The Transpersonal Approach To Counselling By Professor Oluwafemi Esan
Want to learn about The Transpersonal Approach To counselling? Then you are in the right place. In this article, Professor Oluwafemi will help you understand what you need to know to better leverage the power of Transpersonal Approach To counselling. Professor Oluwafemi Esan is a Professor Of Transpersonal Psychology, Vice -Chancelor El-Roi London University and the Principal Consultant at The Transpersonal Mental Health Clinic in the United Kingdom.
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Introduction to The Transpersonal Approach To counselling
The term transpersonal loosely mean “beyond the self-identity”. The essence of the transpersonal domain of human existence is within the realm of our spiritual reality. This realm of spiritual existence is the core identity of transpersonal approach to counselling.
This framework places spirituality as the core of the person. It regards an individual’s spirit as one’s being, unharmed by injury or illness, rather than as a component. Therefore, the term ‘transpersonal’ means ‘beyond the personal’, and this reflects the core aim of the therapy – to explore human growth and help people discover a deep and more enduring essential self that exists beyond the conditioned ego.
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Transpersonal counselling then is a primarily focused on healing and integrating the splits and inner divisions that occur through social and cultural conditioning among the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of a person’s being (Vaughan, 1993). The ontological foundation of transpersonal counselling is based on creationism. (Friedman, H., 2002).
Transpersonal Ontology
Ontology is the study of existence. Ontology is also the study of how we determine if things exist as well as the classification of existence. It attempts to take things that are abstract and establish that they are, in fact, real.
Therefore, spiritual reality basis of the transpersonal ontology is based on the creationism philosophy of the origin of human existence. The term creationism most often refers to belief in special creation.
The argument claim that the universe and lifeforms were created by divine action Of The Creator known as Ultimate Reality in Transpersonal Psychology. Transpersonal psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on exploring human experiences that go beyond the individual’s ego or sense of self.
It studies spiritual, mystical, and transcendent aspects of human life. (Grof, S., 2008). Hence, Transpersonal counselling focuses on the aspect of a person that is beyond the physical realm. The spiritual reality of human existence is a developmental dimension that is addressed in transpersonal counselling.
The growth and development of the spiritual self is the foundation for building sound mental and spiritual resilience in coping with mental stress and challenges in our world today. (Rowan, J., 2013.).
The Spiritual Self Development
Spiritual self-care is defined as the practice of using spiritual beliefs, experiences, and activities as a means of developing spiritual health for coping with stress and problems in our daily lives.
Conventional counselling completely ignored the spiritual framework in therapy. However, transpersonal approach aimed at growth and development of the spiritual self. The spiritual self also known as Higher self is the most essential and important component of human existence.
Humans are spiritual beings living in a physical world. Indigenous Spirituality as a “way of life” and “way of knowing” (or worldview). This is centered on a relationship with the Creator, the land and “all our relations. “The indigenous people of the third world fully embraced this form of ontology.
Transpersonal counselling arguably will enhance the growth and development of spiritual mental resilience and sustainable development skills of our indigenous communities across the world. (Haimerl, C.J. and Valentine, E.R., 2001).
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Developing Spiritual Resilience
Spiritual Resilience is the ability to sustain oneself through all aspects of life, especially during times of stress, hardship or tragedy. It involves improving one’s spiritual health through a self-directed process and is informed by one’s religious, philosophical, and human values.
Spiritual health is the basis for developing spiritual resilience. Spirituality is a factor that guides people through life challenges and functions as a pathway to resilience and maintaining well-being (Manning, 2014). Spirituality has been associated with happiness, well-being, and life satisfaction.
The conventional counselling psychology talks about developing mental resilience in coping with mental stress, however, this approach alone has its limitation due to the exclusion of the spiritual framework.
Spiritual resilience involves the capacity to engage our internal resources, including beliefs, strengths, and values, and also recruit external resources to support our sense of self, meaning, and purpose when we’re faced with life’s challenges and adversities. The Higher spiritual self will produce intelligence’s capacity that will increase resilience.
The people with higher spiritual intelligence are more able to adapt and cope with difficulties by relying on internal strength from deep spiritual resources outside the limitations of their environments. Spiritual intelligence is a holistic means of developing intellectual spirituality leading to sound mental resilience.
Developing Intellectual Spirituality For Mental Resilience
Intellectual spirituality is the incorporation of mystic and intellectual consciousness into a flowing synthesis of knowing. This knowing is centered around God and humanity. The spiritual epistemology leads to the understanding of spiritual reality.
In addition, adept at scripture, and always exhibiting a desire to learn about everything allows the individual to develop sound mental resilience for coping with mental stress. The internal resource for developing sound mental resilience comes from engaging in reading and meditation on spiritual scriptures.
Mental resilience is your ability to cope with any difficult events and situations that happen in your life, and how you go about recovering from them. Therefore, spiritual self of our existence has direct impacts on our intellects making us more intellectually engaged in developing sound mental resilience.
Transpersonal counselling as a talking therapy will enable the clients to develop sound mental resilience through facilitated reflective questioning during the counselling session. This will further enhance reflective learning opportunities during the session.
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The clients will ultimately develop spiritual intelligence through reflective learning. Reflection on their values and belief systems about their concepts of individual spirituality is a means of spiritual development that is based on the use of psycho education Methodology. ((Foy, D.W., Drescher, K.D. and Watson, P.J., 2011).
Psycho Education Methodology In Transpersonal Counselling
Psychoeducation is a Methodology that involves the therapist providing their client with information about their diagnosis, symptoms, or the method of treatment used as an intervention during counselling session.
Psychoeducation combines the elements of cognitive behavior therapy, group therapy, and education. The basic aim is to provide the patient and families knowledge about various facets of the illness and its treatment so that they can work together with Transpersonal Mental Health Counsellor for a better overall outcome.
Psychoeducation, an organized process of imparting information about illness to sufferers, their families, and sometimes to staff members. This is an element of virtually all types of therapy that involve teaching by the transpersonal counsellor in educating the client using the biopsychosocial-spiritual model.
The biopsychosocial spiritual model recognizes that biological, psychological, social, and spiritual factors are interconnected and mutually influential. Changes in one domain can affect other domains, leading to an impact on overall health and well-being. (Srivastava, P. and Panday, R., 2016).
Conclusion on The Transpersonal Approach To counselling
In conclusion, transpersonal approach to counselling is a holistic intervention in transpersonal psychology that is built on the spiritual framework. This framework clearly states that humans are spiritual beings living in a physical world.
The true essence of human existence is a spiritual reality in its nature. Therefore, spiritual health development is essential to the enhancement of spiritual resilience for coping with mental stress and challenges in our postmodern world. This goal can arguably be achieved in transpersonal counselling approach.
See also Religion And Spirituality in Ancient Kemet with Dr. Kiatezua Lubanzadio Luyaluka
Reference list
Friedman, H., 2002. Transpersonal psychology as a scientific field. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 21(1), p.19. Grof, S., 2008. Brief history of transpersonal psychology. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 27(1), p.6. Rowan, J., 2013. The transpersonal: Spirituality in psychotherapy and counselling. Routledge. Haimerl, C.J. and Valentine, E.R., 2001.
The effect of contemplative practice on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal dimensions of the self-concept. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 33(1), pp.37-52. Foy, D.W., Drescher, K.D. and Watson, P.J., 2011. Religious and spiritual factors in resilience.
St. M. Southwick, BT Litz, D. Ch., MJ Friedman. Resilience and Mental Health. Challenges Across the Lifespan, pp.90-102. Srivastava, P. and Panday, R., 2016. Psychoeducation an effective tool as treatment modality in mental health. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 4(1), pp.123-130.
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