Ontotherapy defines itself as being therapy. The more we deviate from our essence, from our true destiny, the less happy we feel. How can knowing this help change lives?
Definition
Ontotherapy defines itself as being therapy. It is based on the assumption that the essence of man (his inner core, true being) is positive. This core contains everything for the complete self-realization of a person, including the direction of this self-realization. The more a person deviates from this direction, the more intense, as a rule, the feeling of dissatisfaction that he experiences. If a person goes against his nature, he becomes ill: ontopsychology considers somatic and mental deviations not as a direct result of the action of nature on us, but as a kind of error in our own consciousness. Human consciousness either ignores the voice of its own essence, or perceives it in a distorted form. The main task of the therapist is to help the client bring his consciousness (existence) into maximum alignment with his essence and being. Ontotherapy has not received wide support from academic psychology and is currently regarded rather as a marginal direction, and in some countries is equated with religious sects and cults. The Department of Ontopsychology at the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University is the only precedent in the world of academic psychology.
Operating principle
The ontotherapist establishes contact with the client’s unconscious. For this, a dictionary of images and the principles of dream interpretation are used. It is the interpretation of dream images that is the main method of ontotherapy. It proceeds from the fact that the images of the client’s dreams tell about him much more than the usual and commonly used language. The symbolism of sleep is not the symbolism of a person’s conscious ideas and beliefs, but of his unconscious being, his essence.
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Progress
The therapist invites the client to tell their story, gradually guiding the story to the most relevant personal relationships and experiences. The therapist also analyzes and interprets the client’s dreams. At the same time, the certainty and even directiveness of the therapist’s interpretations are combined with the provision of the client with complete freedom of choice and awareness of his own responsibility. The therapist avoids the use of any technical terms, in the course of therapy he voices only what he learns from the client — the voice of his true «I». By revealing this deep essence, the therapist provides the client with the opportunity of a sometimes difficult, but therefore even more important choice of further development paths.