Transpersonal Psychotherapy recognizes that there is much to explore in the arcane realms of human experience, and that any blossoming knowledge is to be believed and appreciated as a gift to curiously unravel.
The transpersonal has been defined as experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos.
The meaning of the prefix trans in Latin is to go beyond to change. The prefix persona in Latin means mask. If we combine trans and persona, we can determine that transpersonal means experiences that go beyond the sense of ego identity and expands into other realms of consciousness, including an understanding of intrinsic worthiness, heart-centeredness, access to the collective unconscious, oneness with the natural world, cosmic consciousness and experiences of unity.
I offer Hakomi, IFS, Expressive Arts, EMDR, and Psychedelic Support as transpersonal-oriented modalities.
Experiences of the transpersonal or non-ordinary states of consciousness can range from incredibly profound to destabilizing. It can be fruitful to seek therapy to integrate these significant shifts in consciousness into ordinary life. Such insights can fade quickly without scaffolding for the learning process to assist with making meaning of the unfamiliar experience. Integration of these experiences can bring awareness of the sacredness and connectedness of all things ordinary and extraordinary into our lives to benefit ourselves, others, and the planet.
Significant changes are not always simply a matter of receiving a gift; instead, work is involved to unwrap it. In therapy, we can explore finding a language and cultural context for the transpersonal experience, cultivating practices that support your shift in values, strengthening your heart/mind/body connection through somatic therapy and creative mindfulness modalities, as well as Bibliotherapy, expressive arts, and more.
“They say before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.”