Psychospirituality is The Union of Positive Psychology and Spirituality: Is it The Future of Healing? Remaining Forever Jung
- olivierbranford
- Jun 5
- 38 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
'Psychospirituality' is the synthesis of positive psychology and spirituality. It may lead to healing of the mind, body, and Soul, well-being, improved mental health, unconditional love, peace, joy, compassion, gratitude, meaning, purpose, and awakening to your highest Self.
Having had psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care, it was simultaneous spiritual coaching that saved my life. Before then, I always felt that something was missing. I have deeply felt the effect that spirituality had in healing from my mental health diagnoses, where medicine, psychiatry, and psychotherapy alone had all failed to improve my symptoms. My spirituality has been a great source of strength and courage to me, and it has sent me challenges to catalyse my evolution, growth, and personal transformation. These challenges are also sent with their solution to them. I have learned that "This too shall pass" and that "All is well".
Carl Jung, born in 1875 and who died in 1961, was one of the greatest psychiatrists who ever lived. He was also the godfather of analytical psychology, a psychotherapist, and also a spiritual Master. Jung wrote about his role as a psychiatrist that “Thinking within the framework of the special task that is laid upon me: To be a proper psychiatrist is to be a healer of the Soul.” On psychotherapy, Jung commented that “Therefore our Lord himself is a healer; he is a doctor; he heals the sick and he deals with the troubles of the Soul; and that is exactly what we call psychotherapy.” Even though he did not use the term, Jung was describing psychospirituality. He knew the importance of spirituality in healing a century ago: And yet, somehow, some psychiatrists and psychotherapists still haven't caught on to the importance of spirituality to positive psychology with regards to fully recovering from mental illness.
Carl Jung believed that psychoanalysis was the ‘new personalised religion’: In other words, spirituality, which, being tailor-made with your Higher Power, is 'religion personified'. Jung thought that psychology and spirituality were the same. Psychotherapy, then, must contain a spiritual approach: What I call psychospirituality. Surely this is the future of fully healing from any mental illness? As well as being a spiritual Master, Jung was a metaphysical philosopher, a 'Prophet' in the field of psychology, and also gave birth to psychoanalysis. He was widely recognised as being no less than this.
Jung thought that Jesus was a great philosopher who taught us many timeless truths, and who has much to teach the world of psychology. Jung viewed Jesus's life and teachings as a powerful archetype, a symbolic representation of the process of 'individuation' and the development of the Self.
In the Bible, in Mark 5:34, Jesus said "Your Faith has made thee whole." The word 'healing' and the word 'holistic', both have their origins in 'to make whole.' Psychology, then, without spirituality, is incomplete. You are a far more than just a human being, you are a great BEing, a Soul, nothing less than God’s consciousness experiencing unconditional love and creation itself.
So, what do you remain so small, and how may psychology alone, without a spiritual approach, collude in keeping you that way? Why live life in spiritual bankruptcy and spiritual dis-ease, when you can wake up to love, abundance, and wholeness? Why remain a captive victim of your ego mind's struggles, when you can be a victor through conscious connection to Jung's 'collective unconscious', Self-realisation and liberation?
With all that said, let's dive into what is psychospirituality.
Introduction
Psychospirituality, which has even been described in 'Forbes Magazine', refers to integrating psychology and spirituality, encompassing a wide range of therapeutic approaches that consider both the conscious and subconscious mind, along with a spiritual understanding of life. This results in a holistic sense of well-being and personal transformation. It involves using both psychological insight and spiritual practices to understand oneself and better navigate life's challenges. This approach recognises the fundamental importance of qualities like love, compassion, forgiveness, and joy; the result of including spiritual practices during recovery.
Scientists may be obsessed with finding the answer to everything, such as diving into the subatomic realms of quantum physics, whereas people who practice spirituality have already found the answer. Even when looking at subatomic particles, with physicists realising that they are actually made of energy and not matter, scientists cannot explain those fields of energy or how they may be approximating Universal consciousness, which is pure energy, and is the most powerful force in the Universe. This equally applies to traditional psychological approaches. With positive psychologists realising that transcendent psychology is its highest form, which recognises that transcendance is the highest of the human needs, it does not explain how to take us there. For this, the ‘starship’ of spirituality is required.
The peer-reviewed published article entitled ‘Psychospiritual Care: A Concept Analysis‘ defines psychospiritual care as a "Unique integrative dimension of care, possessing three defining attributes: i) intuitive self-awareness, ii) the therapeutic use of psychospiritual perspective, and iii) the cultivation of a psychospiritual environment." Further, the article states that "Providing psychospiritual care promotes positive consequences, such as therapeutic effects for patients and improve overall well-being." It recognises that humans are psychospiritual beings, stating that "The human needs for psychological and spiritual well-being are persistent. Psychospiritual care exists to accommodate the individual's need that psychological or spiritual care alone may not be able to fully cover physical, psychological, spiritual values and beliefs": Both modalities are required.
In psychospirituality, psychological changes and symptoms throughout the life span are seen as having the potential for positive growth that can be incorporated into the treatment process, rather than as a pathological process that needs to be eliminated or suppressed. Additionally, psychotherapists are seeing more and more people who may or may not have a clinical diagnosis who feel there is something ‘missing’ in their lives.
For too long, the mind, the body, and the Soul were considered separate entities and concepts, but great strides have been made in the past few decades with regard to recognising the interconnections between the mind, body, and Soul in disease and health. So, why are so many practitioners still neglecting the third entity, the Soul, and the role of spirituality in health and healing? Recent research is indicating that spirituality plays a significant role in mental health and also longevity. Yet, spirituality is rarely present in the psychotherapy session. When utilising spirituality in therapy, the practitioner must take into consideration the individual's personal belief systems and help him or her derive a concept of spirituality that is a unique fit.
A 2020 study published in ‘Frontiers In Psychology’ entitled 'The Decoding of the Human Spirit: A Synergy of Spirituality and Character Strengths Toward Wholeness' theorised that certain psychological character strengths, such as kindness, gratitude, and wisdom, are associated with being psychospiritual. Researchers suggested that individuals with these qualities are more likely to experience 'spiritual wholeness.' The study states that “Wholeness involves embracing all aspects of oneself - emotional, mental, and spiritual, resulting in a unified, coherent sense of identity. This state of wholeness is marked by a deep connection to one’s inner Self, values and purpose, leading to a fulfilling and meaningful life.” The word healing is derived from ‘to be whole.’ Without spirituality as part of a psychological approach there is no healing, and the psyche remains fractured with a persistent ego, separated from the whole. The ego mind is the domain of psychology, and without 'Individuation', as described by Carl Jung, you remain the prisoner of your psyche, living on death row. In contrast, spirituality is concerned with the very highest possible version of you.
Things are changing: Within the positive psychology field, spirituality is considered as a vital aspect of the human experience, and often as a tool to enhance resilience in the face of adversity, and as a compass for navigating a truly fulfilled life.
In a brilliant and seminal article on psychospirituality 'Psychospiritual' in a peer reviewed scientific psychology journal the author writes “The term psychospiritual has entered psychological and religious discourse as a loose designation for the integration of the psychological and the spiritual. As a broad term it can denote a variety of positions between positive psychology and spirituality: A supplementation, integration, identification, or conflation of the two fields. It is commonly used to describe a wide range of therapeutic systems which embrace a spiritual dimension of the human being as fundamental to psychic health and full human development and which utilise both psychological and spiritual methods (such as meditation, yoga, and breathwork) in a holistic, integrated approach to healing and inner growth. These positive psychological therapeutic systems include Jungian psychology, Roberto Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis, the post-Jungian archetypal psychology of James Hillman, transpersonal psychology, such as the work of Abraham Maslow, Stanislav Grof, Ken Wilber, Michael Washburn and Charles Tart, the spiritual psychology of Robert Sardello, and the humanistic psychology of Carl Rogers.”
In a book on psychospirituality entitled ‘The Psychospiritual Clinician's Handbook: Alternative Methods for Understanding and Treating Mental Disorders’ it states that “For most of the history of psychology and psychiatry, there has been a focus on the negative aspects of mental health, involving the diagnosing and treating of diseases and disorders. In recent years, however, there has been a move toward 'Positive psychology,' in which the focus is on the positive aspects of mental health. The book describes how a psychospiritual approach may be used in those who have experienced trauma. Dr Sharon G. Mijares, Ph.D., presents the idea that, when viewed through a spiritual approach, trauma can be viewed as 'an opportunity for a quantum leap in consciousness.' How many practitioners have worked with a client who has experienced severe trauma and who, months or years later, asserts that he or she wouldn't go back and 'undo' the trauma if such a thing were possible? The client has learned something so profound, or become someone so different, that he or she is sometimes actually thankful that the trauma occurred. I can resonate totally with that. Some rare individuals are able to do this on their own, but many may need psychospiritual guidance to achieve this state of acceptance and contentment. Mijares provides specific treatment approaches and case examples to clearly define the psychospiritual approach as it relates to trauma. The book also outlines how spirituality may be used as an approach to attention-deficit disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The book also describes how psychospirituality may also be used to treat difficult-to-treat disorders such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). The neuroplasticity of the brain in 'mindful awareness' integrates psychospiritual and biological approaches to mental health. You can literally rewire your brain using spiritual practices. Integrative therapies provide a foundation on which to base the use of a new approach to an 'old' problem. The use of a certain psychospiritual techniques could circumvent or eliminate the need to utilise pharmacotherapy altogether.”
Psychospiritual individuals prioritise understanding their inner world and 'digesting' their emotions. They may be more likely to engage in practices such as meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, and journalling in order to gain clarity of thought, process emotions, and pursue deep inner growth and healing. They are drawn to, and open to, various spiritual teachings in the form of books and lectures, seeking wisdom from diverse traditions and cultures. This curiosity isn’t superficial but stems from a genuine desire to understand the nature of existence and their place within it. They also strive to cultivate a mindset that allows them to perceive the sacred and divine in everyday moments. Instead of feeling defeated by setbacks, they view them as opportunities to evolve both psychologically and spiritually, integrating these experiences into a meaningful life story of their own. Remember that obstacles can be a valuable teacher as well as a crucible for transformation.
Being psychospiritual is about looking inward to understand your Self while seeking experiences that connect you to something greater. Recognising and cultivating your strengths is essential to this process as it takes great courage to face a lifetime of unfelt emotions that have been pushed down: Buried emotions are like trying to hold a football under water - it will always pop up eventually.
Researchers suggest that you can also cultivate psychospirituality by surrounding your Self with people who uplift and inspire you. Explore your passions and values, and discover what feels aligned to your awakening Self.
We all need an Enlightened Witness on the path of recovering our true Selves. I have met some brilliant holistic psychiatrists, usually those who have walked the path themsleves. But I have also met some who have zero wisdom about what it means to truly heal your Soul, who have clearly never read Carl Jung or the more recent psychologists and psychotherapists listed above. They unravel you: They don't always 'ravel you back up,' they don't always heal you, and may cause more damage than they heal. I saved my Self, and I did it through Transformative Life Coaching (TLC), also known as 'Deep Coaching', psychospiritual coaching, or 'Supercoaching.' This is a blend of positive psychology and spirituality, along with timeless philosophy.
Of course some people may need a therapist and a coach, and that is fine. Only you can truly save your Self. As Elizabeth Gilbert said “Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?” Friedrich Nietzsche, the great philosopher, believed that embracing difficulty is essential for a fulfilling life, considered the journey of Self-discovery one of the greatest and most fertile existential challenges. He wrote "No-one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life. There may be countless trails and bridges and demigods who would gladly carry you across; but only at the price of pawning and forgoing yourself. There is one path in the world that none can walk but you. Where does it lead? Don’t ask, walk!"
Carl Jung said that “Only what is really oneself has the power to heal.” In 'C.G. Jung Letters' he wrote "Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Without, everything seems discordant; only within does it coalesce into unity. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes." Jung said "I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become." Jesus had already said in Luke 4:23 "Physician, heal thyself." This is a biblical proverb meaning that people should take care of their own defects and not focus on correcting the projected faults of others. It is also the idea that you cannot fill the cup of others unless your cup is full, too.
Psychologist Lauren Fogel Mersy wrote “Being able to be your true Self is one of the strongest components of good mental health.” It's a rarity in today's world. Paulo Coelho wrote "All stress, anxiety, depression, is caused when we ignore who we are, and start living to please others.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the psychiatrist who described the five stages of grief, wrote “It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive - to release our inner Selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.” Julian Seifter adds "You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying your Self is part of the battle." You have the Power of your VOICE. Do not feel judged by those who are asleep. Neville Goddard wrote "All the honours of men in a state of sleep are as nothing."
Dr Gabor Maté wrote "Unless we can measure something, science won’t concede it exists, which is why science refuses to deal with such 'non-things' as the emotions, the mind, the Soul, or the Spirit." In order to heal, we need to express our emotions, drop out of our negative thinking mind into our open hearts, and connect with and become one with our Soul, Higher Power, or true Self (these are all the same thing). As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." I have found that this thought always leads me out of fear, even where medication and therapy have failed. Many psychologists including Dr Gabor Maté feel that spiritual dis-ease underlies much of our mental illness.
My psychiatrist told me that Nature knows what it is doing and to trust the process. Dr Maté echoes “There arises the possibility of returning to what Nature has always intended for us: Once we resolve to see clearly how things are, the process of healing - a word that, at its root, means 'returning to wholeness' - can begin.” This is a remembering of who we are and integrating our 'inner child', our 'shadow', and our Higher Self in order to become whole.
Faith and spirituality are disciplines of healing that use the same metaphors as psychology and philosophy to explain how one heals a fractured psyche. The first recorded instance of Jesus, a human being who was one of the greatest philosophers of all time, who always lived and made choices from his higher Self from BEing love, saying that “Your Faith has made you well” is found in Matthew 9:22. Some versions of the Bible translate Jesus’ words as “Thy Faith hath made thee whole,” and, “Your Faith has healed you.” To me this is a metaphor for authenticity and integration of your inner child with your Higher Self. This shows how the various disciplines of positive psychology, philosophy, spiritually and Faith are different ways of describing the same Truth. Transformative Life Coaching (TLC) is a blend of all these disciplines, which are all so effective in finding peace and wellbeing, because they are actually all based on the same Truth. The Venn diagram of these disciplines mostly involves the overlap: Which is the moment-to-moment choice of living from a place of love. This is a place of authentic wholeness and integrity.
Dr Edward Bach wrote "Disease is, in essence, the result of conflict between the Soul and the mind (ego), and will never be eradicated except by spiritual and mental effort." We are all working towards our own mental health. A lack of unconditional love causes most mental and emotional illnesses. It’s not by chance that the word evolve contains the word love in it. The mind is the dwelling place of the ego, which psychology largely primarily concerns itself with, and the heart is the dwelling place of the soul, the domain of spirituality. You can feel it can't you? Embarking on a spiritual journey entails stepping into the labyrinth of Self-discovery and consciousness.
What is psychology?
Michael Singer, the author of 'Living Untethered', says that psychology is the sum of your learned experiences. These create the fearful ego mind where we cling (as Buddhists say) to negative thoughts, feelings, and experiences, which creates preferences for what we want to happen and for what don't want to happen. Paul Coelho wrote that "Suffering comes from desire, not from pain." There is a Zen saying that "The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences." The 'Great Way' is the spiritual path.
Psychology examines the ego, and is limited to doing only that. Psychology unravels you. Spirituality 'ravels you back up.' The problem with the ego, is that it is a liar, and always generates negative beliefs. The ego wants you dead.
A person who is captive to the empirical ego, and has not cultivated a sufficient level of self-domination, cannot navigate the psychospiritual labyrinth without a qualified guide; indeed, they can unwittingly deliver themselves over to the 'diabolical'. St. Symeon, the New Theologian, wrote: “Do not put yourself in the hands of an inexperienced master, for he will sooner initiate you into the diabolic life.”
Psychology, especially through psychoanalysis, or its modern counterpart, psychodynamic therapy, dives deeply into what your subconscious fears are, which are what drive you. Spirituality lets go of those fears. Jung wrote that “One does not become Enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” We emphasise that what is crucial is that we cannot address the 'Shadow', or the abyss of the human psyche, without relying on what is higher - a spiritual dimension to support our reintegration, healing, and wholeness in the Spirit.
I have spent many hours on the psychotherapists' couch. I always felt that there was something missing in order to make me feel complete and healed.
What is spirituality?
Spirituality is a journey inwards from the mind to the heart, from intellectualisation to the experiential, from the ego to our Higher Power, it is a 'Hero's Journey', as described by Joseph Campbell, which must go through 'The Dark Night of The Soul', individuation (see below), reintegration of our psyche consisting of our 'Inner child', our Shadow and our 'Higher Power', making the subconscious conscious, always involving acceptance of reality and surrender of the part of us, in other words our ego, that resists reality and has preferences. This surrender brings awareness, and conscious contact with our Higher Power.
I once spent five hours explaining the spiritual journey to a friend of mine. At the end of it he said to me what you mean is "Don’t be a dickhead". He had a point. He gave a very concise summary of the journey!
Spirituality examines your beliefs, which are decisions, which lead to your thoughts, which leads to your emotions, which determine your actions, which lead to your results. You can choose to change your beliefs, and when you do, you change your world.
Psychology deals with the ego mind. Meister Eckhart said that spirituality is the "Heart intellect", which is at the centre of the evolved and transformed human psyche.
When you have Faith, you are given a covenant, which is an agreement with God to do his will. In return, God gives you Grace and a previously untapped infinite and very Real Personal Power. It is a metaphysical reality that both our liberation and psychic reintegration are reliant on a power beyond ourselves. In the Bible in Ephesians 2:8, we are reminded, “For by Grace are ye saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God”. One acronym for God is the 'Gift Of Desperation', for it is not until we realise that without spirituality that many of our lives are devoid of meaning, senseless, frightening, and that we are struggling that we are brought to our knees in prayer. Prayer is an action, and always produces results, with infinite miraculous possibility: Those results may not be what we were expecting, but they are always what we need to evolve, grow, and transform.
It has been shown in many polls and studies that the vast majority of people (around 85 percent in the United States) are spiritual, in that they believe in some Higher Power that is unseen and runs the Universe. A Higher Power is simply a power greater than yourself. Many people are put off by the word 'God.' This is simply a word for a concept that is unknowable by the human mind. One could equally use the word Nature. God could simply be another acronym for the 'Great OutDoors': The awe inspiring feeling that you get when observing a beautiful panoroma in Nature such as a sunset over the sea. This is why spending time in nature is a key spiritual practice, among many others. We mostly live in 'concrete jungles', an ironic oxymoron seeing that most of our cities are devoid of actual the greenery of a jungle.
Spirituality is not just about prayer and meditation. I have listed some of 'My Daily Spiritual Practices' here:
Faith is more than just a belief. It is experiential - it is a feeling of infinite possibility, without any sense of lack or fear: Faith is about Truth. Spirituality, then, is a 'risk' well worth taking.
Most spiritual traditions describe an ultimate state of BEing which transcends beyond the individual Self - a 'trans-personal' state. The transpersonal (beyond self) study of human psychology and most spiritual practices are guided by similar intentions. In a very broad sense the study of human psychology, and transpersonal psychology in particular, and spiritual practice, are both concerned with the realisation of our highest potential as human BEings. To become aware of and better understand the consciousness, values, beliefs, thinking processes, experiences, and behaviours which may encourage a personal transformation towards one’s highest potential: To become a fully-realised Self-actualised person and ultimately to even transcend the Self and connect with something more, something greater than one’s limited self, bounded ego, or physical existence.
Studies have shown that higher levels of spirituality are also strongly associated with a greater sense of meaning in life as well as higher levels of psychological and emotional well-being. In other words, people who hold a belief in some form of Higher Power, something more than who and what they are - whether defined as 'God', 'Brahma', 'Energy', 'Nature', the Universe, 'Source', 'Collective Consciousness', or 'Spirit' - tend to be happier, healthier and even live longer. There has been a steady increase in people seeking out non-traditional, non-theistic, personalised paths to sprititual growth.
What all spiritual practices share in common from a psychological standpoint is that people are motivated to seek meaning and value in their lives and to transform themselves into the best person they wish to become and attain their highest potential as a human BEing. Spirituality is a personal motivation - often outside of traditional religious systems - towards finding meaning in life, a connection to something bigger than ourselves and an ultimate experience of the sacred or transcendent aspects of life and consciousness.
For my full article on 'Spirituality' click here:
Why are psychology and medicine alone not always enough to heal people?
If people have psychiatric and psychological treatment only, without a spiritual approach, they do not transcend the ego. Psychiatrists and therapists who do not believe in Soul cannot be expected to heal it. There is much evidence for this and it originated from the teachings and philosophy of Carl Jung.
Psychiatry can trap people as psychiatrists don’t always understand trauma or psychospirituality. The state of victimhood prevents growth, evolution, and transformation, inhibiting healing and recovery. Some people choose to remain a victim instead of doing the spiritual work required for them to heal, and this is tragically encouraged by some psychiatrists and psychotherapists (especially those working in the private industry), keeping people in their captivity as a life sentence, imprisoning them, subjugating them, binding them to them, and perpetuating their mental illness lifelong: Whereas, in a psychospiritual coaching approach, the sessions are completed when the patient is healed.
The problem reflects a lack of compassion and awareness from not only some elements of the psychiatric profession, but also the wider institutions that are supposed to govern medicine. For example, there is stigma from the medical profession about mental illness and medical institutions are also responsible for this due to their lack of compassion. Elyn R. Saks, a professor, lawyer, psychiatrist, and mental health advocate wrote in her autobiography ‘The Centre Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness’ that “Stigma against mental illness is a scourge with many faces, and the medical community wears a number of those faces.” The medical institutions are broken and can not even look after their own, let alone others, they have been told so by their own leaders, and they know it, but they don't know how to become compassionate leaders, or don't want to do anything about it through fear of their own demise.
Jung wrote that “In the end no one can completely outgrow his personal limitations; everyone is more or less imprisoned by them - especially when he practices psychology.”
Of course if someone is suffering from a mental health condition they should seek medical advice and treatment. What I have found, in my experience, is that if a therapist does not also include the spiritual element of healing, it is incomplete. This is where a psychospiritual coach may step in as an integral part of recovering your wholeness. Psychospiritual coaches, also known as 'Transformative Life Coaches' (TLC), incorporate elements of positive psychology, spirituality, and timeless philosophy, to provide holistic recovery. The word 'holistic' was first used by the philosopher and statesman Jan Smuts in his book 'Holism and Evolution', and is derived from the Greek word 'holos', meaning 'whole.'
Forever Jung
Carl Jung believed that psychoanalysis was the ‘new personalised religion’: In other words, spirituality, which is religion personified. He thought that psychology and spirituality were the same. Psychotherapy, then, must contain a spiritual approach. What I call psychospirituality. Surely this is the future of fully healing from any mental illness. As well as being a spiritual Master, Jung was a metaphysical philosopher, and a Prophet both in the field of psychology, giving birth to psychoanalysis. He was widely recognised as being no less than this.
Jung believed that all human beings seek a direct experience of spiritual reality.
Jungianism appears to be more friendly to humanity’s wisdom traditions by including a spiritual dimension in psychology. Jung said that “My life is a story of the Self-realisation of the unconscious.”
Why did Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud fall out?
Why did Carl Jung and Freud fall out? The cause of their dissociation appears to have been as much personal as pedagogical. However, Jung maintained, late into his long life, that the primary reason for their fallout was a dispute over the direction their newfound discipline should take. Jung's split from Freud was based on two major disagreements. First, Jung, like Adler and Erikson, did not accept that sexual drive was the primary motivator in a person's mental life as Freud thought. Second, although Jung agreed with Freud's concept of a personal unconscious, he thought it to be incomplete. Jung decided that what motivates and influences behaviour is a psychic energy or life force.
Freud felt betrayed by Jung going his own way and fashioning his own ideas, including the 'collective unconscious', a near relative of spirituality. Freud did not agree with Jung's concept of the collective unconscious and religion and stated that it was 'unscientific'. Freud thought that Jung betrayed psychoanalysis by becoming a mystic. Jung wrote that there was change afoot “God has fallen out of containment in religion and into human hearts - God is incarnating." Jung believed that religion was a natural expression of the collective unconscious, whilst Freud believed it was a collective neurosis. A major cause of dissension could be summed up as sex versus religion.
Jung believed in a deification of the psyche. Jung diagnosed the modern mental health crisis as being caused by the decline of religion in modernism. He regarded the loss of religion to be a major factor in mental illness and a significant cause of the malaise of modernity. He pursued more holistic treatments, unfashionable in an age more attuned to scientific reductionism. He treated patients as real people rather than as objects of diagnostic interest, and promoted a more expansive understanding of mental illness. However, Jung’s efforts to introduce a spiritual dimension into modern psychology often hit resistance. Recognising the reality of the human Soul and consciousness, he questioned the overriding narratives that regarded them as merely epiphenomena or solely as products of neurochemistry. Though he never developed his ideas about the sacred, at his most lucid, Jung did acknowledge that the sacred is not only transcendent, but also a reality that dwells within all human beings. He traveled widely in order to learn from traditional people and their spiritual cultures, fostering an interest in how their perspectives could be applied to the discipline of psychology. The world’s spiritual and wisdom traditions, by contrast, teach a complete 'science of the soul,' which is more than just a ‘psychology,’ but a fully integrated worldview able to impart saving Truths. Jung is often perceived as a bridge-maker between modern psychology and the spiritual traditions. He informed us that his aim was “To build a bridge of psychological understanding between East and West”. Authentic spiritual traditions invariably teach us how to integrate the human psyche into the Spirit, thereby requiring a clear understanding of both dimensions and of the sacred aspect of integration.
Jung himself stated: “Man’s relation to God has to undergo a certain important change: Instead of the propitiating praise to an unpredictable King (a transcendent God), the fulfilling of the divine will in us will be our form of worship.” People generally see in Jungism, as compared with Freudism, a step towards reconciliation with the traditional spiritualities.
Not only did Jung acknowledge the therapeutic value of religion, he also spoke of “The great psychotherapeutic systems which we know as the religions.” He asked, “What are we doing, we psychotherapists?”responding “We are trying to heal the suffering of the human mind, of the human psyche or the human Soul, and religions deal with the same problem.” Jung believed in a 'personalised religion', in other words spirituality. Jung believed that it is the spiritual dimension alone that can properly restore the human Soul to health. Jung recognised that the decline of the sacred had given rise to an increase in mental illness. Jung said that “Therefore our Lord himself is a healer; he is a doctor; he heals the sick and he deals with the troubles of the Soul; and that is exactly what we call psychotherapy.”
Jung felt that it is the modern world’s spiritual vacuum that catalyses mental health problems, as he noted “A psycho-neurosis must be understood as the suffering of a human being who has not discovered what life means for him.”
Jung, in a famous interview with English journalist Frederick Sands, Jung unabashedly declared his personal conviction in God: “All that I have learned has led me step by step to an unshakeable conviction of the existence of God. I only believe in what I know. And that eliminates believing. Therefore I do not take His existence on belief - I know that He exists.” In a 1959 BBC TV interview, John Freeman asked Jung (who was eighty-four at the time) if he believed in God. Jung replied: “Difficult to answer. I know. I don’t need to believe.”
Christiana Morgan (1897–1967), lay analyst and research associate at Harvard’s Psychological Clinic, expressed her convictions about Jung in this way: “There is no question about the fact that he is the Prophet.”
Jung’s theories were an impetus to bringing the spiritual dimension into modern Western psychology. Jung parted ways with Freud in that he recognised the spiritual domain as indispensable to our mental health. Jung said that we “Can achieve wholeness only through the Soul.” Jung believed that every truly integrated psychology is, however, rooted in metaphysics, sacred science, and spiritual principles. Jung defined the Self as the “God within us”
Individuation
Carl Jung described the journey of mental healing as one of transformation, which “Can only happen to you when you walk on a path, which leads you to a higher understanding through a reeducation of the mind.” This letter was written in 1961. That was 62 years ago.
There is a process of becoming who you really are. Jung called it ‘individuation’. It requires loss. You can’t become your true Self without losing your false self - the ego. Because that's the work. It’s the very meaning of 'Self-becoming'. That’s why Jung said, “There is no coming to consciousness without pain.” If you face something hard, don’t just try to “Get over it.” Sit with it. Let it teach you. How is that experience helping you to let go? What can you learn to release? Although he was a psychiatrist, Jung recognised the process of individuation as being a spiritual one that leads your psyche to being whole and healed.
The goal of individuation as self-integration is central to Jungian psychology. According to Jung, many are called to individuate, but few succeed, echoing the scripture, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). What exactly is individuation, and how does it operate? Jung says, “Individuation is now our mythology. He writes: “Individuation means becoming a single, homogeneous BEing, and, in so far as ‘individuality’ embraces our innermost, last, and incomparable uniqueness, it also implies becoming one’s own true Self. We could therefore translate individuation as ‘coming to Selfhood’ or ‘Self-realisation.’”
“Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat,” notes the French author Anaïs Nin. Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön also said, “To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in ‘no-man’s-land’, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again.” This is the daily battle of deflating and even killing the ego.
Sengstan Hsin Hsin Ming wrote that “The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and ‘Heaven’ and Earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the Truth then hold no opinion for or against. The struggle of what one likes and what one dislikes is the disease of the mind”. Neale Donald Walsch wrote, in his seminal trilogy ‘Conversations with God’, which is in my ‘Suggested Reading’ list, that “It is the nature of people to love, then destroy, then love again that which they value most.” He continued “The Highest Thought is always that thought which contains joy. The Clearest Words are those words which contain Truth. The Grandest Feeling is that feeling which you call love. Joy, Truth, love.” If toxic people transform to love love rather than coming from a place of hate and fear, they are able to evolve and grow.
William James, the American philosopher and psychologist, said that “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.” For my full article on 'Looking Within' click here:
The evolution of psychology - dysfunction, behaviour, well-being to Self-transcendence
Ever since psychology expanded past its earliest foundations in the Freudian preoccupation with psycho-sexual dynamics and dysfunction, and predicting behaviour (Watson & Skinner), often referred to as the 'First and Second Forces' of psychology respectively, in response to the limitations of either the dysfunction-based or behaviour-prediction based approaches to human psychology, it took on a humanistic approach, considered the 'Third Force' of psychology, around the middle of the last century (what makes us happy, what leads to well-being and flourishing), and psychology and spirituality became destined to merge.
Although the humanistic approach clearly evolved the study of human psychology beyond psychoanalysis, dysfunction, and behavior to include Self-actualisation and the conditions which contribute to well-being, the various forms of altered states of consciousness arising from meditation, and other spiritual practices, were still missing from the study of human psychology. Most of these missing aspects of psychology - states of consciousness associated with Eastern spiritual practices, meditation - have something in common, the transcendence of Self. A state of mind where the familiar boundaries of the ego or self appear to dissolve and expand both interpersonally to encompass all persons, all life, even the cosmos, as well as intrapersonally where one’s deepest values, personal philosophies and an Ultimate (interconnected) Self are realised.
This evolution in psychology, with the growing interest in and engagement with Eastern contemplative spiritual practices and non-ordinary states of consciousness, therefore merged into what is called the 'Fourth Force' of psychology — positive psychology or 'transpersonal (spiritual) psychology'. Positive psychology, as defined by its exponents such as Abraham Maslow, in his 'Hierarchy of Needs' and by the psychologist Carl Rogers (who, along with Anthony Sutich and others, had been the pioneers of the humanistic movement), along with Stanislav Grof, James Fadiman, Miles Vich and Sonya Margulies, who had begun to realise that something was still missing from the humanistic expanded approach to psychology, recognised that the highest needs of humans are not psychological, but are spiritual, involving exploring Self-actualisation and the highest level being transcendance, reaching our highest potential. This is how we find inner joy, discover the conditions which lead to or detract from flourishing in our emotional, psychological, professional lives, relationships and overall well-being. Positive psychology or transpersonal psychology was established in 1967 in California. Since transpersonal psychology evolved through an effort to integrate and understand the Self-transcendent states of non-ordinary consciousness often linked to extreme states and Eastern spiritual practices, it is often referred to as 'Spiritual Psychology', or the 'Psychology of Spirituality'. Grof said in 2008 that “Transpersonal psychology, or the Fourth Force, addressed some major misconceptions of mainstream psychiatry and psychology concerning spirituality and religion. It also responded to important observations from modern consciousness research and several other fields for which the existing scientific paradigm had no adequate explanations.”
It is important to note that each of these 'Forces' of psychology are not distinct areas competing against each other, but rather each adds a new and complementary piece of the puzzle towards our understanding of the human mind and behaviour. As psychology expanded through Freudian psychoanalysis, behaviourism, humanism and currently the transpersonal, our understanding of the human mind and consciousness now includes the highest (and sometimes controversial) states of non-ordinary consciousness and human experience — that which extends beyond (trans) the individual self.
And although definitions for transpersonal psychology have evolved over the years, the field concerns itself (more or less) with three primary areas of study:
(1) Beyond (trans) Ego Psychology Activities and practices which contribute to the expansion of self beyond the bounded ego, the development of values such as compassion and forgiveness, and the achievement of our highest potential.
(2) Holistic/Integrative Psychology Recognition that well-being and optimal health requires a balance of nurturing the body, mind, heart and spirit.
(3) Psychology of Transformation Personal and spiritual growth is about transformation of the self, the person, towards higher and more optimal ways of experiencing, perceiving and living in, the world.
In short, transpersonal psychology is concerned with the study and cultivation of our highest potential which often leads to profound psychological transformations, higher or expanded states of consciousness and transcendence of self which encompasses all persons, all life and even the cosmos (trans-personal). Transpersonal psychology is the study of spiritual states, psychological transformation and awakening to these expanded states of Self and consciousness.
The Self-transcendent state of consciousness often described or experienced in spiritual practices, is also known by another name - awakening. In a spiritual or religious context this psychological state of awakening may be called Nirvana, Enlightenment, Buddha Consciousness, Moksha, Yoga Mind, Spiritual Experience, Mystical Experience, or Spiritual Rebirth.
Psychologically speaking, what happens when someone awakens to a transcendent state of consciousness and Self? The state of awakening is characterized by a profound psychological shift in consciousness, values, perception of the world and ultimately, the Self. These profound transformations of Self often lead to equally profound shifts in personal values as well as behavior. Some of the core features of awakening include:
Decreased concern for material possessions, fame, or financial wealth, although abundance is still possible, and even more likely
Decreased sense of separateness from all persons, all life, all matter (non-duality)
Decreased psychological chatter, noise or turbulent emotional reactivity
Decreased fear of death
Increased compassion and altruism towards others
Increased states of inner stillness, calm and well-being
Increased appreciation, gratitude, for all life
In his book “The Leap - The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening”, psychologist Dr Steve Taylor defined awakening in 2017 as follows:
“In many ways, awakened individuals experience a higher-functioning state that makes life more fulfilling, exhilarating, and meaningful than it may appear in a normal state of being. As a result of this internal shift, they often make major changes to their lives. They begin new careers, hobbies, and relationships. They feel a strong impulse to make positive contributions to the world, to live in meaningful and purposeful ways, rather than simply trying to satisfy their own desires, enjoy themselves, or pass the time”.
Transpersonal psychology has revealed that our most elevated states of consciousness are very similar to if not identical with, the self-transcendent and awakened states described throughout thousands of years of spiritual and religious practices around the world. Transpersonal psychology has also revealed that when we experience these awakened states, we undergo a transformation of consciousness, personal values and self-transcendence which changes our perspective on the world. A state of self-transcendence, transformation and psychological awakening which often leads to behavioural changes.
Although positive or transpersonal (spiritual) psychology alone is an essential component of psychospiritual care, and it outlines these higher human needs, it stops short of how we fully satisfy those needs. That is where spirituality is needed. The combination of positive psychology and spirituality is psychospirituality. In addition to spiritual practices spirituality encompasses values such as compassion and forgiveness, and practices such as acceptance and surrender, which I have outlined below in this article.
The cause of all suffering
When we have negative self limiting beliefs, which are generated by our catastrophising and awfulising ego, in other words our fears, such as “I am not loved or lovable”, “I am not worthy”, or “I will be abandoned”, we then board the train of negative thinking and become hooked by those negative thoughts, which takes us to the destination of negative feelings, which result in negative actions, which result in negative outcomes. This is the cause of all our suffering and is the cause for almost all psychiatric conditions and mental illness, including depression, suicidality, anxiety, trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), compulsivity, including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ‘OCD, and addictions, and is also the basis for negative behaviours, where we behave in self-defeating ways such as procrastination and people-pleasing, and is also the cause of poor interpersonal relationships. Deciding to change our beliefs is a choice, a decision, that we can make and it’s one that is in the domain of spirituality. The belief comes from who we are BEing. Our ego makes negative choices out of fear. Our Higher Self makes positive ones out of clarity. Changing our negative beliefs then through spiritual principles and connection with a Higher Power, which has the capability to change our limiting beliefs into positive ones, is a vital part of our healing.
There is a spiritual equation that states that “Suffering equals pain times resistance”. So, if we don’t resist our emotions, and accept reality as it is, then we don’t suffer. Resistance is also called struggling. Sigmund Freud called this resistance denial, suppression, or repression. We resist because we believe, as Michael Singer states “ That we can’t handle reality”. Jung said that “What we resists not only persists, but will grow in size.” Often, coaches talk about a ‘positive mindset’, and although that is helpful, those thoughts are still coming from us. Spirituality takes us to a higher level, where we actually commune with the divine through prayer, meditation, breathwork, slowing down instead of hustling, where we have an ‘empty mind’ as it states in Buddhism. In the Bible it states in Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.” It is in the stillness that we can hear the quiet and divine voice of intuition, which comes from the Jungian term ‘collective unconscious’, which gives us total clarity of thought. Freud did not believe in the collective unconscious, and therefore Freudian psychology does not try to cultivate it or give access to it. Meher Baba, the spiritual guru and Master, came up with the spiritual equation “Man minus mind equals God”. We do not become God, and thinking that we are is the domain of the ego. Jung made this very clear in his teaching. We get closer to God. This is the meaning of the 12 steps (which is a concise spiritual experience) aphorism of “Progress, not perfection.” To spiritually awaken, by dropping our ego, we must stop thinking that we are God. The closer we get to our divine calling, the more the ego screams to us not to go that way, so we may experience some fear, but we know that we can handle it.
Whilst being useful, a ‘positive mindset’ does not lead to healing, as it suppresses and resists negative thoughts, it also leads to suffering. In addition, positive thinking from our human consciousness may actually lead to fear: For example, if one thinks one has an abundant mindset and one gains something, then one is afraid of losing it. In effect it is a state of lack rather than abundance, and creates more lack in your life. It is only when we tune into Jung’s collective unconsciousness that we do not attach or cling to these fears. They simply become like passing clouds in a blue sky. This is perhaps best summed up by the ancient and time-tested spiritual Stoic philosophical concept of ‘Amor Fati’, which means ‘love your fate.’ In other words, accept everything as though you had wanted it to happen. Then you can never suffer. Marcus Aurelius’ book ‘’Meditations’, which goes deeply into this philosophy, and is in my ‘Suggested Reading’ list, has been found on the bedside table of many powerful individuals, including several US presidents.
Witness consciousness as a healing spiritual power
Ram Dass, the Harvard psychology Professor turned spiritual Master said that “One way to get free of attachment is to cultivate the witness consciousness, to become a neutral observer of your own life.” This means to remain seated at the seat of your Soul, responding from that place, rather than reacting by jumping up and joining the mêlée. Ram Dass continued, saying that “Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it.” It is through witness consciousness that we let go of the preferences which drive our suffering.
Joseph P. Kauffman, author of ‘The Answer Is YOU: A Guide to Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Freedom’, wrote that “This witnessing consciousness, this formless dimension of yourself, is the awareness in which your experience happens, yet it remains untouched by this experience at all times. It is similar to the background of white on which you are reading these words. This white background allows any and every word to exist within it, yet it is not confined to any of these words. Similarly, your awareness allows any and every form to exist within it, but it is not bound to any of these forms.”
There is wisdom in the legendary song sang by Freddie Mercury from Queen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, where Freddie sings “Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me.” This perfectly describes the Hindu philosophy and state of witness consciousness where thoughts, emotions, people’s actions, places, and circumstances are observed through pure awareness but it does not touch your real Self: You don’t leave the perfectly serene seat of your Soul. This innermost silent and pure awareness experientially knows that existence is and continues, even in the absence of thoughts, sensations, and emotions. This kind of pure awareness, free from any object of consciousness has been generally ignored in Western philosophies, to their detriment. This is because Western philosophies are largely intellectual and miss out completely on the experiential wisdom from the East. The Witness Consciousness is another name for Atman (the Supreme Self). Witness consciousness refers to the process of cultivating 'pure awareness' without judgment of good or bad. Buddhism has long clarified the difference; Western psychology needs to be more explicit about it, and is lacking without it. William Shakespeare, the greatest author of all time, who was also a spiritual Master, knew this hundreds of years ago when he wrote in Hamlet that "Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so". He was way ahead of his time, and Western philosophy and psychology would be best advised to deeply hear his words.
Ram Dass wrote that "My own strategy is to keep cultivating the witness, that part of me that notices how I'm doing it - to cultivate the quiet place in me that watches the process of needing approval, of the smile on the face, of the false humility, of all the horrible creepy little psychological things that are just my humanity. And watching them occur again and again and again."
Compassion
Compassion, is essential to healing and wholeness. Compassion is both a catalyst for transformation and a consequence of it: It is like a positive feedback loop. Arthur Schopenhauer, the brilliant German philosopher, wrote that “Compassion is the basis of all morality.”
God will take little notice of us if we are not loving. The basis of our recovery program is compassion and love for one another. Our understanding of each other’s feelings and our desire to help is the foundation of our recovery. We are never as close to God as in our compassionate moments. That’s when we know the true meaning of morality. That’s when we know God. I remember the compassion that brought me to recovery. May my actions today be a reflection of that love. Look in the mirror and tell the person looking back that you love them. We need to love ourselves before we can show it to others. Be kind to those you meet, but first of all be gentle, loving, and kind to you, you are worth it!
Compassion is what we find at the end of the spiritual rainbow after we have taken the transformative journey. It's the pot of gold that never runs out. It's a core value that underpins so many others such as love and service. It's one of my core values. The greatest Masters of wisdom and Truth consistently place compassion at the top of the pyramid of human behaviours. Everything they teach seems to culminate with showing compassion for others.
The Dalai Lama XIV said that compassion is “Love, affection, kindness, gentleness, generosity of spirit, and warm-heartedness.” People with these traits don’t go into an interpersonal encounter seeking something for themselves: They go in with the intention of serving that person in some way, especially if that person is suffering. Maya Angelou said “My mission in life is not simply to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style."
One of the most Enlightened human beings I’ve come across in my years studying spirituality, philosophy, wisdom, and Truth, Neem Karoli Baba, was Ram Dass’s guru. In fact, he’s the one who gave the former Harvard clinical psychology professor, psychotherapist, and revolutionary Richard Alpert the new name of 'Ram Dass', meaning 'Servant of God'. Baba taught his devotees only this: "Love everyone, serve everyone and remember God." Underlying all this teaching was compassion.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, of the greatest novelists in all of world literature with many of his works considered to be highly influential masterpieces, wrote “Compassion is the chief law of human existence.” The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh consistently mentioned the importance of compassion over everything else. He said "I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. Look at flowers, butterflies, trees, and children with the eyes of compassion. Compassion will change your life and make it wonderful.” He reminded us that action is required “Compassion is a verb.” John Holmes agrees “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” Jenni Schaefer reminds us that compassion begins with the Self and involves action. “Real hope combined with real action has always pulled me through difficult times. Real hope combined with doing nothing has never pulled me through.” We use pride to keep shame pushed down, but what we need to use is compassion.
The word compassion originates from the Latin compati (com means with and pati/passio means suffer) meaning 'to suffer with.' Passion means suffering and relates to the suffering of Christ on the cross. Our society is one in which we are all traumatised, even if we don't know it, and can be best described as a world where traumatised people go around deliberately traumatising other traumatised people. We are all drowning. But we are all the same. We are one. Why do toxic people try to drown others? They do it because they are asleep and they are having nightmares that others are trying to drown them. They are not. The transformational journey is one of waking up: Compassion is an essential element of this. Jack Kornfield wrote “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”
The 'Five Levels of Compassion' were described so beautifully by my personal hero, the brilliant Dr. Gabor Maté: Please do watch any of his YouTube videos, they will literally change your life. I will name my next pet 'Gabor' for sure. Compassion is the way that we need to show up for ourselves and others as part of our individual and collective healing journey. Compassionate Inquiry is a psychotherapeutic method developed by Dr. Gabor Maté that reveals what lies beneath the appearance we present to the world: Behind the masks that we wear. Dr. Gabor Maté says that "We are all like the rest of us." This is the basis of compassion. He described the five levels of compassion in the video below.
Compassion is essential to Enlightenment: This is a state of expanded consciousness, of permanent bliss, similar to the feeling of seeing a magnificent sunset over the sea; when you dive deeply into meditative presence, or feel unconditional love. Eckhart Tolle wrote that "If there are people you haven't forgiven, you're not going to really awaken. You have to let go".
Forgiveness
Jesus said in Matthew 7 “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
Marianne Williamson wrote that “The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.” She continued that "I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness."
Acceptance and surrender
Acceptance and surrender are key elements to your healing journey and form the whole basis of the spiritual approach. You are a very great BEing. Start with reality. Reality is what unfolds in front of you because of all the forces that caused it to do that. Reality is what has already happened. No one can affect the past. Why? Because it already happened. Can you accept that? It just is. Eckhart Tolle calls it the 'isness of the present moment. So, what will you do about what has happened? You have only two choices. Accept or resist. Acceptance doesn't mean that you like it or dislike it or that it is good or bad. Acceptance starts with - can you accept that it happened? If you can't accept reality that causes a lot of trouble for you, including for all those around you. The human mind (the ego) can't differentiate between liking or not liking it from accepting it. Acceptance happens prior to like or dislike. Spirituality means that you can accept that it happened. Just because you can accept that it happened doesn't mean that you don't want to do something about it. But if you can't accept that it happened you will try to have made it not happen, which is impossible as it has already happened. This is when you become stuck in psychological denial, repression, suppression, resistance, or rationalisation. The fundamental basis of spirituality is that reality comes in and you accept it. That's what acceptance is.
Surrender is that if something comes up in you and there is resistance to it you let go of that. Surrender is non-resistance. You have to surrender the part of you, the ego, that cannot accept reality, So that you can accept reality. For my full article on ‘Acceptance and Surrender’ click here:
Conclusions
In my next article, we will dive deeper into psychospirituality, current practices, the evidence supporting it, and how integrating spirituality with psychology may help to heal you and make you whole.
I have walked your path. I have travelled your journey. I have so much compassion for you. I see the highest in you. You are infintely stronger than you believe you are. I am here to serve you as your psychospiritual coach. Let me be your guide. Transformative Life Coaching (TLC) uses positive psychology and spirituality to enable you to heal fully. It's time to find your voice. Now you rise...
Namaste.
Olly
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