spiritual bypassing ~ therapeutic shamanism

 

SPIRITUAL BYPASSING means using spiritual practices and beliefs to avoid dealing with painful feelings and unresolved psychological wounds. The reason people engage in it is simple.

 

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁.

 

On top of this, the parts of us that we are avoiding are also parts that we fear and which we have disowned and see as ‘monsters’ - all the more reason to avoid them.

And so, when in pain, rather than dealing with the pain, we reach for ‘pain-killers’ instead. So, when a spiritual teacher or religion tells us that we do not need to feel our pain at all but that we can just ‘transcend’ it, then we jump at it.

 

𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲. 𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻-𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱.

 

The problem is that, like all pain-killers, the numbing that spiritual bypassing brings comes with a cost.

 

*****

Are you brave enough to make the darkness conscious? The Inner Tribe Course begins next summer.

More info:

 

:: Inner Tribe Work: Shamanism, Soul Retrieval, and Parts-Of-Self Therapy

Shamanism understands that we are not a single "I” but are instead made up of different "parts-of-self" – an “inner tribe”. As with any tribe, for it to be healthy, each of its members needs to be honoured and understood, and brought into healthy relationship, and much of shamanic practice is about doing this. As well as honouring the middle-world self and its different sub-parts, this includes honouring Body, Soul and Spirit. It also includes the ancient shamanic practice of soul retrieval – finding lost soul parts, bringing them back, and helping them to integrate again.

Many modern psychotherapies have also come to understand that we are made up of parts-of-self such as Internal Family Systems Therapy, Voice Dialogue Work, Transactional Analysis, and various other psychotherapies that work with the idea of “sub-personalities”. In these therapies, it is understood that the issues people present with are often due to the various parts-of-self being in an unhealthy relationship with each other, with some having too much power and others being marginalised or even excluded altogether.

The area of parts-of-self work is one area where shamanism and psychotherapy overlap. As well as the similarities though, the different approaches, knowledge and insights that shamanism and psychotherapy have in this area means that they also have much they can contribute, and much they can learn from each other too. This 10-meeting course will explore this in depth, covering soul-loss and soul retrieval (both traditional and modern), how to identify parts-of-self, and different ways to work with them.

The course is suitable for anyone who is interested in not just the spiritual aspect of shamanism in their own practice and development, but in its more psychotherapeutic aspects too. It will also be of use to counsellors, psychotherapists and other psychological therapists, who wish to bring a more shamanic aspect to their work. This includes any practitioners (such as Internal Family Systems Therapists etc) who already work with parts-of-self, but who wish to explore incorporating a more Soul-centred, Nature-based, and other-than-human approach into their practice. The course is also essential for anyone who wishes to explore becoming a Therapeutic Shamanic Practitioner.

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