This model can be beneficial for anyone engaging in client work, such as psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, life coaches and other health care professionals. Do you ever find that your clients reach a proverbial ‘glass ceiling’? They may understand where their patterns come from and agree, at least intellectually, with therapeutic concepts such as self-love. However, they cannot ‘feel’ this as an internal experience or maintain a different view of themselves.
As therapists, we all know the magic that happens when a client articulates, in their own words, a way out of their particular negative way of being. This breakthrough is all the more powerful when they have experienced it from within themselves. This paradigm shift in how they see themselves, even for a moment, can create deep and fundamental change.
This paradigm shift is a transition, or crossing through a threshold into an entirely new way of viewing life. Through crossing this threshold we connect with our innate wisdom. We call this innate wisdom our ‘inner knowing’ or our Intuitive Consciousness. Our aim is to support our clients in finding this hopeful, compassionate and undistorted voice within themselves, free from ego distortions and limiting schema.
The goal of building Intuitive Consciousness is to support clients in making this paradigm shift. By enabling them to stop and step out into their Intuitive Consciousness , they can readily access this wisdom for themselves and make more sustainable transformations.
The transpersonal psychology model Building Intuitive Consciousness is a way of working that can be helpful for everyone. As therapists, it becomes the place from which we work, and from where we find renewed energy and inspiration. For our clients, it offers a new perspective to old problems.
Your Inner Researcher- What is Consciousness
As we work with intuition we move at times beyond simple sensory observations and active imagination. The question inevitably arises – what is this consciousness? Are we just in a fantastical realm or is there a methodical progression and deepening as we move from imaginative witnessing and insight, through inspiration and into this level of intuition? How might we validate the knowledge that arises from intuition and trust the decisions that we might make?
This subject of consciousness is complex, and has been studied by philosophers, mathematicians, neuroscientists, physicists, psychologists and indeed each one of us. It has occupied humankind over centuries from both mystical and a scientific viewpoint. The great teachers within spiritual traditions seek to understand consciousness from a mystical perspective, noting that our subjective experience also contains a numinous element that rises beyond our feelings and thoughts. Consciousness is the indestructible aspect of all sentient beings that lives on, even after our physical element has died.
Many times we have asked ourselves how reliable is the consciousness that we access from across the threshold? The answer to the question is not a simple one and is useful to ensure that we maintain the practice with a constant vigilance and healthy cynicism. We suggest that as you travel along the way you never abandon your inner researcher. Always check out what is going on rather than following something blindly. Take time to understand your inner world so that you never lose your autonomy. Working with Intuitive Consciousness is not an altered state but a steady training in consciousness that takes patience and fine-tuning. Notice the difference when you base your decision from within the ego alone or from across the threshold.