THE SOUL OF THERAPY
Spirituality & Health|January/February 2023
Theologian Karl Barth wrote: Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.” Barth's s words dignify laughter, lifting g it up from being considered a silly or shallow part of human experience to being one of life’s most healing gifts.
KEVIN ANDERSON, PHD
THE SOUL OF THERAPY

Amusing Grace, How Sweet the Sound

I’ve been in therapy for two years, dealing with lots of childhood trauma and some abusive relationships in adult life. I really like my therapist. My time with her has been so healing. I’m comfortable crying with her, but what surprises me is how much we laugh during our meetings. I told a friend this and she wasn’t sure humor is supposed to be a big part of trauma therapy. She thinks the humor might allow me to cover over some of my pain. I’m curious about what you think. Is there anything wrong with laughing a lot in therapy?

KEVIN: What I think is that your statement that your time with your therapist has been healing is more important than anything I or others might think about your therapy experience!

Your question made me think of a training I attended with a trauma expert that I found to be quite humorous. When the microphone was passed around for questions, I asked her if she used humor as much in her therapy as she did in training sessions with professionals. She responded, “Oh yes. Traumatized people know quite well how to replay their traumatic emotions, but when we laugh together we’re learning that it’s possible to go somewhere else emotionally.”

この記事は Spirituality & Health の January/February 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Spirituality & Health の January/February 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

SPIRITUALITY & HEALTHのその他の記事すべて表示
Let's Not Limit Nature- According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, nature is first defined as "the external world in its entirety," with etymological roots from multiple cultures and originating meanings
Spirituality & Health

Let's Not Limit Nature- According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, nature is first defined as "the external world in its entirety," with etymological roots from multiple cultures and originating meanings

The ancient Greeks had no word for art. Many indigenous people have no word for religion. Art and religion were inherent to human life until outsiders needed to critique and study these concepts-so they named them. The legacy of the word nature is similar. We speak about nature as if we are separate from itas if, like a starkly delineated shadow on a sidewalk, you can stand with one foot in nature and one foot outside of it.

time-read
3 分  |
July/August 2024
Recognizing and Tuning Into Medical Intuition- How one woman learned to trust her instincts and heal her body
Spirituality & Health

Recognizing and Tuning Into Medical Intuition- How one woman learned to trust her instincts and heal her body

How one woman learned to trust her instincts and heal her body. According to Wendie Colter, founder of The Practical Path (a trademarked intuitive development program for health professionals) and author of Essentials of Medical Intuition: A Visionary Path to Wellness, intuition permeates every aspect of our lives. Some call it a gut instinct. Others call it a hunch. Still others receive messages from their higher self. But whatever the name, that sense of knowing, feeling, or sensing can guide us toward healing.

time-read
7 分  |
July/August 2024
The Neuroscience of Getting What You Want - Manifesting is a process whereby you utilize the power within yourself to have an intention occur that ultimately is not pure self-interest,"
Spirituality & Health

The Neuroscience of Getting What You Want - Manifesting is a process whereby you utilize the power within yourself to have an intention occur that ultimately is not pure self-interest,"

Manifesting is a process whereby you utilize the power within yourself to have an intention occur that ultimately is not pure self-interest," .What it takes to hit all your goals is a fierce dedication to your quest over time and that means sinking your goals so deep into your subconscious that your conscious mind automatically tracks paths to take you to those goals like a bloodhound on the scent of synchronicities.

time-read
7 分  |
July/August 2024
TIME TO TAKE THE RISK
Spirituality & Health

TIME TO TAKE THE RISK

We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.-Hildegard of Bingen, 12th-century Benedictine mystic, medical practitioner, writer, and composer

time-read
2 分  |
July/August 2024
The Essence of FRIENDSHIP
Spirituality & Health

The Essence of FRIENDSHIP

A DEEP DIVE INTO WHAT MAKES THE BEST FRIENDSHIPS

time-read
7 分  |
July/August 2024
QUEEN DIAMBI KABATUSUILA SHEDS A NEW LIGHT ON AFRICA
Spirituality & Health

QUEEN DIAMBI KABATUSUILA SHEDS A NEW LIGHT ON AFRICA

In 2016, before she became queen of the Bakwa Luntu people of the Dimbelenge territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Queen Diambi Kabatusuila was a 48-year-old therapist going through a difficult divorce, living in Boca Raton, Florida, and having a recurring dream about an old woman in an African village.

time-read
5 分  |
July/August 2024
Over the MOON About Helping Animals (and Their People)
Spirituality & Health

Over the MOON About Helping Animals (and Their People)

Since I was a child, I've had a ritual: Every night, I go outside and search the sky for the moon and stars. I marvel at the magnificence of a dark, crisp, clear, midnight blue sky and its symphony of constellations, occasional meteors, and the glorious moon herself-each illuminating the vastness. This simple practice always gives me the deepest peace and centeredness. It aligns my internal compass every night before bed.

time-read
6 分  |
July/August 2024
ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVES: AMANDLA STENBERG CHANNELS 'THE FORCE'
Spirituality & Health

ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVES: AMANDLA STENBERG CHANNELS 'THE FORCE'

Journalist KAREN BRAILSFORD was over the moon when actress and musician AMANDLA STENBERG agreed to meet her over Zoom for this heart-to-heart about spiritual matters for Spirituality & Health: A Unity Publication. Brailsford, a lifelong seeker who feels blessed to be Stenberg's mother, once captioned an Instagram photo of her daughter with Michael Bernard Beckwith of the Agape International Spiritual Center: \"When your master teachers run into one another at a Hollywood event.\" Brailsford says she has learned a great deal from each one.

time-read
10 分  |
July/August 2024
Unlikely Lightworkers from Liverpool
Spirituality & Health

Unlikely Lightworkers from Liverpool

The Beatles were more than musical masters-they were spiritual pioneers.

time-read
6 分  |
July/August 2024
ANTI-RACISM IS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Spirituality & Health

ANTI-RACISM IS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

GROWING UP in very charismatic and evangelical Christian spaces, I was told that the Devil's greatest trick was convincing us that he didn't exist. I feel a similar vibe when it comes to the big three systems of oppression-capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy-in New Thought and other spiritual spaces. These systems managed to convince some of us that they don't exist, we are immune from them, talking about them isn't helpful, or we will overcome them just by doing our spiritual practices.

time-read
2 分  |
July/August 2024