'I have a great belief in wholeness. It's not even a belief, it's a knowledge that individuals and this entire universe have a natural coherence, as opposed to chaos. Our task is to awaken ourselves and others to that coherence. I don't mean helping others in a patronizing way, but to lay out before people the possibilities and offer them the opportunity to recognize what's going on. Many will disregard this, won't care about it, won't appreciate it, but there will always be those who are open and will learn from close attention to the natural order of things.'
– June Singer
'Nothing is more challenging, nothing less sentimental, than the invitation of spirit to become who we are and not who we think we should be.'
–Thomas Moore
My first career (I like to refer to it as a ‘past life’) was as an author and freelance journalist based in Asia. Living outside of the US for 15 years has given me an in-depth multicultural perspective that I find invaluable in working with the psyche. My writing career, which has yielded six books to date, continues to generate many insights into the hard work of the creative process.
Buddhism and psychotherapy have been the two long-term mainstays of my personal path, and provide the foundation of my work with clients. From 1985 to 1998 I lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, where I was fortunate enough to receive teachings and meditation instruction from several Tibetan masters. The Dzogchen tradition in which I practice emphasises a fresh and natural view of reality as it is, unclouded by conceptual thought. The term Dzogchen or “Great Perfection” refers to the self-perfected state of our primordial nature, which is always present in the depths of our being. Dzogchen meditation brings us back to this innate state in a way that is both simple and profound, through experiential teachings emphasizing the natural spaciousness and clarity of mind.
Returning to the United States in 1998, I earned a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, and established a private therapy practice in Portland. In my work as a therapist I seek to integrate the psychologically sophisticated insights of Tibetan Buddhism within the framework of Western depth psychology. I find spiritual practice and therapeutic work to be naturally complementary partners, in my personal life as well as my work. Each takes me to places the other doesn’t necessarily go. Together, they open up new territory. The two traditions share a common bond in their focus on deepening and stabilizing awareness. I’ve also found each to be a profound source of strength in dealing with suffering, an aspect of life that is explicitly acknowledged in both systems – and almost as explicitly avoided by our present society.
I feel that blending psychological and spiritual work offers a remarkably skillful approach, one that can both scale the heights and plumb the depths, working both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of reality – the spiritual and the embodied aspects of our lives. By working both sides of the equation – emotional and spiritual, relative and ultimate, psychology and Buddhism – we are able to be grounded and open to larger realities, to “grow down,” in James Hillman’s phrase, as well as to finally grow up; to develop both a workable, comfortable human self and a broadened spiritual awareness.
Presence-centered psychotherapy offers a creative response to the emotional suffering prevalent in the modern world. By tapping into both Eastern and Western wisdom, we can begin to understand ourselves deeply and compassionately enough to create the space for natural healing.
© 2005 Kerry Moran
1308 NW
20th, Suite 7