Soul Retrieval
The best known technique of the shaman in modern times
What is soul retrieval?
As you will have read in the Trauma section one of the mind's defences to pain is to shut down part of our emotional responses in order to avoid feeling pain in the future. In psychological terms we retreat into ourselves and deny part of our emotional personality. We may appear cold or 'incomplete' from the perspective of people outside of ourselves. In shamanic terms, a part of our soul or spiritual energy has left us. By detaching from our being this part seeks to avoid interaction and thus avoid the hurt that was caused initially.
Soul retrieval is a technique that works to reunite these separate parts, to reintegrate them to allow us to be whole and complete once more, better able to cope with life and to accept what happened, without re-living the pain.
How does soul retrieval work?
In hypnotherapy it is the client who enters trance while the therapist directs their subconscious to find the answers. In soul retrieval it is almost the opposite which happens. The therapist/shaman will enter trance and journey to find the missing parts of the clients soul, retrieve them and returning with them to the client. They will then be placed back in the client, usually by blowing them in and sealing in the client. Then the story of how they were found will be relayed to the client which can then open up the event for discussion if desired to talk over the process.
If you believe the psychological model, in other words you prefer to think everything happens in the mind, then it is the unconscious mind of the therapist that will learn from the client what the solution to their problem is, since 90% of all communication is non verbal this is a reasonable explanation. The unconscious mind of the client can readily accept that being told everything is OK makes it OK. That is how the unconscious mind works after all.
If you prefer to believe that we do indeed possess a soul and that this can be damaged then it is reasonable to believe that the therapist is best placed to heal the soul and return the missing parts to the client. In doing this the person is then able to get on with their life, a little wiser for the experience.
In my experience it matters not which viewpoint you take, the method works and often very surprisingly for both client and therapist.
What can it treat effectively?
If you have read Sandra Ingerman's book on the subject then you will have seen some of the cases referred to there. If you have not read it then look it up and get a copy.
In essence any situation in which we can feel deep emotional pain is best treated by this method. Therefore we are looking at cases of abuse and similar levels of trauma and pain. The person who has been raped and closes down means that they have shut off a part of themselves to feeling. This can be returned to them, enabling them to feel again though without re-visiting the pain.
There are many other situations, even physical trauma such as car crash victims, post traumatic shock and the like. I have found that one session with a client will work better than 4 - 6 counselling type sessions.