves to tell our stories of trauma in a medium in which we can be truely heard, understood and held in a compassion which will not try to reassure, not try to silence, not try to rationalise or interpret, not try to kick against....because each of us in our own way is a wounded healer and our stories touch each other mothlike against the flame of our own suffering. Therapists are, to a body, wounded healers. I applaud your honesty and openness in this sacred space.

I was an intellectually precocious infant. My working-class parents had no time for me because they did not understand where I came from. I was bullied at school for being smart and having buck teeth. There were daily after-school beatings. Domestic violence at home. I know the value of silence and withdrawal. I can reproduce the pattern of woodgrain that was the underneath of my father's desk from memory; I hid there a lot. I know all about being lost. There were no kind rescuers in my world. As a corporate exec I was a hard hard bastard. I discovered yoga and beat my fists into blood against the wall for years. 25 years of personal growth on I am an open-hearted warrior. I have forgiven fully. My mother, who was not strong enough for me to feel safe with died in my arms three years ago and I had eviscerated all hatred of her. I have screamed primally until voiceless and cried myself into dehydration. And now I am relatively okay with myself.
Because others listened. Others understood. Others held me as I went through it. And there's the rub; it's never what happened to you, it's the way it's dealt with.

Researchers in the 1970s into the black ghettos found strong, vibrant women amidst the rapes, drug use, the red powergod of it all..and all because of tender, strong, supportive motherhood. Take it back, back into Africa...where the Masai have grief benches..when somebody dies, the bereaved sit there...and each tribe member goes and sits beside the bereaved and recalls some memory of the deceased..and hold nothing back...."I never liked your husband" they may say...its all real...authentic..and the grieving is not held back and is shorter than the 18 month frame of the techno-civilised...not what traumatises but its reparation....

So let us walk into the future together, that is where our roots are...the tree analogy inverted...let us support one another personally, professionally, dialogically..in this miracle we call We.

Jung's Self

http://lifeluvver.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 22:08:55 GMT

My understanding of Jung's Self is that it is a composite of a Transpersonal Self, indeed a jivatman, and an Authentic self, something akin to Winnicott's idea of the raw, vulnerable inner self, an egg-yolk surrounded by a personna or Winnicottian albumen. This would place the latter at the level of the first three fulcrums. Given the composite nature of this Self, it lends confusion as to Jung's notion of Individuation when subjected to an Integral lens because this process would have to proceed in two directions; the prepersonal and the transpersonal. Given that Jung was essentially a straight-arrow Cartesian, he had to collapse prepersonal into transpersonal in order to accommodate a unified individuating process towards his notion of the Self.
One individuates by negotiating the archetypes through a combination of enactment and transcendence. Herein lies a confusion of prepersonal archetypes (e.g. trickster, animus/anima) and transpersonal ones (e.g. the five Buddha families in the mahayana samboghakaya) so that the Self (from an integral perspective) is both prepersonal and transpersonal....KWs criticism of Jung as an elevationist is thus born out.
Although it doesn't invalidate out Carl, whose erudition when shorn of the pre/trans fallacy, has a helluvalot to teach us.
Washburn makes the same mistake. KW Eye of spirit. Also KW in dialogue.
Hope this proves of use. x