Healing with Depth Oriented Therapies
Most people don’t have a clue how a dialogue with their unconscious can support their healing journey, and wonder how it could make a difference. I use depth oriented approaches quite a bit in my practice, so I’ll do my best to explain it here.
Integrative therapies and healing practices
Depth Psychology refers to approaches to therapy that facilitate the exploration of the unconscious and transpersonal aspects of human experience. A key part of this approach to therapy is finding potentials in personality that have never had a chance to be embodied. This integration on its own can make a big impact on your life. As you experience transcendent and non-ego levels of the psyche, there is the opportunity to become conscious of the vastness of ourselves.
Carl Jung wrote…
“The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the psyche, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego-consciousness.”
What does a depth oriented approach involve?
Depth oriented therapies are techniques that includes dream work, internal dialogue, art-based therapies, and reflection focused on accessing the unconscious and activating the imagination. The goal is to help you feel a sense of wholeness and inner alignment, releasing uncomfortable feelings stemming from internal conflict and gaining new understanding of yourself.
― Carl Jung
These techniques are often used to assist people to access their passions, gifts, and potentials by becoming aware of what has been forced out of consciousness or is not able to be known. “Healing is associated with allowing what has been repressed, rejected, denied or ignored to come forward so that the person can understand, explore its significance, and integrate it, allowing for a transformation in consciousness.” -Pacifica website
Depth Psychology has also been used successfully for challenges such as:
- Addressing inner and outer conflict
- Getting unstuck
- Resolving Anxiety
- Increasing Self Awareness
- Accessing creativity
- Working through projections
- Integrating shadow material
