what steps do you propose a beginner tarotist incorporates therapy into their work?

hello,

here is a beginner question,

what steps do you advise for tarot beginners and perhaps even those with some years of study to incorpate therapy sessions into their work without the readers going for a counselling degree.

for example are there some psychologists techiques out there historical/clinical/experimental that have proven harmful so to incorpate these into the tarot reader won't leave them empowered.

I remember that part in miracle on 34 street where the youth who likes to play santa clause was all depressed for he recieved an nontrained, beginner analysis from the mall employee who wasn't trained in the area.

and what techiques do you advise that all tarot readers should look at.

First steps for a serious Tarot counselor

Holmes and all, These suggestions are from my perspective as a holistic nurse with an education in nursing, art, psychology and transpersonal studies.

I suggest starting with mainstream psychology and progressing to transpersonal psychology. A mainstream counseling degree depends upon the person. I didn't get one because I wanted to work in health psychology and there still isn't a good mainstream track for that and so I custom designed my education to suit my bliss. I do interactive Tarot counseling.

From my perspective, you are dealing with human conditions and need undergraduate classes in psychology (at least). Basic psychology 101 is an overview of psychology and will broaden your mental horizon. For instance, you will learn what the four tracks of psychology are about. They are behavioral, cognitive, humanistic and transpersonal. Then take a class/s in abnormal psychology. This is a real eye opener class. It has so much information that sometimes it is given in two classes. This will take you a long way in knowing how mainstream views dysfunction and how to see from this perspective. After that you might want to read books by Dr. Arnold Mindell. He sees the same things but frames the dysfunctions as "extreme states". So one can get two perspectives on "dysfunction" to carry with you to your sessions. It may also "save your bacon" to be able to recognize delusion and psychosis and choose not to work with people who display these symptoms.

If you really like psychology classes, personality theory is good too.

If you can find a class on Jungian psychology (he coined the term transpersonal) that will serve you well too. If you can't find one, get a book about him. He wasn't a good writer and his writing is hard to read. One about his methods are better. This will give you a holistic overview of psychology. Although he didn't work with Tarot cards, he was familiar with the symbols of transformation, which is basically what you are dealing with as a tarotist.

Definitely study dream interpretation on an ongoing basis because you are getting a dream, in the form of Tarot images, from the client when they shuffle and lay out the cards. Also, you get familiar with your own symbolism and can discuss it as appropriate with the client. For example, "If this was my dream symbol (or Tarot card symbol) it would mean......" Sometimes this works to jostle an insight loose for the client. I usually only do this as a last effort if they can't come up with their own interpretation.

How is that for a first step? Should keep you busy for about a year or two.
Take a look at my personal website under biography to see how I undertook my preparation as an alternative counselor [Edited by Moderator.]. Best, Toni Gilbert

I would suggest you recognize your limitations and abilities at your given level. Do no harm. Empower the sitter, open mental/emotional doors for the sitter. Give the client positive idea's through the cards and the clients feedback to you. Remember at this level you are working with states not traits. You do need to recognize those that can be helped by you and those that need help beyond you.. This is not a "what will/does" reading, as the study group says: This is Therapeutic. Sometimes your best advice to someone will be a referral.

I think if you are serious about mental therapy a good grasp of psychology is important.

Therapeutic Tarot can operate at many levels. Certainly to use psychotherapeutic tools effectively requires serious study. However, there is a style of reading that is often called "therapeutic" that I call in my book _21 Ways_, a "reading that is interactive, transformational and empowering." I don't want to get into all that here, but a good place for anyone to begin is to:

1) Guide a querent through their own interaction with the cards, asking them to simply describe the cards and then turn these statements into first person, present tense statements about themselves. Believe that they have all the answers within themselves. Be truly curious and open about what they see.

2) Repeat the querent's own words when you hear the truth in their voice or manner. Help them to hear their own truth.

3) I can't resist going back to the advice of my first tarot teacher (through her books), Eden Gray, who wrote in _Mastering the Tarot_:

"So watch for the pitfalls when you read the cards; recognize how suggestible everyone is—and then go ahead and use the cards for good. . . . Give those for whom you read encouragement to strive for their highest ideals."

Mary

Ah

Teheuti said:

:

1) Guide a querent through their own interaction with the cards, asking them to simply describe the cards and then turn these statements into first person, present tense statements about themselves. Believe that they have all the answers within themselves. Be truly curious and open about what they see.

2) Repeat the querent's own words when you hear the truth in their voice or manner. Help them to hear their own truth.

3
Mary

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where does reading the tarot come into play here as a client instead of being a facilator. does the therapeutic tarot approach take out reading the tarot and make us counselors who are using the tarot to help the person realize their own inner fears ?.

as a tarot reader I found that just looking and mentioning what a card mean tends to start a confession of sorts, their fears, their desires.
two times in my life while reading they came for a reading and i just got to the first card and describing the card and what it could mean , and started a wave of tears that surpised me as a reader.

I doubt i could of did that by asking her what the card meant.

with that being said i wonder if that is my own tarot reader ego who says i must help this person ,, i hope i reach this person so something i can do is meaningful.

the thing about this is,, we can't take the tarot reader out of the process,, we can but then we as tarot readers lose the power of being tarot readers who can't give advice , can't tell them what we think based on the cards,
which disempowers us.

with that in mind,, i wouldn't call a therapist who decides to use the tarot as a tool is a tarot reader at the beginner.
however as they begin to work with it they might see that there is something more to the tarot then just as a tool.

HOLMES said:

does the therapeutic tarot approach take out reading the tarot and make us counselors who are using the tarot to help the person realize their own inner fears ?.

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Why fears? Aren't a whole range of emotions possible?

as a tarot reader I found that just looking and mentioning what a card mean tends to start a confession of sorts, their fears, their desires. . . . I doubt i could of did that by asking her what the card meant.

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Which is why training is advised. No where above did I say ask the querent what the card *means.* I suggested a very different process.

we can't take the tarot reader out of the process,, we can but then we as tarot readers lose the power of being tarot readers who can't give advice , can't tell them what we think based on the cards, which disempowers us.

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Your fears are not what happens when therapeutic or projective techniques are done well. Good training makes these irrelevant.

Mary

I feel projective techniques tend to define personality traits more then anything. It cures nothing but it can show culturally perceived flaws (and more) and can be used as a foundation for a therapeutic therapy.

Teheuti has just made some real good points, as we often have too narrow of a vision and our preconceived idea's generally steer us off course going into a reading. Bring nothing but a open slate and your experience I guess.

HOLMES said:

we can't take the tarot reader out of the process,, we can but then we as tarot readers lose the power of being tarot readers who can't give advice , can't tell them what we think based on the cards,
which disempowers us.

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Hi Holmes,
I think you have to decide what you want to achieve.

If you want to be a tarot reader who gives advice based on what you read in the cards you are likely to get the sense of empowerment that you speak of. You're acting as an advice-giver. The sitter may - or may not - be empowered as a result, they may or may not agree with and act on your advice.

Teheuti said:

1) Guide a querent through their own interaction with the cards, asking them to simply describe the cards and then turn these statements into first person, present tense statements about themselves. Believe that they have all the answers within themselves. Be truly curious and open about what they see.

2) Repeat the querent's own words when you hear the truth in their voice or manner. Help them to hear their own truth.

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If you use the techniques Teheuti details, it is the sitter who is empowered. The pay-back for you is in knowing that you have facilitated the sitter's own empowerment.

Aoife said:

If you use the techniques Teheuti details, it is the sitter who is empowered. The pay-back for you is in knowing that you have facilitated the sitter's own empowerment.

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I must disagree here for some of these reasons.

1. the sitter is seeing only what they want to see in this process

2. any counselor can do this without knowing what the cards can mean so no need for tarot reading study. much like they could do like asking what a story means to them, or a movie

3. using this just this techique limits the tarot reader ability for they are no longer doing what they trained to do which is to read the tarot.
instead they are serving as guides to help the person examine themselves through the cards.
for many this could be an advanced step for a tarot reader. for me it is a step backwards.

4. going back to number one,, this leaves the sitter perhaps only feeling empowered for everything they been thinking has been validated.
but in some of these cases, it must be possible that they weren't really given the tarot message.

and so ,, i would say the sitter may leave feeling they had a meaningful session.
but are they really empowered. ?

Holmes said:

1. the sitter is seeing only what they want to see in this process.... going back to number one,, this leaves the sitter perhaps only feeling empowered for everything they been thinking has been validated.
but in some of these cases, it must be possible that they weren't really given the tarot message.

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But, Holmes, you're coming perilously close to suggesting you know better than the sitter. Who determines what the message is? Is it possible that someone with no tarot training could get the tarot message but the reader has missed it?

2. any counselor can do this without knowing what the cards can mean so no need for tarot reading study. much like they could do like asking what a story means to them, or a movie

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Yes, lol.
But is there anything wrong with this?
Who determines what the cards mean?

and so ,, i would say the sitter may leave feeling they had a meaningful session.
but are they really empowered. ?

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Who determines whether the sitter was empowered?

3. using this just this techique limits the tarot reader ability for they are no longer doing what they trained to do which is to read the tarot.
instead they are serving as guides to help the person examine themselves through the cards.
for many this could be an advanced step for a tarot reader. for me it is a step backwards.

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I would say that the tarot reader is using different abilities. If you feel its limiting after giving the ideas a try, then yes, its not right for you. No one's suggesting these ideas are right for everyone.