Becoming a Transpersonal Therapist and what that means …
Upon entering Dunderry many years ago to begin my Shamanic Medicine Spiral* I read about becoming a Transpersonal Therapist and the study required. I knew I wanted to learn it all, I felt a knowing my being all this path was for me.
Becoming a Transpersonal Therapist is a combination of all my offerings as an energy healer and practitioner, much of this around my shamanic practices, therapies and counselling work. And 9years later after I have practiced, studied, facilitated and embodied much, with so much more to be curious about, receiving my certificate is a truly lovely way to honour all my shamanic training and practices that I’ve honestly grown with along the way. This is the non-negotiable part to this all, this will also be on-going. There are many courses and studies I have embraced and grown with that I have only ever touched on and I am excited to share more in good time.
*I did my Shamanic Medicine Spiral with John Cantwell and Karen Ward of Sli an Chroi in Dunderry in 2018 - this began my years of learning, practicing, healing and facilitating others in their shamanic healing. This was after many years of healing, learning and becoming a certified healer, I became a certified shamanic practitioner in 2020 from Sli an Chroi . In 2018 they were the only others Shamanic school in Dunderry but now this has changed. Now there is non other school of shamannism in Dunderry other than The Irish Centre of Shamanism led by director Martin Duffy. John and Karen are now teaching on-line. I can highly recommend all as wonderful, inspiring, wise teachers, mentors and facilitators. I began my studies with Shamanism Ireland in 2023, receiving my certification as a Shamanic Counsellor in 2024 and continued on to my certification as a Transpersonal Therapist in ay 2026.
What has always been very important to me was the continuous personal development I work on. This will not change. When I fully realised my path as an energy healer I knew I wanted to master it as much as I could. That all courses and studies I took were to help me master, which will be a life long practice, all I do. Working on the requirements for becoming a certified Transpersonal Therapist helped this and why I loved it. The requirements are outlined here.
Transpersonal therapy addresses mental, physical, social, emotional, creative, and intellectual needs, with an emphasis on the role of a healthy spirit in healing. Transpersonal means beyond the personal. The therapy is a form of spiritual psychology which studies human experiences beyond the realms of ordinary reality. The holistic treatment is based on the idea that humans are more than just their mind and body, but are also composed of intangible, or transcendent, factors that make up the whole person.
The therapy often helps you to heal or answer questions in ways not possible before .
What is important to know is that it is not one modality it is the combination of all my work and more that allows me to call myself a Transpersonal Therapist. But if you did want to book an appointment under that title we then explore what is best for you and go from there. It will be a journey of healing.
Maslow, Carl Jung and Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, and others called it “transpersonal therapy” because of its focus on a broader conception of how a person achieves meaning, purpose, and happiness describing transpersonal therapy as “reaching beyond humanistic concerns.” The therapy originally included a greater focus on altered states of consciousness, from which a patient can see themselves and their lives from a different perspective.
Methods includes dreamwork, meditation, journeying, reiki, trance states, shamanism, mystical and peak experiences, ecology, journaling, holotropic breath work, yoga, non-ordinary states of awareness and consciousness studies. It integrates traditional psychology with spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience. They help clients explore deeper states of consciousness, find life meaning, and heal beyond the limitations of the traditional ego.
Each therapist will have their methods of expertise and mastery to help their clients.
From my therapeutic lens healing involves the whole person and invites a space for someone to show up as their own healer. This includes shamanic healing practices and counselling, rituals, ceremonies, meditation, journeying, art therapy, integrates mindfulness, reiki, angelic realms, dreamwork, journaling, intuitive coaching, mystical experiences, breath work, non-ordinary states of awareness and consciousness studies.
You may feel called to work with a transpersonal therapist due to their mastery of modalities and practices. This is for you if you are open to exploring your spiritual side, helping you to become more spiritually aware, or who are having trouble finding meaning in their life. The aim is to aid you in transcending the current view of yourself and to open your minds to new ways of approaching the challenges in their lives.
My love of entering into non-ordinary consciousness, working with the cosmology of the upper, middle and lower world realms, being supported by nature, my guides and ancestors in all imperative to all my work and my personal practices and why it is really a honour to receive my certificate now.