A WHOLISTIC MODEL

FOR PSYCHOTHERAPY AND FOR LIFE

By Ben Hanah

The wholistic model for psychotherapy and for life has been developed in
the last thirty years of my work with people. It is an attempt to integrate the
various aspects, qualities and realities of our lives, into one practical
system in order to help us with our clients and with our own journeys
towards healing, growth and fulfillment. This article presents only an
overview and main points of the wholistic model.

We can look at the manifestation of our lives as made of five overlapping

aspects: 1) body 2) mind 3) spirit 4) community and 5) environment. These
five aspects are permeated by three qualities: 1) wisdom 2) creativity and
3) love. The five aspects of life and the three qualities spring from and are
expressions of Being-pure consciousness, the eternal, transcendental
reality.

BODY MIND

ENVIRONMENT SPIRIT

COMMUNITY

CREATIVITY

WISDOM LOVE

BEING

Now I will expand on these parts of life and explain how we can explore
them , as healers and guides for our clients and for ourselves, using
different approaches, tools and techniques to achieve more wholeness
and fulfillment in our lives.

BODY-our body is made of many levels of energy, in which the physical

material body that we experience with our senses is only one
manifestation of our whole bodily energy field (energy bundle). Each one
of us is an open energy system and our body interacts constantly with
other aspects of who we are and with the world around us. These aspects
may be our mental and spiritual aspects, inside us, and the community and
environmental aspects, outside us. (Looking at these aspects from another
point of view, we realize that there is not much meaning to the words
inside or outside, because the outside is part of us even by the simple fact
that it defines us and our boundaries).

We are born with a genetic and energetic plan for our body, and through
life experiences (inner and outer influences) our body shapes itself and our
entire life in many different ways.

We absorb air and food into our body for energy and as materials for
activity, purification, healing and growth. There is a saying that "who we
are is what we eat" (or more accurately "what we don't shit"). Most people
in western culture don't eat right food for them or the environment (non-
organic food, genetically manipulated food, an excess of sugar, alcohol,
fat, acidic food, processed food, food produced out of season and food
that is brought to our table from other parts of the world with the expense
of polluting the environment etc.). Many people don't eat a balanced diet
and this in itself is enough to create a physical and emotional imbalance or
diseases.

We need to educate ourselves and our clients about good nutrition in

general and the specific needs of each body in different seasons and
geographic locations, because we have different body types and different
balances of elements in the body according to the seasons and
geographic location. (See Ayur-Veda,Chinese medicine and the five
elements, Macrobiotic literature, etc.)

Many people in the West breathe shallow in the chest, instead of deep
belly breathing, the lack of air and energy creates fatigue, haziness and
even disease in the body, mind and spirit. (To learn about breath, see
Yogic pranayama, Chi-Quong, Middendorf technique and Continuum).

Our body is shaped by inner influences like balanced or imbalanced

mental emotional and spiritual activities, including anxiety, relaxation, love,
anger, confusion, devotion,as well as outer influences including food,
air,stressors,traumas and disease. We have to teach our clients how to
balance, enhance and heal their bodies. Our body is not only a machine, it
has its own wisdom and memory. It is beneficial for us to develop ways of
listening and learning about our needs and potential, from the body. Our
emotions are energy that arises from the body in reaction to conscious and
unconscious mental activity. We can learn a great deal from our emotions
about what we need from ourselves and the world (look into Reichian
therapy, Bioenergetics, Hakomi, body oriented trauma therapy etc.).

Most people in western culture are very limited in their sexual knowledge,
experience and expression. In spite of the sexual revolution in the
nineteen sixties and seventies, many people still confuse the purpose of
sex with power, self-esteem, anger, success etc.

Many men and women experience limited sexual pleasure and orgasm due
to ignorance of their potential, past traumas, fear of intimacy and an
unbalanced need for control.

The clothes we wear are an intimate connection with the environment.

Influenced by fashion, trends, prices and cultural and religious taboos we
tend to wear clothes that are unhealthy to our bodies (for example:
synthetic fabrics, inorganic fibers, tight clothes and shoes that cut off blood
circulation, limit our breathing and damage our natural posture). We buy
clothing that is connected with the abuse other people (like unfair trade
and sweatshops), or damaging to the environment (irresponsible cultivation
and watering of plants for fibers which destroy the land, chemical treatment
of fields, plants and fibers which poison us, other animals and plants etc.).

We can explore our somatic potential and possible interactions with others
and the world at large, through different techniques and tools (martial arts,
Tai-chi, Hatha-Yoga, Five -Rhythms dance, Continuum, Authentic-
Movement, Contact-Improvisation, Tantra, tribal dancing, Dervishes-
swirling, etc.).

MIND-Our mind is made of subtle levels of energy field and it includes: our
mental activity and patterns like thoughts (conscious and unconscious),
intellectual activity like reasoning and planning. imagination, visioning,
intuition. belief systems, archetypal energies (see Jungian psychology)
and individual and collective memory.

Most people in western cultures have a very narrow, distorted and limited
experience and understanding of the nature. capacity and potential of their
minds. Unfortunately mainstream western Psychotherapy addresses only a
small part of our mental activity. It is our duty to encourage, inform and
teach our clients about the vast dimensions of the mind. (See Rudolf
Steiner philosophy-anthroposophy, westerns psychology including; Jung,
cognitive psychology, limbic brain research, eastern and shamanic
philosophy and psychology etc.)

SPIRIT-Here I refer to spirit as the aspect of life which cannot be

experienced by our senses in everyday states of consciousness and that
cannot be measured and or explained by our present day mainstream
scientific theories, logic or technology.

My definition of spirit is intentionally vague, in order to include a vast range

of experiences, theories and possibilities. Religion is a cultural or social
attempt to structure and formalize spirituality and in many cases it distorts
or destroys spirituality in the process. Pure spirituality may be a personal
experience, a belief system and the expression of each individual.

Spirituality enlivens and deepens the other aspects to life, it enhances and
develops qualities like love, devotion and service, and brings meaning to
life beyond material existence.

Lack of balance in the spiritual aspect of life may result in limitations and
weakness in the other aspects of life and ultimately to an unfulfilled life as
a Whole. Without a balanced spiritual life there is a tendency to be over
focused on material gratification. Self-image and self-esteem are shaky
and the experience and understanding of love and relationships are
superficial. Community life is limited and prone to
disintegration (see communism and the kibbutz communities in Israel) and
the relationship to nature tends to be mechanical.

There are many ways, techniques and traditions to explore and develop
the spiritual aspect of our life, as through meditation, prayers, rituals,
dancing, music, mind-altering substances, chanting, movement, breathing
etc.

COMMUNITY-For millions of years we lived in tight communities: small,

wondering groups of hunters-gatherers. Only about ten thousand years
ago we started to live in stable permanent settlements in an extended
family social system, in villages and then in small towns. Through human
history we developed a rich verbal and non-verbal communication and
expressions that connected us to each other as individuals, as a group
and to the animals plants and the earth.

As part of the intense and extreme processes of individuation and

individualization in the western culture, we have lost the balance in our
relationships with individuals and the social structures around us: family,
neighborhood, work, school and nation. As a result of this many people
are isolated and feel lonely and scared.

We have lost our wisdom of how to communicate with each other in an

effective and peaceful way and how to be intimate with others. We have
lost our old ways, the communal traditions, ceremonies and rituals that
connect us to ourselves, to others, to nature and to the divine.

In current times of industrial and postindustrial culture, the nuclear family

system of two parents families or single parent families, is neither
functional nor practical for either the parents and the children. These
needs and expectations from the parents to provide and interact with the
child on so many levels creates tremendous pressure on both the parents
and the child, psychologically, mentally, emotionally, energetically,
financially and socially.

We need to develop new social structure that will support and enhance the
growth and fulfillment of life for the parent and children and of the
community as a whole. (See Quaker communities, Buddhist sangha and
traditional and tribal families structures).

ENVIRONMENT includes the many levels and dimensions of creation. and

it embraces our rooms and homes, work pace, neighborhoods, villages
and towns The esthetic, balance and clutter that we create. See Feng Shui
and Stapatya-Veda.) and the land, the sea, the planet Earth, the solar
system, our galaxy and all of creation.

Most people in western culture have an urban living style and have very
little contact, if at all with plants, animals and the earth. They don't have
much awareness of the multidimensional and inseparable connection
between people and nature, even though most of our species which
emerged from nature, lived in nature and walked barefoot on the earth for
eight million years, until about hundred years ago.

Unfortunately, for the most part we have a mechanical relationship with

nature. Most people don't feel that they are part of nature and nature is out
there only to conquer or to use thoughtlessly . As a result of this attitude,
we contaminate our environment, destroy many eco-systems and species
of animals and plants and change the climate.

Most of us don't grow our own food any more, many times we don't even
prepare our food , and we only hunt and gather our food in the
supermarket. This isolation from nature-from the earth, the plants, and the
animals creates imbalance in our body, mind and spirit.
The result of this situation is the severe health and environmental crisis,
that the human race is currently facing. (See diseases like cancer, allergies
and asthma, and planetary emergencies like draughts, contamination of
the oceans and global warming.)

Each of the three qualities permeates the five aspects of life and enriches
them with its own uniqueness. Our challenge is to find a dynamic balance
between the three qualities in each of the five aspect of life, a balance that
supports the full expression of each a pect of life.

WlSDOM is the combined theories and experiences of life. It is not enough

to read books, take classes, listen to speeches or study philosophy. We
need a direct experience too. It can either be an experience from within
(within our body, emotions, insight, intuition and spirit), an external
experience (by interacting with people, animals. plants and the elements),
or both.

CREATIVITY is the energy that propels life toward its evolution and
fulfillment. It is the force that, together with wisdom and love, manifests the
immense potential in creation and in all of us.

In western culture many of us are taught verbally and non-verbally to

believe that creativity is the gift of the artist and the genius. That the rest of
us are doomed to a boring, mundane, repetitious and mechanical life.

Creativity is not the gift that only recognized artists, and geniuses have. All
of us are artists and geniuses in our unique way, just imply in the way in
which we can manifest ourselves in our lives. (See the creative and artistic
life of the Balinese)

We can be creative in every expression of our life, in the way we walk, talk,
dance, dress up, sing, cook, eat, write, work, plan our day and week,
decorate our home, interact with people, raise our children, love, live and
die.

LOVE is a state of consciousness and not an emotion. It is the opposite of

fear and control. It is caring for the well being, growth and fulfillment of the
other and it is a force that attracts us to each other, just like gravity.

Unfortunately the word "love" is contaminated in our culture with

connotations of sexual attraction, family bonds etc., maybe it would be
better to use the word compassion, but the word compassion too, has its
own limiting connotations of pity and religious obligations.

Love is not about falling in love, or infatuation, which are merely the hope
and fantasy of love, and what we call romantic love is only a part of what
love is. Love has different faces like devotion, fierceness, service and
altruism and it is unconditional, always.

When we love someone once we never stop loving that person. Even
when anger and fear and hate cover the love and we are not aware of it or
don't express it, it is still there.

In order to love someone we need to know the other. The more we know
the other, the more we can love. But knowing is only one part of love. The
other parts are appreciation and acceptance. We have to appreciate the
complexity of the other, and all the dimensions of which that individual is
made. Then we have to accept the other with the light and the dark parts,
the perfection and the imperfection that together leads the other towards
wholeness.

It is important for us to learn not only how to love, but also how to be
loved, to be at the receiving end of love, to be open and not in control. To
love is not only a passive experience within the heart of the lover. The
lover has to be active, creative and wise much of the time. It is about
supporting and encouraging the other to manifest and fulfill oneself.

Wisdom without creativity is static and without energy to manifest itself.

Wisdom without love can be harsh and detached. Creativity without
wisdom can be dangerous and destructive (i.e. nuclear weapons).
Creativity without love can be ruthless and dangerous. (See the Nazi
movement). Love without wisdom is weak and can become sentimental
and love without creativity is limited and repetitious

BEING-is pure consciousness, the transcendental silence, the cosmic void,

and together with the material creation, the active consciousness and the
mind, they construct the all-comprehensive reality-life.

We, the human race, are a conscious medium of the self-expression of

Being, and our true mission is to function with our full potential in creation,
while we are anchored in Being. By increasing our awareness of Being
(pure consciousness) while we are active in the world, we are able to
function with more harmony and balance in the world. This increased
awareness of Being in our consciousness is the only cause for our growing
experience of safety and peace while being in the world.

In order to achieve this we need to have a concrete, direct and lasting

experience of Being. This experience is not only possible, but it is also
accessible to those who are committed to achieve it.

Through the ages people in different cultures all over the world have
developed tools and techniques to experience and to stabilize Being in
their awareness. Meditation, breathing techniques like pranayama,
movement techniques like dervishes swirling, drumming, chanting, vision-
quest, mind altering substances and plants, fasting, peak and extreme
experiences are some of these tools.

It is our challenge to encourage ourselves and our clients to develop

Being-pure awareness, in our consciousness and to let it shine through our
thoughts, words and actions, in the five aspects and the three qualities of
our life, so we and the whole world may live in an ever growing fulfillment
and peace.

Healers, coaches and guides who have used this wholistic model to
psychotherapy and
life, have found it to be a useful and practical way to bring richness and
balance to their
own life and to the life of the people who are seeking their help.

One way to use this model is to evaluate and re-evaluate its applications
every so
often. Are the five aspects of one's life manifested enough? Are they
dynamically
balanced with each other? Are the five aspects of life permeated enough,
and in a
balanced way, with the three qualities? And is Being present enough in
our life?

I invite you to experiment with this wholistic model and integrate it with
your
own personal and professional experience. Mold it to be your own model,
so it will
reflect your own uniqueness and will be an expression of your wisdom,
creativity and
love.

SUGGESTED READINGS

The Spell of the Sensuous/Abrams

Boundaries of the Soul/Singer
Others Ways of Knowing/Broomfield
Non-Violent Communication/Rosenberg
A General Theory of Love/Lewis
Cosmic Memory/Steiner
The Book on the Taboo/Watts
The Heart Aroused/Whyte
Plant Spirit Medicine/Cowen
Entheogens and the Future of Religion/Forte
The Universe is a Green Dragon/Swimme
A Path with a Heart/Kornfield
Uniting Heaven and Earth/Colegrave
Planet Medicine/Grossinger