Why “integrating” psychotherapy and spirituality? This question seems silly to many people for one of two reasons. Some would say it is silly because the two must necessarily be kept separate, like church and state. Others would say it is silly because they are inherently intertwined and don’t require any effort on our part to be integrated.

I am inclined toward the view that the two are inherently intertwined, but believe that they have been artificially separated by psychology, the discipline that most clearly undergirds most of what we practice in psychotherapy, in its zeal to be scientific. Freud’s disdain for religion didn’t help either. Of course there have always been those, like Carl Jung, who have kept alive the perspective that psychology and psychotherapy have an intrinsic relationship to spirituality. However, this perspective has only moved toward widespread acceptance among psychotherapists in the last few decades, thanks in part to the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, and the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Such acceptance in mainstream psychology, as reflected in the American Psychological Association, has only been noticeable in the last few years.

I seek to midwife the rebirthing of the awareness of the inherent interconnectedness between psychotherapy and spirituality. My attitude is one of seeking to support a process that is already taking place quite naturally, rather than trying to force or create something new.

I assume that psychotherapy does more than correct psychopathologies of individuals. I regard psychotherapy as something that facilitates the client’s emotional and spiritual growth, and will assume that such growth in the client will in some way reverberate positively in the culture in which he or she is embedded. Hopefully we can all facilitate our own emotional and spiritual growth, thereby making us more effective in doing the same for our clients and our species. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry.

Click here to contact John and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile
John Rhead, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist in private practice in Columbia. John believes that making more loving and intimate connections with other humans, nature, your deeper (or higher) Self, and The Sacred Mystery (by whatever name you call it), is the best way to find freedom and passion. His work, whether with individuals, couples, families, or organizations, is to facilitate such intimacy. John can be reached here http://www.goodtherapy.org/m15_view_item.html?m15:item=jrhead%40umaryland.edu and at this url also http://www.goodtherapy.org/Poulsbo-therapy.htm

I am training to be a steady, strong, passionate, and committed endurance runner.

I know I can go the distance because I train constantly. My workouts include daily positive self-talk, affirmations, and meditation. With these, I can be successful for the long haul.

Keeping my self-talk positive gives me an optimistic attitude. It levels out drastic ups and downs of life and helps me maintain focus on my goals. Even when I meet challenges that try to slow me down, I remain strong and keep moving forward.

I may need to step off my path for a bit, but my positive self-talk gets me back on track in record time.

When I make a mistake, I avoid beating myself up about it. After all, everyone makes mistakes! I learn what I can from it and continue my trek.

Like positive self-talk, affirmations help keep me on track. They affirm the qualities I wish to strengthen, help break bad habits, and aid me in making wise choices. I say them aloud every morning, night, and whenever I am tempted with an unwise choice.

Affirmations allow a positive flow of thought to urge me forward, like a wind at my back.

Meditation lets me visualize my destination and the rejuvenating stops along the way. Seeing and feeling the emotions of my dreams through meditation keeps them real. Meditation fuels my passion and commitment so I will never lose sight of where I am meant to be.

Today, I plan to consciously train myself for the long haul and renew my strength, passion, and commitment for the life I desire.

Self-Reflection Questions:

1. Do I let challenges stop me in my tracks?
2. Am I truly committed and passionate about achieving my goals?
3. What do I feel would be most effective to train myself for the long haul?

Read more from the original source:
Dreams to Reality Day 19: The Soybeans Spiritual Story

In this video, I share one of my favorite spiritual teaching stories from the Zen tradition… This story shows us that most times, the things we worry about, those things keeping us up at night are really all in our head and can be released in an instant of recognition…

We are living in a crowded environment infested with many vices in the form of ‘ifs’, ‘buts’ and ‘whys’ etc., all causes of irritation and argumentation. Our body is made up of virtues and vices picked up throughout life time. It is necessary to root out the vices, inhumanity, evils and imbibe virtues to nourish the vital parts of our body to lead healthy, smooth and tranquil life. The words ‘ifs’, ‘buts’ and ‘whys’ etc. are like a grit, when not removed from shoes (life) immediately, will hurt us grievously throughout life and retard our speed. These are like speck of dust in eyes, always irritating. Also these are like thorn in our feet pricking with excruciating pain. Thus we should pick up these tares and weeds from our life to avoid crippling and dampening of spirits. Mind it that every body has to face the result of one’s own deeds, individually. No body else is responsible for it. So, we should root out the same to avoid sedentary life. If we are not alert and don’t care to keep at bay the vices, in time, they may take ugly shape later on and take away charms of our life. Life granted to us is a wake-up state with no room for laziness. Help yourself out of yourself, said Swami Vivekananda. So, get up soon from your slumber. Mark Twain has aptly said,” It is your human environment that makes climate.”

Let us throw little light on our main vices. These are lust, ego, attachment, greed, selfishness, anger, envy, argumentation, laziness, vie with others, prejudices, unbalanced vision, antagonizing others, subservient to some one etc. A person inflicted with vices demonstrates that he lacks implicit faith and vision in every thing and his life is purposeless and full of chinks and doubts leading him to nether world after slowly shrinking his life. Vices intrude into our lives in the shape of bumps and potholes from time to time because of our carelessness. These are of many types and sizes to be rooted out before they raise their hydra head any time engulfing our lives. All sorts of pinching thistles must be removed otherwise life will become distraught instead of dazzling. A person with such a disqualification will be of instable nature and not self-confident.

On the other hand a person imbibing virtues thrives in life as virtues are like hemming life with spangles and studding with glittering gems for smooth, healthy and progressive sailing. One can achieve sterling qualities only by, sincerely, forsaking vices. Some of the virtues are compassion, peace, love, humility, forgiveness, determination, contentment, control and command over senses, God realization, up-liftment of society, interfaith, brotherhood, concentration, unselfish and immaculate nature, discernment, restraint, positive attitude and hope which is foundation of life, etc. Virtues chasten our character and sanctify the soul making our present and future life worthy. To achieve this purpose our up-bringing should be perfect like segregating stones and chaff(vices) from wheat etc. by winnowing and screening. The virtuous people resign everything to fate with firm faith in Almighty’s decisions. They earn by fair means only for livelihood, help the needy and act judiciously in every action and dealing. Such persons use pleasing and crafted words in their language. Their attributes are pure only bringing real happiness and peace. Such a character takes one to the realm of God leaving sweet memories in this world.

First of all we have to detoxify ourselves from the dross of our vices in our body. The only way to remove vices completely from our life is to resolve every day, with will power and pure mind, for doing so. By imbibing this habit persistently and focusing energies, like charging the batteries of our life, off and on, will do the trick for smooth run. Removal of ‘ifs’, ‘buts’ and ‘whys’ etc(vices) remove many curls of our life and iron out the wrinkles.

One should not forget the famous adage,” As you sow, so shall you reap.” When God dwells inside you, your all deeds will automatically strengthen up. Also God has given us this precious life and if we have not realized Him with our virtues and discernment then we have achieved absolutely nothing. Discernment between good and bad is like observing and recognizing the two sides of a coin, obverse and adverse to minimize our worries with foresight. With virtuous qualities our life will become melodious. Tulsidasa says in one of his couplets, ” The fools follow vices of Mahabharata instead of virtuous examples of Ramayana.” At whatever stage of life we are, it is still time for us to tighten our loose ends so that we spring forth with hope. We should not nurture the false dreams and get trapped in our self made snare where extrication becomes difficult. Also we should not visualize the problems before hand without any base and reason and act in negativity. Wait patiently to plan till the time comes for you to “cross the bridge.” On the contrary, due to our virtues, Lord’s propitious hands will ever remain on our shoulders. If we accumulate only the virtues in our life we may not carry the unbearable heavy load of vices at the fag end of life. A great and famous laureate and visionary, Shri HanumaPoddar, has rightly said, ” Diseases can not be uprooted by medicines and hospitals alone. Eradication of disease is possible only through control of senses and purity of mind which ensure our physical, mental and spiritual health.” Virtues and good character are the peerless gems of our life. Our bland and barren life will start blooming. The direction of our thinking and life changes for betterment. It is possible that one may become an apstotle of change/ transformation. Pray God for your wisdom and sublimity.

Every single person on this earth wants to have greater abundance and prosperity in their lives. However, if you want to know how you can truly create a life filled with abundance easily, then you must do this one secret and it’s actually really, very easy. In this article, I’m going to reveal exactly what you need to do and how you can immediately increase its power 10 fold.

See more here:
Abundance & Prosperity – Discover the Easiest Way to Greater Abundance and Prosperity in Your Life