Nestman, Mahmud

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Since its inception, psychology has been a non-spiritual science, and the practice of psychotherapy has reflected this view of human beings. How did this split between spirituality and psychotherapy occur? It appeared with the birth of psychology and the vision of its first psychotherapist, Sigmund Freud. Freud was a product of the Industrialization of Western Europe. This wave of technological development swept people away from their villages, traditional customs, and religious supports. Corruptness within the heart of many religious institutions also contributed to the weakening of faith in the spiritual. Science became the new religion, and doctors the new priests. Freud, a medical doctor, predisposed to think in terms of science, pathology, and diagnosis, conceived a psychological and pseudo-scientific theory of the self and its development. Based on this framework, he created a method of therapy (psychoanalysis) to assist the increasing numbers of individuals who were suffering inwardly and unable to cope during this time of chaotic change. There was no room for religious or spiritual realities within Freud's perspective. Freud believed that religion was primitive and outdated and that spiritual urgings were simply manifestations of an infantile-based longing to return to the womb. Determined to move beyond superstition and irrational beliefs, Freud created a rational model of psychotherapy which excluded ideas such as faith, soul, or God. My intention is neither to denigrate Freud nor minimize his contributions to the practice of psychotherapy. Much of what he created is still applicable today. For instance, he discovered the significance of dreams in understanding hidden inner dynamics. He encouraged therapists to bring an open, non-judgmental presence to the therapeutic process. In his latter years, Freud was deeply disappointed to realize that his psychoanalytic approach was inadequate to deal with the mysterious and non-rational inner forces that motivate human beings. His closest colleagues "“ Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, and Otto Rank, came to the same conclusion. Adler maintained that each person's search for the meaning of life was the most important issue for psychology to address. Jung declared that psychology could least of all afford to overlook the spiritual life of a human being, and Rank claimed that psychotherapy would only have a significant effect when it brought the modern person "a soul without psychology". In spite of these realizations and reservations, most counsellors followed Freud's approach until the 1950's and 60's. This marked a time of evolutionary change in the counselling field and a number of new modalities took root, many of which are in the mainstream today (e.g. Rogerian client-centered therapy, Ericksonian psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy). However, most of the new therapies continued to exclude the spiritual dimension. I entered the world of psychotherapy in 1969, working as a mental health counsellor while simultaneously following a path of spiritual training. The strands of the psychological and the spiritual were woven together within the fabric of my work.

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