Tarot as Therapy
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Eklutna |
02 Jun 2005 |
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Hi. I introduced myself ages ago, and must confess I haven't checked in much since, but I'd like to ask you all a question:
Is there anyone here who has used the Tarot in a professional/therapeutic sense? I am a therapist and have over the years, but only in a very informal and spontaneous way, and I've always fantasized about just putting it right out there, offering something like "therapeutic Tarot consultations" as a form of therapy. I really see the Tarot as being an excellent projective technique, way more effective than any of the current projective methods psychologists use today, i.e., Rorschach, TAT cards, etc. After all the Tarot represents an ancient system of the archetypes of the collective and individual unconscious, and it really draws people in......and it really, really helps people get in touch with what's going on at a deep level.
But I don't want to hang out my shingle and become "Madame Fifi," the local fortuneteller; I'm a professional therapist, and while I have these so-called transpersonal leanings, I don't honestly see the Tarot as a way of telling fortunes (after all, reality is constantly reshaping itself according to our own drives!), and I'd want to make it clear that I see it as a therapeutic technique. Does anyone out there use it in this way? If so, I'd be glad to have your thoughts. In fact, I'd be glad to hear all reactions to this!
Thanks,
Eklutna
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| Lady Maria |
02 Jun 2005 |
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Hi Eklutna,
I think it's a great idea. Tarot has helped me more than counsellors have, and I'm just beginning the journey of it.
As for offering it to customers, could you experiment with reactions from some of your current clientelle-- just put it out their and see if they are comfortable with it?
Or have it as an option for those who are open to it and not immediately scared off?
Just a thought,
All the best,
Maria
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| ocho8s |
02 Jun 2005 |
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Hello Eklutna
I am a professional therapist and I have used the cards with some of my patients.
With one girl who was having some issues with sexuality I just gave her my decameron deck, ask her to shuffle until she felt comfortable and then ask her to pick a card, she did and then I asked her to tell me a story of what she tought it was going on in the card, she just went on and on, then I helped her realized that was her own story. Needless to say it was great!!
Since then I only use it on patients that are stuck in an issue and always picking up a card and making a story about it, also for me knowing what it means, helps me when after the story is done I ask direct questions.
I do not use this to make publicity and when my patientes ask me if I do read with them I tell them I only use them as therapy tool and story telling.
Maybe when I feel more confident I would read to patients but for now that is the only way I have used them and always.
If you want to know more please feel free to ask
Blessings
Anaoly
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| Obscure |
02 Jun 2005 |
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Hi, Eklutna.
I'm a psychotherapist just beginning my practice. I haven't used Tarot, but would be interested in exploring ideas. Have you looked at the book by Arthur Rosengarten, "Tarot and Psychology: Spectrums of Possibility"? I've been wanting to read it, but haven't yet. He's a Jungian who, according to a review on Amazon, offers some good clinical ideas about using Tarot in therapy.
It seems like it would take the right kind of client and the right kind of approach to make it work, but then I bet it could be tremendous.
Robert
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| Moongold |
02 Jun 2005 |
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I am not a therapist but I think that Tarot could be an excellent therapeutic tool.
There is a book called Tarot and Psychology by Arthur Rosengarten, Paragon House, 2000. ISBN 1 55778 784 0 which you may find worth reading.
Some of Christine Jette's work may also be of interest. She comes from a nursing background (I think) and specialises in addiction work. Her work goes beyond this, however.
There is another book by two Gestalt therapists also worth getting but I can't recall the name of it.
You may also be aware that the creators of the Mythic Tarot were also Jungian therapists - Liz Greene and Juliet Sharman Burke. Liz Greene has gone on to achieve great things in astrology now but Ms Sharman Burke still writes in Tarot.
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| prudence |
02 Jun 2005 |
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Hi
while in therapy for a few years with a gestalt therapist, I used tarot, on the side, so to speak....it helped me tremendously in realizing certain major subconscious drives.
I had a traumatic even t take place in my childhood, that I was convinced hadn't affected me at all. I never looked at it, nor tried to heal it(because, why would I "heal" somehting that hadn't hurt me?). But, in using tarot for myself, a certain card would always come up, until I said,
"oh, is this about *that*?!"
When I brought it up with my therapist, she nearly fell out of her chair, because it had been so indellibly stuck under the surface for me. The tarot had made me see what had been very deeply buried. Who knows how long it may have taken for me to see this issue, had I not been using tarot for myself as an introspective tool. My therapist was definitely surprised at the swiftness of my realization.
I have since moved, so I no longer see that therapist, nor any other, but I do still use tarot. It is a very good therapist for me.
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| WhiteRaven |
03 Jun 2005 |
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Tarot has been one of the primary tools that I've used in healing emotional issues.....It's helped me to make friends with my shadows and has aided in my healing process.
:)
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| Vadella |
03 Jun 2005 |
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Tarot is the only thing that has helped me to "move on" about certain issues. :) No one or thing has actually helped me besides that. If I was in your field, I would use it. I srtive to be who I am at all times possible. But like I said, That's just me. :) It's a personal thing I think. If you feel deep down to utilize this tool in your field then do so.
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| Astra |
03 Jun 2005 |
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There are certainly therapists who use the Tarot in their work, though I would guess that it seldom constitutes a major part of the therapy. One of the first queries I got about the WorldTree deck before it was finished (apart from Aeclectic people) was from a therapist in the UK who thought the images might be useful for her work.
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| Eklutna |
03 Jun 2005 |
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Thanks for all the responses. I will definitely check into the books suggested; I do have Sharman and Greene's Tarot deck, and it's probably my favorite one. I just to have a book (maybe I still do!?) called "Jung and Tarot" by.....hmmm. A woman writer. It was good. Like many of you, I use the Tarot constantly as my own private "therapy," and it does help keep me on track. I've used it with clients only occasionally, but it seems to me it could be a way of opening therapeutic issues and then sort of providing a framework for the process....that's what the Major Arcana is, right? And there are so many different decks, and each of them seems to strike a different chord..... Are any of you familiar with the alchemical Tarot deck? Alchemy is another motif that helps in delineating the therapeutic process. I think I'm going to stop trying to at least "appear" mainstream, and do what my heart tells me. Hell, managed care seldom pays these days anyway!
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| Scorpion |
03 Jun 2005 |
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Hi, Eklutna - I was just about to sign off when I saw this. I see Astrid O mentions gestalt therapy. I've run a very quick check and no-one seems to have mentioned the book "Heart of Tarot - An Intuitive Approach" by Amber K & Azrael Arynnk, which is specifically about "an amazingly accurate but little-known intuitive technique, developed by John McClimans, called "Gestalt Tarot" ". I think it's as near to a combination of therapy and tarot as you could ask for.
Hope this helps.
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| Eklutna |
04 Jun 2005 |
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Thanks for the suggestions.....I guess I better wander over to AMazon.com from here!!
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| Rhiannon SW |
04 Jun 2005 |
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I think using Tarot in therapy is a great idea. It makes the patient look into things in a different manner and they see things in a different light.
Issues can be brought out that ordinarily may have been dificult to brooch.
Does this make sense ? I'm studying to be therapist.
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| Eklutna |
09 Jun 2005 |
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It absolutely makes sense to me. When I have used it, the session has been extremely fruitful. There are several reasons for this: one is that is one believes in what is called a client-centere approach, for the client to shuffle and lay out the cards allows that person to feel that they are laying out their feelings for themself. Second, it is extremely helpful to ask them how they feel about what they see FIRST, the cards themselves, any patterns they see, predominant colors, suits, etc., and then for them to look at the cards and tune into what the card is saying to them. They will recall images from dreams, they will recall associations with the various symbols and figures...and events from their lives. I havent done a lot of psycholgical testing, although it was part of my graduate work, but I really believe the Tarot is the forerunner to the Rorschach and TAT cards and the so-called "projective" testing methods. AND, of course, it is far superior, because no matter what deck is used, it taps into the universal archetypes of the collective unconscious. When I use the Tarot in therapy, people feel as if they've received far more and done far more work than when they just engage in what's called "the talking cure." It's a way to let them see they can do their own inner work; all the therapist has to do is walk beside them.... the only reason I haven't used it more is because of the image these esoteric systems have in the "real" world.....which, of course, we all know is only a shadow of the truth the Tarot evokes.
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| mythos |
09 Jun 2005 |
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Another book to look into is Dr Irene Gad's Tarot and Individuation. I'm an ex-social worker psychotherapist. When I did a lot of work with kids I used things like the Animal Medicine deck, in a similar way as you would with play therapy story-telling dolls. I've used tarot since therapeutically with adolescents and adults ... and though I am retired, for me it screams for use along the lines of the TAT test. Art Rosengarten's book is quite good. He has a website too with some excellent articles.
On the personal front, it has been invaluable in working through issues of my own.
The environment in which you work is probably a consideration. When I worked for the Catholic Family Welare Bureau, I wouldn't have dreamt of using tarot, for example. When I worked in educational settings, it depended on the organisational climate of the school. When I had my own healing practice, well ... I got to chose when it was appropriate to expand and amplify the therapy process. Excellent for working through problems where a client is stuck with an issue.
mythos
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| Eklutna |
10 Jun 2005 |
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As you say, it all depends on the environment. I got out of the habit of using it when I worked in the various human service agencies I've worked in....but I'm getting to the point where I may be brave and start a private practice, managed care BS and licensing issues and all...... it's wonderful helping people to REALLY change.....
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| Obscure |
21 Jun 2005 |
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Using the PsychInfo search engine at a library, I found maybe a dozen references to Tarot and psychology or psychotherapy. Most of them were dissertations. I did find one journal article I found interesting:
Leah Davidson, "Foresight and Insight: The Art of the Ancient Tarot," Journal of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 29(3), 2001, pp. 491-501.
The author suggests that a deck of Tarot cards can act as a "transitional object," allowing the reader and client "a psychologically and emotionally calm space in which to contemplate the [client's] problems and their proposed resolutions." She subscribes to the "life journey" interpretation of the major arcana and has interesting things to say about how this concept differs from Asian ideas of karma and a universal cosmic self.
At the end of the article she presents a case study of one of her analytic clients who used the Tarot. Surprisingly for an analyst, she says that "on one or two occasions we have also read Tarot cards together at her request." She also talks about her own use of Tarot.
It's not a deep article, but other therapists might find it interesting.
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The Tarot as Therapy thread was originally posted on 02 Jun 2005 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.
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