The unconscious mind contains priceless resources that can be mobilized for personal growth and healing. Indeed, throughout the history of psychological study, theoreticians have proposed the existence of a “center” in the psyche that directs, regulates, and influences the course of an individual’s life.
This “center” has been called by various names. Freud was the first to call it the unconscious—the source of instincts and drives that influence behavior and yet are largely outside conscious awareness. Jung gave a different quality to the essence of the unconscious, proposing that an individual was not only driven by the unconscious but also led by it to increased personal growth and a sense of well-being. Jung proposed that the center of a person’s psyche (which he called the self) also had a compensatory function. When a person was consciously fearful, for example, the self would attempt to provide him with the feelings of strength and courage required for dealing with the fearful situation at hand. Jung proposed that messages from the unconscious, or the self, were always conducive to the person’s well-being.
The means by which the unconscious communicates with the conscious self is through feelings, dreams and intuitions Unfortunately, our culture seems to undervalue these messages We are taught to value external events and objects—behavior, our bodies, material things, the logical output of our minds— but not our internal environment. Therefore, we tend to ignore feelings, dreams, and intuitions frofl1 our internal self: which are attempting to provide us with resources to meet the demands of the external world.
It has been hypothesized by several researchers that cancer patients may have been cut off from the resources of their unconscious processes. In our experience, many recovered patients have come to see their illness as, in part, a message to value and pay more attention to their unconscious self rather than to the demands of others. In addition, many patients have described having had specific insights feelings, dreams or images which provided valuable guidance in their efforts to regain their health.
The Inner Guide is a process we teach patients for tapping these rich inner resources of healing and strength. Visualizing your Inner Guide gives you access to the unconscious. It is a symbolic representation of aspects of the personality not normally available during conscious awareness. When you make contact with your Inner Guide—through a mental imagery process we will describe—you are connects with important mental resources from which you are usually cut off.
The first major school of psychology to work with the Inner Guide as part of the therapeutic process was Jungian psychoanalysis. Jung reported that during meditation or reverie, spontaneous images sometimes formed that had an autonomous, life-of-their-own quality. In Jungian therapy, great emphasis is placed on establishing communication with these positive resources of the unconscious.
One process used for permitting this communication with the Inner Guide is called a “guided daydream,” a form of mental imagery. Psychosynthesis, a recent psychotherapeutic process based on the work of Dr. Robert Assagiolli, also actively encourages the development of contact with the Inner Guide as part of a program of personal growth and discovery.
For many people, the Inner Guide takes the form of a respected authority figure—a wise old man or woman, a doctor, a religious figure—with whom the patient is able to carry on an internal conversation, asking questions and hearing answers that seem to be wise beyond the individual’s conscious capacities.
Furthermore, patients are often more responsive to insights achieved in consultation with their Inner Guides than they are to the observations of a group leader or a therapist. Because the Inner Guide is an aspect of their own personalities, relying on such a guide is a healthy step toward taking responsibility for their physical and psychological health.
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OVERCOMING CANCER: FINDING YOUR INNER GUIDE TO HEALTHThe unconscious mind contains priceless resources that can be mobilized for personal growth and healing. Indeed, throughout the history of psychological study, theoreticians have proposed the existence of a “center” in the psyche that directs, regulates, and influences the course of an individual’s life.This “center” has been called by various names. Freud was the first to call it the unconscious—the source of instincts and drives that influence behavior and yet are largely outside conscious awareness. Jung gave a different quality to the essence of the unconscious, proposing that an individual was not only driven by the unconscious but also led by it to increased personal growth and a sense of well-being. Jung proposed that the center of a person’s psyche (which he called the self) also had a compensatory function. When a person was consciously fearful, for example, the self would attempt to provide him with the feelings of strength and courage required for dealing with the fearful situation at hand. Jung proposed that messages from the unconscious, or the self, were always conducive to the person’s well-being.The means by which the unconscious communicates with the conscious self is through feelings, dreams and intuitions Unfortunately, our culture seems to undervalue these messages We are taught to value external events and objects—behavior, our bodies, material things, the logical output of our minds— but not our internal environment. Therefore, we tend to ignore feelings, dreams, and intuitions frofl1 our internal self: which are attempting to provide us with resources to meet the demands of the external world.It has been hypothesized by several researchers that cancer patients may have been cut off from the resources of their unconscious processes. In our experience, many recovered patients have come to see their illness as, in part, a message to value and pay more attention to their unconscious self rather than to the demands of others. In addition, many patients have described having had specific insights feelings, dreams or images which provided valuable guidance in their efforts to regain their health.The Inner Guide is a process we teach patients for tapping these rich inner resources of healing and strength. Visualizing your Inner Guide gives you access to the unconscious. It is a symbolic representation of aspects of the personality not normally available during conscious awareness. When you make contact with your Inner Guide—through a mental imagery process we will describe—you are connects with important mental resources from which you are usually cut off.The first major school of psychology to work with the Inner Guide as part of the therapeutic process was Jungian psychoanalysis. Jung reported that during meditation or reverie, spontaneous images sometimes formed that had an autonomous, life-of-their-own quality. In Jungian therapy, great emphasis is placed on establishing communication with these positive resources of the unconscious.One process used for permitting this communication with the Inner Guide is called a “guided daydream,” a form of mental imagery. Psychosynthesis, a recent psychotherapeutic process based on the work of Dr. Robert Assagiolli, also actively encourages the development of contact with the Inner Guide as part of a program of personal growth and discovery.For many people, the Inner Guide takes the form of a respected authority figure—a wise old man or woman, a doctor, a religious figure—with whom the patient is able to carry on an internal conversation, asking questions and hearing answers that seem to be wise beyond the individual’s conscious capacities.Furthermore, patients are often more responsive to insights achieved in consultation with their Inner Guides than they are to the observations of a group leader or a therapist. Because the Inner Guide is an aspect of their own personalities, relying on such a guide is a healthy step toward taking responsibility for their physical and psychological health.*63\347\2*