What is depth psychology?
Has you or someone you loved ever been given a psychiatric diagnosis, given a bottle of pills, and sent
on the way? Only to be left standing there thinking, "What the hell? What am I supposed to do now?"
Yeah, same. And same for many of my clients. This situation is an encapsulation of the pathology
model of mental health. Meaning - isolate symptoms and eradicate them using medications or surface-
level interventions.
Now before I go further, let me add this caveat: medications have a place. They definitely do, they help
many, many people, AND at the same time, they are overused, under-explained, and over-reliant upon.
Depth psychology steps out of the pathological framework and regards symptoms as signals. Signals
into the deeper unconscious processes that govern your life. Your symptoms become the pathway into
the depths of your psychospiritual center.
Let me give you an example. I suffered from anxiety for most of my adolescence. I wasn't medicated
formally, but I self-medicated through compulsive marijuana use.
When I finally put the bong down for long enough to feel my feelings, it became clear to me that my
anxiety was rooted in a deep sense of shame.
I followed the roots of shame and unearthed a treasure trove of experiences that influenced this
shame. I had to feel it - to heal it.
Now I just summarized 5 years of personal work in 6 lines of text. Don't get it twisted, that sounded
simple, but it was not easy.
There is a reason we avoid feeling these things. They are PAINFUL. But I promise you, avoiding them,
numbing them, or medicating them away will not resolve the problem. At some point, if you want to
transcend that pain, you will have to feel it.
That's where a depth-oriented process comes in. Now you have permission to feel them. With a
centered and empathic other, that process becomes much easier.
Think about your symptoms. If you gave them their due, what would they tell you? Can you hear their
voice? Can you feel their sensations? Can you show equanimity and observe the discomfort?
I promise you can, and it will take some work. But the treasure comes along the trail. An examined life
is a life worth living. And when your own consciousness becomes interesting to you, then you have
finally hit the jackpot.
Thanks for reading - see you next week.
PS - I am putting out a weekly YouTube video this week as well. Check that out here:
Attunement Psychotherapy & Psychedelic Healing
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