Awesome Dudette’s Burning question: “I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and have benefited from it greatly. Thanks! However, there is one thing that keeps popping up in my head and just won’t leave me alone. I am about to graduate college, and for years and years I have known that I wanted to help others through therapy and counseling. When I think about my future as a therapist, I feel happy and giddy and excited, like I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. However, you have mentioned in your blog posts that therapy does not work. This leaves me conflicted. Am I going into a meaningless career? I’d love your thoughts on this.”

Dear Awesome Dudette,

I’m so glad you asked this question. I was just thinking the other day that I’d better clarify my stance on this, as some of the comments I’ve made might be misconstrued and I could have therapists coming after me with pitchforks any day now…

What is therapy, anyway?

First of all, it has to be said that there are many, many types of therapy and all are valid and helpful for someone. Just as with all tools and techniques, it always comes down to the individual and what they resonate with. So, I never meant to imply that therapy doesn’t work, as a blanket statement. The distinction I make is between therapists that work in alignment with the Universal Process, and those who do not.

A therapist may have a whole variety of tools in their toolbox, just as most healers have a variety of techniques at their disposal. None of these tools will be invalid, if used appropriately. So, the success of any therapy doesn’t really come down to the technique as much as the therapist themselves (actually, the success of the therapy comes down to the patient, but you’ve asked me to address this issue from the point of view of the therapist, so I’ll get into that point in a bit).

“Bad” therapy

When a therapist or counselor isn’t aligned with the energy of Who They Really Are and by extension, the energy of their client’s higher self, they’re not going to be very effective, no matter what techniques they use. This type of therapy relies completely on logic. The mind and body are seen as separate (as taken from the Cartesian view of Dualism, which gave rise to traditional medicine for the body, and psychiatry for the mind, with the two being seen as totally unconnected), with work on one having no effect on the other. The spirit is pretty much a non-issue, or seen as a coping mechanism of the mind.

In this type of therapy, the technique is more important than the patient, cookie cutter solutions are applied, and medication often reigns supreme. The mind, much like in traditional allopathic medicine, is seen as a machine to be fixed. Intuition or personal insights by the therapist are largely discouraged. Psychiatric techniques are viewed pretty much like any kind of drug – if you can prove in a controlled study that it works, then you can apply it to human beings with the expectation that it will always work on everyone. Any evidence to the contrary will be swept under the rug as “statistical outliers”.

Now, it’s important to state that this type of therapy has started to become obsolete in terms of the extreme severity I described here, although my psychiatrist clients tell me that its spirit is still very much alive in practices and hospitals around the world.

Effective therapy

Enough about what we don’t want, though. The really good news is that, while this type of approach does still exist, there are a large and ever growing number of therapists who are daring to take a different approach and coming up with more aligned techniques and philosophies. And while many do it under the radar, pretending to follow the “rules” and filling in all the bureaucratic and limiting forms while secretly actually helping their patients, more and more are being quite vocal about their “dissent”.

So, what exactly is an aligned approach? Well, to put it simply, it’s a more holistic approach. When you bring the body, mind and spirit together again, stop seeing the mind (or the body) as a mere machine and approach all problems as an imbalance in the entire system, meaning not just the system contained within that individual but the whole of the Universe (basically, taking an energetic approach, even if the therapist doesn’t call it that), then magic happens.

There are a huge number of therapists out there who are working intuitively, although not all of them are aware of this fact. Those who work this way are able to achieve massive breakthroughs with their patients in a relatively short amount of time, just like energy workers are. They use their intuition, help their patients release limiting beliefs (again, they may not call them that), and are able to facilitate great healing. Even medication, when used in conjunction with these principles, can be an agent for positive change. Again, the specific tools don’t really matter. It’s the therapist who uses them that makes the difference.

What does a healer actually do?

Ok, so now that I’ve explained what I mean when I talk about the limiting aspects of therapy, let’s get to the truth of what healing really is. After all, no healer of any kind can simply reach into a patient or client and “fix” them. That would totally negate the client’s ability to create their own reality. We can, however, help to facilitate the healing of those who are ready.

When we “heal” someone, what we are really doing is raising our own vibration to a level that is higher than that of the patient. When we then connect with them, either in person or via long distance, the exposure to a higher energy will cause the patient to do one of two things (providing the healer is stable in her vibration): He will either get incredibly uncomfortable and have to get away from the healer, or he’ll have to raise his vibration to meet hers, causing him to feel better.

The words and techniques we use during such sessions must then be inspired, so that they’ll perfectly match what the patient needs to receive. A therapist might have a whole host of tools in her toolbox, for example, but which ones she uses when, with whom and in what combination depends entirely on what her intuition tells her. She might even spontaneously invent a new technique in the moment, tailored to the specific client and situation that’s presented itself.

In other words, no healer actually heals. It’s more like we allow someone to manifest their healing through us. And, it has to be said, this is no selfless, sacrificial act.

How the healer benefits

As a future healer (therapists are healers, too!), it’s valuable for you to understand that the world does not NEED you to do this job. No patient will be worse off if you choose to become a painter, instead. You have no obligation to help anyone. But, if it is your highest joy, and it’s clear that it is, you can choose to participate in the healing of others because it’s fun for you to do so. Of course, those who meet up with you while you’re in that aligned place will benefit greatly, but don’t ever slip into the trap of thinking you HAVE TO do anything. Since the healing is THEIR manifestation, they will simply attract another aligned healer if you don’t want to play today. You don’t have to save anyone.

Stay in that excitement that you feel now and foster it. As you do, you’ll realize that you’re gaining tremendous benefit from helping others. Each patient you see, each session, will hold gifts for you, as well. Their issue may mirror something within you to some degree (sometimes not in obvious ways), or something you said will have double meaning – a message for them and another message for you. If you focus on your own benefit, knowing that your intention to help others and your alignment with your higher self will automatically cause your patients to receive their healing, you’ll avoid getting drained and burned out. If you’re doing it right, your sessions will be energizing for you. You’ll also continuously attract interesting and fun clients, helping you to keep evolving as a practitioner.

Therapy is changing

I’m continuously excited to see a growing number of therapists working more intuitively, talking about energy or vibrations, and taking a holistic approach. More and more of them are writing books and even participating in studies and clinical trials. Sometimes, you have to look a bit deep to find the evidence of LOA in the clinical worlds, but it’s showing up more and more. It’s also important to note that therapists themselves are incredibly frustrated with the old model, further fueling changes. Particularly those in private practice are taking new approaches (what some would call “risks”) and publishing their results, if not in journals, then on the internet and in books meant for the general public. These are individuals who want to help and are aligning with incredibly effective ways of doing just that.

Do bad therapists do harm?

But what about the old school, inflexible, the-mind-is-a-machine therapists? Or what about when someone comes to you and complains that they’ve seen ten therapists before you and they were all crap? Did these practitioners do damage? Should they be dragged out back and beaten before their license is taken away?

No. Here’s why: Everyone gets what they are a vibrational match to. Sometimes, a patient is a match to not being healed. Sometimes, they need to manifest a few failures before they become frustrated to actually make some changes, at which point they manifest someone who can actually help them. They have to be a match to being healed before they can manifest their own healing. So, even a “bad” therapist is valuable in the grand scheme of things. Be grateful for them, but don’t necessarily emulate them.

Bottom line

These are exciting times to be in the healing arts (hell, these are exciting times, period). A new type of therapist is emerging – one who combines the good parts of the science of psychology with holistic, intuitive knowledge. These individuals realize that they and the patient are having an experience together. They are aware of the interconnectedness of everything, and work WITH the Universal processes and laws to participate in their patients’ change. They know that the best thing they can do to help anyone, including their clients, is to be in their own joy as much as possible. Cleaning up their own vibration takes priority, as does lining up with patients who are ready for their particular brand of help and will therefore be fun and satisfying to work with.

And while some of us prefer to work outside the system, and can sometimes affect change more quickly in that manner, we need those who are willing to tackle the problems “from the inside”. Our psychiatric models are changing precisely because of people like you, who are waking up and are willing to bring that knowledge into a more traditional forum. Does therapy work? Hell yes it does, providing it comes from someone aligned, someone who is waking up, someone just like you. 🙂