Book Review: The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy: A Transpersonal Approach Through Theater Arts by Saphira Barbara Linden (Editor)

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, Dec 2015

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Book Review: The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy: A Transpersonal Approach Through Theater Arts by Saphira Barbara Linden (Editor)

Iss. Book Review: The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy: A Transpersonal Approach Through Theater Arts by Saphira Barbara Linden (Editor) Jessica Bockler Recommended Citation - by Saphira Barbara Linden (Editor) (2013; Bloomington, IN: Trafford) Reviewed by Jessica Bockler Alef Trust Wirral, UK I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me. —William Blake H song and art have long provided a vehicle umans are creative beings. Drama, dance, for us to communicate our ideas and visions, and to grow and evolve—as individuals and as a collective. Throughout the ages, we have used art in cultural and religious rituals and ceremonies to affirm and to transform our identity and to express our relationship with the world beyond the human sphere. From paleolithic cave paintings to Buddhist and Hindu mandalas to the works of William Blake, from the Afro-Brazilian candomblé  to the Indian Kathakali dance-drama to modern dance and movement therapies—art has served as a healing tool, a way to engage more profoundly with each other, and as a pathway to a deeper relationship with that which one might call the Numinous or Divine. In The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy, Saphira Linden and 39 of her creative colleagues offer in-depth accounts of the contribution transpersonal theatre arts have made to this journey of personal and collective spiritual development. Linden’s passionate account begins with a recollection of a Sufi retreat in the mid-1970s, during which she immersed herself in meditative practices— mantras, breath work, and prayers—for three weeks, practicing 14 hours every day. She describes the gift of the retreat as one in which all “all awareness of individuality was replaced by a feeling of oneness with all that exists” (Linden, 2013, p. xxiii) . In the following 30 years of personal and professional practice Linden developed a transpersonal approach to drama therapy, which at its core aims to attenuate the grip of the “limited, historical, conditioned self ” and to deepen a person’s connection with what she calls the “soul Self, or essential Self ” (p. xxiv). Linden has come to refer to this journey toward one’s own highest nature as the Omega Process, referencing the work of French mystic Teilhard de Chardin who drew on the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet as a metaphor, describing the evolution of consciousness towards the Omega Point, a transcendent and yet attainable and indeed imperative endpoint of human consciousness. Linden opens Part 1, Chapter 1 of the book with a depiction of her own eclectic and experimental journey towards a Transpersonal Drama Therapy, which spans environmental, educational, therapeutic and ritual theatre. Linden describes Jungian and Transpersonal Psychology as significant sources of inspiration for her work. She spent time studying with Jacob and Zerka Moreno, the founders of Psychodrama, and she also immersed herself in Mystical Judaism and Sufism and integrated meditative practices into her drama work with actors and audiences. Early on in her career, Linden felt drawn to create performances, which would challenge the conventional actor-spectator relationship and engage audiences as participants. She became interested in working with archetypal energies for community healing—the exploration of which culminated in an 11year interfaith project titled The Cosmic Celebration. The Cosmic Celebration was devoted to enabling casts of up to 350 people to explore and express their deepest authentic Self through the medium of theatre. These RI2n1etv9eirenwIna: tLieiornndaeltniJo(oEnudar.ln),JaoHlueorafnrTtaralanondfsTSporeaursnloosnpfaPerlssySocthnuoadtlhiSeerst,aup3dy4ie(s1-2), 2In0t1e5rn,patpi.o2n1a9lC-J2olau2mr4nmaelrof Transpersonal Studies 219 theatre events with a spiritual and transformational purpose, propelled Linden to develop her own Omega Transpersonal Drama Therapy practice. In Chapter 2, Linden proceeds to describe what she calls the twelve principles of Omega Transpersonal Drama Therapy and illustrate them through a case study. Many of the ideas she describes here are congruent with other approaches to drama therapy and psychodrama, such as the principles of "embodying/roleplaying the therapeutic issues," "making the unconscious conscious through symbolic/metaphorical approaches," and "working with archetypes." What stands out is Linden’s and her colleagues’ openness to the transpersonal perspective. For example, "assuming health rather than pathology," a notion which is rooted in the assumption that, no matter what the client’s problem or challenge, within a larger, transpersonal context there is innate health and wholeness. A transpersonal drama therapist thus has to navigate a journey with a client simultaneously closer to the wound and beyond it toward healing. The aim is to enable clients to shift identification from a conditioned and restricted self, marked by stories of personal trauma and suffering, to a higher, or soul (...truncated)


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Jessica Bockler. Book Review: The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy: A Transpersonal Approach Through Theater Arts by Saphira Barbara Linden (Editor), International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2015, Volume 34, Issue 1,