Spiritual Counseling
What Is Spiritual Counseling?
Spiritual counseling is supportive counseling for the patient's belief and value system; support of the essence of the person and facilitation of spiritual growth. A form of counseling that takes the entire person into account, not just their mental and emotional aspects spiritual counseling also gives us a greater purpose to improving who we are and our outlook on life. This sense of purpose varies from person to person. In essence, it involves our efforts to improve who we are being and to find clarity about what stops us from being happy or attracting a partner or enjoying life. Instead of working on just being happy, we look at all the things that stop us from being happy. Too often counseling gets stuck in emotional issues. While not ignoring this important dimension of healing, Michael expands the concept of therapy to include an openness to the spiritual dimension in life.
Spiritual Counseling takes the Soul, rather than the Mind, as its starting point of balance. It has an expanded view of life, recognizing that the world is a complex mystery and it takes into account belief systems, universal & personal energy systems, intuitive psychic realities, karmic interplay, subconscious and superconscious states of awareness, metaphysical experiences, spiritual theology, spiritual presence, and higher-self cosmic connections.
Spiritual Counseling sees that life is innately personal and individuals want to build their own unique, flowing relationship with it, organically and without force. With the Soul being the starting point individuals come from the heart, whilst not forgetting their head, and from this heart space, they care for the sacred interdependence of all life. Compassion for self and compassion for others is a core concept for their personal and collective growth. As Spiritual Counselling is holistic there is no separation, no duality between personal or collective responses and reaction, all are intrinsically linked. There is an awareness that life experiences become the greatest tool, with the integration of personal pains and personal journey. The aim is for clients to express themselves and their world with intimate wisdom, spiritual awareness, and personal authenticity; using integrity and wise use of their spiritual gifts, skills, and knowledge.
Spiritual counselors need a cross-cultural awareness and an understanding of spiritual emergency and other issues of spirituality. They recognize and are committed to, a spiritual journey in their own lives, and the lives of others. By focusing on their core inner connection, creating an open heart connection and a mindfulness state, they create a holding and sacred space for the personal unfoldment of their clients.
In Spiritual Counseling the emphasis is on wholeness, dealing with the whole person, and assisting the client in inner balance and integration of all the dimensions of Self. It is experiential and focuses on the client’s individual experiences and reality, so the counselor respecting them as unique assumes that the client’s reality is different from their own. As each client is seen as an individual the sessions are non-prescriptive and individually tailored. The counselor is thus active and creative, responding to the immediate issues brought by the client. The assumption is that human beings are innately motivated towards achieving their highest potential of awareness and fulfillment; the counselor’s role is to support this and trust the client’s process.
The spiritual journey can be blissful and awakening, but also it can be arduous, frightening, and lonely. Anyone can have a spiritual experience or peak experience, but holistic self-realization is a different matter. Spiritual development best occurs at the point when the Ego identity is strong enough to take a little disorientation. One’s understanding and meaning of one’s lives depend on the presence of Ego. If the Ego is not strong and does not hold the person in a healthy reality; the spiritual opening then results in fragmentation and crises. This altered State of Consciousness can be catastrophic to the Ego if the individual contacts the lower level of consciousness rather than the higher level of consciousness. A healthy Ego arises from the healing and integration of past traumas and of Self-Realisation/ Self-Awareness.
