Creative Healing

I invite you to consider the of use alternative forms of knowing in your practice to grow your intuition and tap into the truth of who you are.

The practice of using tarot has transformed my self-understanding into a more complex, rich, coherent autobiographical narrative, integrating my past (right brain) and my present (left brain) to create a third. This process of integration is the basis of creativity (Greer, 2019). Accessing this kind of integration aids in our sense of identity and well-being ultimately serving as a tool for creative healing.

D.W. Winnicott, a pediatrician and psychanalyst, believed the caregiver, if attuned to the child’s physical and emotional needs, provides a holding environment for the child to experience the feeling of becoming real. Ideally, this happens in the relationship between a child and primary caregiver, but the relationship between a therapist and client can also serve as a source of consistency, predictability, and comfort, facilitating the feeling of becoming real. With the help of the caregiver or a therapist, an individual eventually learns to regulate their emotional states and tolerate feeling what they feel, and knowing what they know (van der kolk, 2014, p. 115).

When we are unable to feel what we feel or know what we know, we become vulnerable to “shutting down the direct feedback from [our] bodies, the seat of pleasure, purpose, and direction” (van der kolk, 2014, p. 116). In other words, we shut down our intuition. When this happens, our inner sensations are ignored. When sensations are associated with safety and comfort we can learn to self-regulate and self-soothe. When they are not, we fail to have a sense of agency over our bodies and mind.

In the spirit of Winnicott’s work who emphasized the power of play, other tools or anchors can be utilized to invite safety in moments of distress. These tools serve to anchor us in the present moment and invites us to tap into our visceral sensations and ultimately the truth of who we are. This brings us to the use of tarot in developing intuition and self-regulation.

For more information on using tarot in a creative healing process, please contact me to learn more.

References

van der Kolk, Bessel (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York: Penguin Books, ISBN: 978-0-14-3122774-1