The soul in psychotherap

In 1979, after years of skepticism and through a trusted recommendation, I saw an astrologer. She told me things that no one knew about me, and spoke of life cycles and karma. The session, which lasted about four hours, was so incredibly therapeutic that I decided it was something I wanted to do in my life. Rather than the historical prediction paradigm, she used spiritual and practical information from the charts about myself and about influences on me to counsel me therapeutically.;As I began to study and eventually to practice, I could see the tremendously therapeutic value in an instrument which cuts through social, cultural, economic and even gender layers of self and goes directly to the core of spirit. Through continued client practice and extensive research I observed the soul, incarnate in this lifetime, as being at a particular individual location in its spiritual evolution. I began to see the external life of the client as manifestation in space and time of the internal spiritual dynamics of the individual at his/her own developmental place.;Therapeutic client practice as a clinical psychologist became my professional goal. In 1983 I began my bachelor's degree part-time in clinical psychology at Loyola. On transfer to the University of Chicago full-time I became interested in theoretical psychology and research. My astrological client practice became enriched by psychological understanding and techniques, and my interest in psychology became enriched by the theoretical dimension. I came to believe that psychological practice must be philosophically and methodologically informed by theoretical underpinnings. And, I became as deeply interested in education itself as I had become serious about my own education, and my professional goal was transmuted into teaching.;The lack of consideration of both human and Divine spirituality in psychology became apparent to me in my undergraduate years at both institutions. Astrology was showing me the primacy of the soul at the core of the individual, and psychology was teaching me everything therapeutically and theoretically except spiritual considerations. As I looked at graduate programs in psychology I realized that I could not continue in the Godless psychotherapy modality, and began to search for a bridge between psychology and theology. At Garrett my exposure to pastoral care and pastoral theology convinced me that therapeutic process and clarity and organization of theory are needed. My personal experiences in psychotherapy left me experientially desperate for spiritual companionship and counseling, confirming my academic notions.;The bridge between psychology and theology is the relationship of the psychotherapeutic healing process and the spirituality domain of theology and religion. This thesis addresses the gap where, traditionally, psychotherapy ends and theology and religion begin. In psychology there is a void in the area of spirituality. In theology and religion there is a void in the process of therapeusis. The psychotherapeutic healing process is incomplete without addressing spiritual changes and movement. The reality of spiritual healing is that, although it may contain faith issues, it is a day-to-day, step-by-step therapeutic process. That is, when a psychotherapist reflects, "You have a great deal of repressed anger at your mother," what does that mean to the spirit of the client, the mother, and to God? And, when a pastor says, "God will heal your anger," how does the client live day-to-day until that is accomplished, and what does the client do while "waiting on the Lord"?;Psychology looks at therapeusis practically and theoretically. Theology and religion look at God's self-revelation to us historically, and ideally, at human relationship to the divine. Pastoral counseling looks at religious problem-solving, and ideally, at healing from a spiritual perspective. Psychology of religion examines religion through the lens of psychology. Spiritual direction attempts to guide the client in individual relationship with God. This thesis attempts a synthesis through confluence of these! varied approaches and goals. By focusing on the phenomenology of the human soul, through theories of its structure, relationality and process, the thesis attempts to show a therapeutic approach to healing and problem-solving at the soul level.;This thesis I intend to be a contribution to the academy, the church, and to society. Its contribution to the academy is the integration of spirituality into psychology, including the soul at the core of human well-being, and the processes of consciousness, spiritual growth and transformation as essential and primary to the healing process. Its contribution to the church is provision of a bridge to therapeutic process for spiritual healing, and to elucidate and focus on the soul and its relationality in pastoral counseling. Therapeutic transformation at the soul level changes individual impetus for behavior, which then affects society through the transformed individual's interaction with society and through transformation of collective consciousness.