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| Psychotherapy in itself can be a very helpful and liberating practice to
free individuals of troubling, neurotic patterns. Even though psychotherapy can free people from specific, individual
patterns, it can still fall short of helping individuals address issues of meaning and existence. This goes beyond
the Descartian model of "I Think, Therefore I Am". Experienced meditators have informed us for a long
time that awareness can exist without thought. Please see Kurt Goldstein's (MD) exciting discussion on this topic
- Thoughts without a thinker and falling to pieces with falling apart. On the other hand, Abraham Maslow, a famous
psychologist of the late 60's and early 70's, has been misunderstood by the popular culture. Maslow's notion of
natural and spontaneous highs, has been systematically and commercially exploited by many new age philosophers
and thinkers. They have a habit of over-emphasizing the "light-side" of such experiences. This over-emphasis
results in a one-sided pursuit for enlightenment, to the point of exclusion of the darkness. This exclusion creates
disappointment in self because of the emergence of anxiety from "unfinished business". This "unwanted"
intruder only becomes more invasive when resisted. So called "New Age" philosophers and thinkers have
emphasized the importance of this experience, often to the point of avoidance and exclusion. Carl G. Jung, perhaps
the most influential psychiatrist of the 20th century (Freud not excluded) understood that "what we resist
persists". He accurately identified this as a "shadow problem". Shadow problems are represented
by equal and opposite negative complexes that eventually may help to create psychological balance. Those overly
seduced by "new-aged" ideas of undifferentiated light, often see these shadow problems as either plaguing,
nagging, and in extreme cases, de-stabilizing. This resistance to face "what-is", the existential ground
of being, creates what is called "ungrounded spirituality". On the other hand, spirituality that is understood
in its appreciation of psychological opposites, is called "grounded spirituality". Since grounded spirituality
finds its foundation in psychological awareness of opposites, the equal and equivalent term for it is "psycho-spiritual". It is the goal of psycho-spiritual techniques to take individuals into grounded awareness of themselves, by neither emphasizing light or darkness. Practitioners of psycho-spiritual techniques learn to develop an appreciation of riding on this edge of experience, which neither denies nor attracts a certain type of experience. It is the experience of "what-is". In the Cato Upanishad, this concept is referred to as the "razor's edge". This doesn't mean that it can cut or injure the practitioner; the "razor" part implies that the edge of awareness is narrow, and easy to fall from. Psycho-spiritual techniques, which are not unique to Center for Inner Work, (e.g. Oscar Ichaze-Arica, John Pierrakos, Core Energetics ) are designed to help individuals find their own balance points within themselves. As mentioned above, the Center for Inner Work takes great interest in integrating both psychological and spiritual tools into the psychotherapy practice. Whether the client is an individual, couple, family, or group, the focus is usually psycho-spiritual. This means individuals are encouraged to look for the deeper lessons in their own experience, as to why unpleasant events often keep repeating themselves over and over again. The environment of the Center, with an indoor fountain and coved ceiling, offers a relaxed waiting room and aesthetically pleasing setting in which one can more easily look at the roots of one's problems. After a difficult session, walks are encouraged in one of the safest neighborhoods of San Diego. The Center for Inner Work sits deep in the heart of Kensington, which is an exclusively residential area, with the lone exception of the Center for Inner Work. It's history goes back to 1930 (please read the History page). |
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