Paul Pearsall, a psychoneuroimmunologist, says that no real therapy can begin until the therapist understands how the client will answer three ultimate questions. These three questions are, why was I born, what is the purpose of my life, and what will happen to me when I die?
Pearsall’s argument, as I understand it, is that a therapist must know the answers to these questions in order to enter into the client’s world view. And until the therapist can enter into the client’s world view, the therapist can’t really understand where the client is coming from.
A Mindful Life / Kathryn Harper
express : discover : renew : create
Just had one of those lightbulb moments, Kathryn.
Speaking from the client’s perspective, this is so very true. I’ve yet to encounter a therapist who doesn’t at some point end up reframing my awkward questioning according to a world view which is quite at odds with my own.
Not that I blame them. The mere fact that one supposes the first question can be answered at all mystifies me.
My therapist (he prefers the term counselor) is also a professional astrologer. Counseling was going along fine before I asked for an astrology birth chart reading, but the reading opened up many new venues for exploring meaning of life questions. And since then, I’ve continued to revisit with him the themes of my birth chart and current astrological cycles. Thomas Moore wrote about astrology as a technique for expanding psychology and overcoming its subjectivity in “The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life,” and I’ve had a taste of what that can look like.