ABOUT SHADOW WORK
Therapeutic approach
Our therapeutic approach is rooted in depth psychology which explores the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious. We also use archetypal theory and our work follows the principles of person centred therapy.
We work with the concept that we are all made up of many different parts, some we are fully conscious of and some we are partly conscious of and some we have little or no awareness of. It is these parts that we have little or no awareness of that forms our shadows.
The shadow
Our shadows are made up of parts of us that we’ve repressed or denied. Our shadows shape our destructive thoughts, our unmanageable emotions and our impulsive behaviours, and are often the result of painful experiences, trauma, and past memories.
Dealing with your past is necessary for healing, and I find through leaning in with empathy profound change can occur. I support clients to form a new relationship with some of the unlikeable, wounded parts of their psyche in order to integrate new patterns into their lives, as well as forming a healthier compassionate relationship with themselves as a whole.
Some common shadows are anger, jealousy, greed, and selfishness. These are feelings that everyone has, but not everyone is comfortable expressing them. So what can happen is that they get suppressed and put into your shadow ‘your unconscious’ and then complex behaviours are formed to stop you from feeling that emotion.
I will use the emotion of anger to explain how our shadows can play out. If anger is in shadow complex behaviours will be used to suppress this feeling and stop it being expressed. Anger is a healthy and needed emotion, but when it gets suppressed it can grow in your unconscious psyche into rage, seeping out sideways in passive aggressive ways, or erupting into fits of rage when you least expect it to.
When working with repressed anger the aim in shadow work is to explore the parts of yourself that are suppressing your anger, and to work with these parts so that you can begin to get to know your anger in a safely held therapeutic space, and form a healthy relationship to it. You can then start to use your anger as an ally which lets you know when something is not OK for you in your life, and helps you to set healthy boundaries. Or you can use it to give you the strength to move out of a situation that is harmful or not serving you anymore.
I have used anger as a simple example. Our shadow is often filled with many different aspects of ourselves, dark aspects as well as our golden aspects can be found in our shadow, amongst many others we can find that our joy, intimacy, spontaneity and confidence can be hidden in our shadow.
By opening up to your shadow sides you can begin to see how your thoughts and feelings influence your behavior and create your reality. As you become aware of what shadows are influencing your life you can then begin to heal and integrate these aspects of yourself and start to bring about the changes that you want in your life.
“Healing The Shadow is the act of taking back control of the unseen forces that have been guiding your life, as psychoanalyst Carl Jung says, making the unconscious conscious.”
Our external world is a reflection of our internal world
We believe that our external world is a reflection of our internal world. Our internal world is created from all the different experiences we have had in our life, especially those of our childhood. We unfortunately can't change what has happened to us, but through working with your shadow you can change the imprint it’s had on your psyche, which in turn changes how you experience the outer world.
Shadow work session
Memories and emotions that have been hidden and held in your unconscious psyche can be accessed through exploring and embodying different parts of yourself. Through this exploration you can release deeply held emotional pain that you've been carrying, as well as reframing limiting and damaging beliefs you may have taken on.
Read why we explore our shadows - https://exploringtheshadow.co.uk/why-do-shadow-work/
Acceptance and healing
In shadow work we believe that no matter how destructive or unhelpful a behaviour may be there is always a reason behind it (usually the intention of protection is what we find at the core). The darker aspects of your psyche can be frightening and confusing but we believe the more you try to hide or push away this side of yourself the more powerful it can become.
“In this work there is an invitation to explore these darker aspects of yourself so that you can get to know these sides of yourself, reclaim the gold hidden in these areas and no longer be frightened of parts of yourself.”
Often a lot of energy is used to keep these parts of yourself in shadow, and once you’ve worked with and integrated these (energies) parts of yourself, they often reveal themselves as great allies and guides ready to support you on your path to a life filled with deep self acceptance and loving connection.
Your session is led by you which means we explore what you want to explore and at a pace that feels right for you. Once we have discussed what you'd like to have happen in your session, I will guide you and sensitively support you, listening deeply to you and reflecting back what I hear, asking you appropriate questions to help deepen your exploration.
Read about exploring the shadow -https://exploringtheshadow.co.uk/
Working with archetypes
We use four core Archetypes as a Jungian psychological map of a 360 degree potential of the human personality. Archetypes are a part of your personality which represent different qualities in you: Short examples -
Understanding the archetypal theoretical framework can help you make sense of patterns in your life and where these may have come from. This understanding then points the way towards the best healing path for you. Getting to know the archetypes and their different qualities, their value, purpose and the gifts that each has to offer can be incredibly insightful in helping you embrace parts of yourself that may have been shunned or shamed previously in your life.
“Shadow work is deep emotional process work that can bring about powerful and lasting change.”
“A life truly lived constantly burns away veils of illusion, burns away what is no longer relevant, gradually reveals our essence, until, at last, we are strong enough to stand in our naked truth.”
— Marion woodman