OPEN BEING COUNSELLING
Open Being counselling is a holistic (mind – body – spirit) approach that draws upon a diverse range of healing technique from Western culture to indigenous shamanic healing tradition. From the works of eminent psychologists such as Carl Jung to spiritual healing perspectives of the world’s major religions. I have studied the elder wisdom of not only my own culture but that of others to come to a fractal holistic model of healing.
UNIVERSAL TRUTH
A complete understanding of the universe is beyond human comprehension, and so even the core scientific theories of the modern world are actually philosophy until proven. Even the experts have differing and diverse perspectives. I suggest that there is as many world perspectives as there are people, we derive our own sense of perspective from our own unique experience and sense of knowing. However there can be thought a universal truth and experience that we all contribute and tap into.
Joseph Campbell studied similarities between world religions and mythologies and observed what he felt to be one common strain to all – he termed this the ‘heroes journey’. The individual is separated from their tribe to experience an initiation process and returns with their gained insights to share for the benefit of others. This concept can be seen in scientific terms as a basic evolutionary growth process even in bacteria, collecting information and passing it on. Such areas of thought have potential to connect spiritual purpose with grounded scientific study. As all humans are unique we may be all thought to have a unique purpose to contribute to our community, part of the open being approach is to tap into this aligning an individual to their lifepath strengths.
FRACTAL
The open being model is fractal like a diamond with sides that reflect onto its centre to give a holistic reading towards a client’s well-being. By way of applying a myriad of diverse healing perspectives it can be thought that a more reliable and comprehensive course of treatment can be established that is led by the client themselves. This nurtures the client’s own confidence and authority in self-healing. We know ourselves better on a holistic basis than any outsider looking in, its said that true counsellors ask the right questions for clients to answer their own problems.
WOUNDED HEALER
This counselling model has been directly established through my own healing experience and so is in line with the wounded healer perspective as proposed by Carl Jung. The wounded healer concept is also championed by shamanic cultures who often consider shamans to be individuals who gain insights from healing themselves. I have found my perspectives to be of benefit to others as well as myself, one client – a heroin user – told me on his third session that he had made more progress by using a holistic approach than in 10 years of previous trials.
QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCE
University: Psychology BSC 2:1
Previously employed as an addiction key worker at James Kingham Project Luton until funding was removed for this organisation.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
see documentary page
Carl Jung’s wounded healer perspective cited on Wikipedia:
“Wounded healer is a term created by psychologist Carl Jung. The idea states that an analyst is compelled to treat patients because the analyst himself is “wounded”. The idea may have Greek mythology origins. Research has shown that 73.9% of counselors and psychotherapists have experienced one or more wounding experiences leading to their career choice”
Shamanism cited on Gostica:
“In tribal cultures, shamans or healers often experienced an illness that gave them the insight they needed to heal themselves and then bring wisdom to their people. This experience echoes Socrates notion that ‘Our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness’… At its most basic level, shamanism can be understood as a collection of ancient techniques that help to awaken and expand consciousness, as well as heal humanity’s inner wounds… Shamans understand ‘the web of life’ that everything on Earth is deeply interconnected through the web of Spirit.”
Joseph Cambell – The hero’s journey cited on Wikipedia:
“In narratology and comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed.”
Lynne McTaggart:
“An entirely new scientific story is emerging that challenges many of our Newtonian and Darwinian assumptions, including our most basic premise: the sense of things as separate entities in competition for survival. The latest evidence from quantum physics offers the extraordinary possibility that all of life exists in a dynamic relationship of cooperation. Quantum physicists now recognise that the universe is not a collection of separate things jostling around in empty space. All matter exists in a vast quantum web of connection, and a living thing at its most elemental is an energy system involved in a constant transfer of information with its environment. Rather than a cluster of individual, self-contained atoms and molecules, objects and living things are now more properly understood as dynamic and protean processes, in which parts of one thing and parts of another continuously trade places. This revolution is not confined to physics. Extraordinary new discoveries in biology and the social sciences have profoundly altered our view of the relationship between living things and their environment.”
Barbara Ann Brennan:
“The process of finding new ways to describe new phenomena is always one that broadens our views, challenging our current limited thinking about the nature of physical reality. We then incorporate the new ideas into our daily lives and begin seeing ourselves differently. This whole section shows that the scientific view of reality supports the idea that we are composed of energy fields and, in fact, goes beyond that into realms that we are just beginning to experience, that is, a holographic view of the universe. In this universe things are interconnected, corresponding to a holistic experience of reality…
Our old world of solid objects and the deterministic laws of nature is now dissolved into a world of wave – like patterns of interconnections. Conceptions like ‘elementary particle’, ‘material substance’, or ‘isolated object’ have lost their meaning. The whole universe appears as a dynamic web of inseparable energy patterns. The universe is thus defined as a dynamic inseparable whole which always includes the observer in an essential way.”