Therapia: A Journey to the Healing Temple
by Cris McCullough, M.A., C.P.H.C.

Many people ask me how an holistic approach to counseling or therapy differs from, what most of us think of as, traditional psychotherapy. The easiest way to describe it is that instead of being a "head shrinker", I feel I take the role of a "head expander". Therapeutic counseling shouldn't only be about making a "sick" person "better", it is instead allowing the gift of a natural and organic expansion of self awareness in a safe and respectful place. Head expansion can occur when you are feeling well and in control of life just as easily as when you are experiencing the verge of depression or involved in some life transition. Indeed, the very concept of working with a therapist only if you are suffering an upset or imbalance in your life needs to be amended to include an on-going exploration of the self so that we may continue to be well.

A holistic approach to counseling involves a whole systems approach to the idea of being human in a dysfunctional world. An imbalance between body, mind and spirit may result in symptomatic responses in either body (physical illness), mind (emotional crisis) or spirit (the dark night of the soul), but in order to facilitate the healing process all aspects must be addressed simultaneously.

A good example is the client who is depressed over a life situation. Their eating and sleeping patterns are disrupted thus sending them into a deeper depression. If nutritional needs and the needs for appropriate sleep are not met the client will be too distracted to benefit from a traditional therapeutic exchange. The practitioner needs to address the entire system to proceed with healing.

The healing process must be given time, a safe holding field in which to cultivate, and an objective facilitator who allows the client to discover and then embody their own insights. No one can be told to do anything. Allowance and permission to grown naturally in awareness, however, are vital to a rebalancing of the system towards homeostasis and health.

Originally therapeutes were attendants who functioned as "midwives to the psyche" in ancient healing temples. In ancient Greece, individuals seeking healing would be allowed respite in this sacred space where they would ritually shed their outer world persona" (the mask by which the outer world recognizes us) and descend into an incubation chamber where they would be allowed to commerce with the healing power of dream and the organic process of self healing. The attending "therapists" would "bring the initiate back to life" by asking of him all that he had seen, heard, experienced and learned in the process and then record the initiate's story. Paying attention to the story, witnessing the healing process, this was the primary task of the attending therapeutes. "Therapy is a method of cultivation...a therapist is one  who tends the seeds where they fall.  A psychotherapist ("in Psyche's cult") is an attendant to the psyche, one who helps in the search for the lost parts of the self, one who helps stretch the imagination, the opposite of a "shrink".

Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D., author of "Coyote Medicine", described  the traditional healing ceremonies of his people, the Cherokee. It is interesting to note how the concept of the "healing temple" is reflected in an indigenous approach to healing. A traditional medicine person may sequester the "patient " for a week or two,  allowing them to first be with themselves in silence (a type of decompression for the soul) before doing any healing work. The patient would be attended to with food and rest, but most of all allowed the luxury of being in the silence, with their own thoughts and feelings. After this initial incubation period was complete, the medicine person would then proceed with the healing process, with the patient being an active participant, (the embodiment ). The disassociation with the patient's normal reality ( an embrace of a non-ordinary reality) allows the patient to move into a deeper experience of their soul essence, the "psyche". Healing seems most fully to take place when we are allowed to be removed from our everyday reality, be held in safe regard, and be allowed to explore our own soul language, facilitated by a caring and knowledgeable attendant. This expression of "the language of the soul" can be expressed through art, movement or words. In many ways, the traditional Native American approach to bringing the patient back into balance is very similar to that of the ancient Greeks.

A holistic practitioner seeks to create the healing temple for the client, allowing time, silence, and unconditional regard for the individuals personal enfoldment. A "therapeutes", he or she attends to the individual's story of their journey, encouraging them to expand their awareness and return to balance.

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Cris McCullough, M.A., C. P.H.C. is a certified holistic counselor  and shares a private practice in holistic psychotherapy with Victoria Williams, M.A., certified Spiritual Director. THERAPEIA: Integrative Counseling Associates is located at 342 Broadway in Newport., R.I. For more information log on to www.holisticri.net or call 401-847-6551.