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Life Purpose as a Motivating Force in Therapy
By Stephen Proskauer MD | February 8, 2008
Life purpose or personal destiny is not commonly emphasized in therapy. Traditional dynamic psychotherapy has focused primarily on bringing the unconscious sources of inner and outer conflict into the light of awareness so that these conflicts can be more maturely resolved. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other behavioral techniques rely on more direct strategies for promoting positive changes in symptoms and behavior without emphasizing analysis of the roots of these issues.
Often patients have been so preoccupied with their problems that they give no thought at all to a higher purpose for being alive. When therapists take the time to ask questions like “Who are you without your problems?” or “What are your dreams for your life?” or “Why are you here on Earth?” or “What do you want to do or be during your lifetime?” or “Can you tell me about the direction of your life, where you think your life experience is leading you?”, a larger context or goal for therapy may emerge that goes beyond symptom relief or behavioral change alone.
This emphasis on life purpose can be healing in itself, helping to bolster self esteem and give a glimpse into the light at the end of the tunnel. Feeling some sense of personal destiny can also motivate patients to cut through the endless cycles of suffering in their lives and move forward in new directions that feel good for a change. As Joseph Campbell famously advised for finding your own hero’s path, “Follow your bliss!”
In response to this post, Ramey commented:
Considering the theme of your site, this topic begs the question of the connection between our purpose in life and karma. Can we change our purpose in life … i.e. if I thought my purpose was to have children and then I don’t have children, what is my purpose in life now? And if karma delivers situations for us to learn by doesn’t that influence our purpose? Perhaps even more basic to the discussion … how do we define ‘purpose’ as it relates to life? Is working as an engineer or being a father fulfilling our life purpose or is it just a job and and a role? How do we ever really KNOW what our life purpose is?
Steve Proskauer replies:
Very good questions, Ramey. They remind me how important it is to clarify my terms. In a general sense, nobody can say in words the true purpose of being alive. It is an unfathomable mystery, at least to the ego. Eckhart Tolle defines it this way: “Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment. That is why we may also call it Presence. The ultimate purpose of existence, which is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into this world” (A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, 2005, p. 78 in the paperback edition).
Here I am using a more specialized definition of the term “purpose” as it relates to our learning process in Earth School, referring to the specific issues we chose to work on when we set up this lifetime prior to conception, including spiritual development and service to others as well as unresolved problems from past lifetimes. Our life purpose in this sense is a general direction that we have chosen to follow, not a specific occupation or lifestyle.
For instance, if we have opted to learn more about giving and receiving love, we will usually select a family environment that does not make this issue easy for us; then we have to work it out for ourselves. We learn much more that way. Whether we do this by having intimate relationships, children, and/or by a life of giving and receiving love as a healer or spiritual teacher is ours to choose. Above all, this is a free choice planet. Nothing is cast in bronze.
There is also no way to do it wrong. Worst case scenario, so to speak, might be that we repeat patterns from previous lives and once again get burned, but in a different way this time. New learning has still occurred and the problem can be tackled again in a another lifetime. Nobody is waiting up there to grade us on our performance. That idea is rooted in childhood fears of being judged. We can extend the curriculum in any direction we want and for as long as we want.
By the way, if anything in our lives comes very easily, it it is generally something we have already mastered in other lifetimes; it hardly ever involves the area of new learning this time around. I hope this response clarifies your questions. You can also consult the first three chapters in my book and other postings on this blog relating to the topic of karma.
The application of quantum theory to reincarnation briefly treated in Chapter 3 of my book addresses the matter of how our choices in living each moment of each lifetime can influence the soul’s vibratory energy pattern in subtle but significant ways. This speaks to your question about mutual influence between karmic patterns and life purpose.
Topics: Consciousness, Life Purpose, Psychotherapy, Soul, Uncategorized |