Everyday magic
At the same time in a parallel psychological-therapeutic universe.
“Wild Psychotherapy”
Irvin Yalom is one of the greats. Psychotherapist within the existential-humanist school. And completely wild it may seem.
That's an interesting thing... You can be attracted to the idea of a therapist who is prepared to make such big departures from "protocol", standard practice, to be so personal, human, "himself". And I have no doubt that Yalom did this with good judgment, after all, that on the whole it turned out well. As an artistry.
Yalom interviewed by Ann Lagerström in the latest issue of Modern Psykologi:
https://modernpsykologi.se/2021/08/31/livet-och-doden-med-irvin-yalom/
Still, it's not something that can be taught, I think. It cannot form a school... Mostly, forty-nine times out of fifty? (“ninety-nine out of a hundred” sounds too much), in the hands of most who feel called, it just becomes crazy, counterproductive… if not worse.
Choose a therapist
What a “landscape” this is! I myself am pretty much on my guard here.
I understand that someone who is struggling with alcohol addiction, or wants to be free, feels that he or she can get the best help from someone who has been through something like that themselves. Or someone who dropped out of Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, wants to meet someone who has real understanding and insight into what it's like to grow up that way, it feels wise (and brave)... But that someone who has a Christian faith wants to meet a Christian interlocutor, the Muslim a Muslim, a neo-spiritual a neo-spiritual, etc...
To take the last category, the neo-spiritual, which is the "pasture" in that landscape that I myself know best... I have heard this many, many times over the years... That you feel you need to talk to someone about difficulties in life, even "go to therapy", but then it must absolutely be a person who you know shares your world view, (ie reincarnation, karma, that we are on the way to developing towards becoming perfect Christ figures, that many problems have their roots in past lives, etc)… And I always thought it sounded a bit shady, conditional… “guarded”, like? As if you want a guarantee that certain questions will never risk coming up on the table. And if they do that, you still have to have a tacit understanding about how everything is connected, how life works.
At the same time, of course, it can also be a healthy self-preservation drive, that you don't want to risk being beaten in the shoes by someone who hates everything called spirituality, and unreflectively will see this as the root of all your problems.
And the whole range in between.
The threshold
I would like to address a thought, a belief, I have. A little inspired by a Jung quote about psychology/therapy and "the numinous" that I saw the other day and that I don't know if I understood or am ready to buy without reservations:
"The main interest of my work is not concerned with the treatment of neuroses but rather with the approach to the numinous. But the fact that the approach to the numinous is the real therapy, and as much as you attain to the numinous experience you are released from the curse of pathology. Even the very disease takes on a numinous character.” — CG YOUNG
But this is my reservation then. And speaking of the post I wrote the other day, about society taking responsibility for everything spiritual, which provoked strong reactions: What I'm writing now is on a similar theme, but meant completely seriously. It's a mind game, this too, but a serious one.
If we assume that the neo-spiritual worldview is true. This means that we live more than one life, are reborn, accumulate experiences via the effects of our actions, develop towards some kind of emotional or cognitive perfection, etc. Then I imagine there is a threshold there along the way. What is this threshold about? A certain measure of genuine self-experience, an own anchoring in the spiritual. Not just 2-hand information.
It becomes a kind of tipping point. (And I also imagine that in that case this point comes later than one often imagines, or hopes for.) Once one has crossed the threshold, one can possibly use psychology/therapy that includes a detailed spiritual (like the above) perspective . Or at least it will be harmless. But up to this threshold usually not.
Until then, it is above all the usual old psychology/therapy that you may need. Which is based on an understanding of the old common man. Why? Because until one has crossed the threshold, this nature in us is such a dominant part that the spiritual ideas (however true these may be) are only too easily incorporated into the old common defense system & it does not turn out well.
Should society take over responsibility for all things spiritual?
Spiritual and personal development. How to protect searching people from harm? Falling into the clutches of predatory, manipulative types in the alternative industry? What can society do to regulate and comply? Some think that a little more control or a "harder grip" on the off-roads would help. But it is not easy to see how something like that would be possible to fix. Couldn't you instead legislate that only people who have ID from the National Board of Health and Welfare were allowed to deal with such things? That is, doctors, psychologists, nurses, etc. Only these were allowed to provide tools & guidance for people's spiritual upbringing and well-being. (Much like alcohol today can only be sold on the System.)
The CBTs have long been involved in Buddhist mindfulness, etc. Those who work in Freud & Co's succession could offer a solid schooling path towards spiritual integration and satisfaction. You would of course lose some of the skills that today exist in the alternative world, but in return could the area be reserved for people who, in the face of the threat of a suspended license and professional ban, at least kept to their skins?
(Not going to pretend I've read the book above, because I haven't, but it sounds interesting 
)
Unclear boundaries
Susanne Paulsson, licensed psychotherapist and yoga teacher, being interviewed by Stina Johansson about unclear boundaries within the alternative treatment world (Yogafordig.nu, 2018-06-18).
“Yoga can be a fantastic tool in many ways and an incredibly good method for relaxing, for example, but yoga is not a solution to everything. "A person with a mental disorder often cannot be helped by yoga alone, but also needs to go to psychotherapy."
The hidden psychic market
"The Hidden Psychic Market - About Longing, Greed and Spiritual Entrepreneurs" (2017), by journalist Anette Nyman.
The book is fully presented and can be purchased here at AdLibris e.g.
If one finds inner peace, there is no need for that inner peace to create tumors
The essence of Osho's message is that man is born free but during life becomes increasingly locked in by his repressive environment. Through meditation, blockages can be loosened, pain points can be uncovered and life can begin anew.
Report by Björn af Kleen (DN, 2017-06-16) about the course farm Just be.
A report in the journal Modern Psykologi (a longer version was in no. 4/2014) by Lotten Wiklund, which also dealt with alternative therapeutic course farms such as Baravara and Mullingstorp. Here are also interesting reflections on society and the zeitgeist:
"Today, mental illness accounts for 35 percent of all sick leave and is considered a serious threat to public health. Töres Theorell is professor emeritus in social medicine and has written the book I spåren av 90-talet (Karolinska institutet university press 2006) where he analyzes the development.
- The business climate of the 1990s was characterized by an increased competitive mindset, tougher return requirements and, not least, a management mindset that we had never seen before. The state support for occupational health care, where preventive work was done, disappeared and public health care was exposed to competition. The society that has developed since the 1990s makes increasingly high demands on people and today we have a much more pronounced competitive climate, he says.