CONSCIOUSNESS
and
the Alternative States of
Consciousness in SHAMANISM, IMAGINAL PSYCHOTHERAPIES, HYPNOTHERAPY, and
MEDITATION
A
Cognitive, Intrapsychic, Experiential, and Transpersonal
Research Project
©2001 All Rights Reserved
L.I.F.E. Counseling Group
Shamanism, hypnosis, imaginal psychotherapies,
and meditation are based on the use of what we in the modern western world
think of as non-ordinary human consciousness.
These four modalities have fundamental similarities and differences in
purpose, theory, technique, type of alternative consciousness, and their
application of non-ordinary reality.
Shamanism, the oldest and most intertwined with the cultures in which it
is practiced, will be explored as a model for individual healing and
transformation and professional training.
The shamanic way will also be explored as a model of consciousness and a
world-view that offers individuals, groups, and society much needed coping
mechanisms, healing techniques, and transformative values that may be helpful
in dealing with this trying and important transition time for humanity. Imaginal therapies, meditation and hypnosis
all have their roots in shamanism, although in some parts of the world at
certain times in history, shamanism borrowed from meditation in its adaptation
and development.
A brief history of shamanism and the use of
the altered states of consciousness and imagination in healing, given in
Section One, Chapter Two, page 153, will serve as a foundation for an
exploration of ordinary and alternative consciousness. While consciousness in one form or another is
experienced by all humans at all times, it is presently little noticed,
understood, appreciated, and utilized by the layperson, psychotherapist,
hypnotherapist, academic, or researcher.
It is usually not considered a meaningful, let alone crucial, variable
in comprehending the human being and devising strategies for improving and
healing the human condition. A
particular type of consciousness, named the therapeutic state of consciousness
and based on the shamanic and meditative states of consciousness, will be
offered as an optimum consciousness for the psychotherapist, hypnotherapist,
and healer. This therapeutic state of
consciousness can serve as balance to the counterproductive effects of an
overly rational western society as well as model for a way of life in which the
scientific, intellectual mind is but one, albeit important, aspect of the whole
person.
Principles for training in the therapeutic
state of consciousness will be outlined and discussed along with guidelines for
implementing a personal training program in what will be called 21st
Century Therapy. A specific set of
experientially based techniques will be offered as a way to carry perception
and knowledge gained from the therapeutic state of consciousness into the
psychotherapist’s office.
[Note: this final section of what is my
Ph.D. dissertation is not available at this website. It is being developed as a book and can be
obtained from the author.]
I have personal experience with each of the
four modalities, allowing me to offer first hand knowledge, heart felt
examples, and hands on description of the phenomenology associated with each
discipline. In the interest of
relevancy, accuracy, depth, meaningfulness, and vitality, I have used myself as
the primary case study for this paper.