Editor's note.

Welcome to this issue of the Journal of Heart-Centered Therapies as we begin our tenth year of publication. We are pleased to have the opportunity to celebrate these past ten years, and we look forward to the next ten.

Heart-Centered therapies are located within the traditions of deep experiential psychotherapy, and existential-humanistic psychology. The first article is The Shamanic Journey. Tapping the Spiritual Wisdom Within by Ray Wooten, and it presents several key aspects of shamanism: the shaman has the ability to intentionally enter alternative states of consciousness and journey between the physical world and the world of spirit or the world of the spirit self, that is to enter nonordinary reality. The shamanic solution to a loss in power, e.g., a trauma survivor, is to re-spirit the individual that is suffering. These concepts will be found as a thread running through all three articles in this issue of the Journal.

The second article is The Influence of Childhood Dissociative States from Sexual Abuse on the Adult Woman's Spiritual Development by Cara Stiles. This paper is a re-printing of her Master's thesis (submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work, Smith College School for Social Work, 1995). This study examines whether the dissociative states experienced during childhood sexual abuse influence the adult woman survivor's spiritual development. And, if these experiences are ultimately of value to the survivor, what can the clinician learn to improve treatment of trauma?

This research paper presents a qualitative study using a semi-structured interview design, and it concludes that through the process of recovery, the devastating impact of the trauma has the potential to open the door to the most vital and basic questions about life, and that in light of what has been revealed about the human psyche's capacity to expand through dissociative experiences, a revelation about life exists for the survivor.

Posttraumatic Growth and Thriving with Heart-Centered Therapies is an article by David Hartman and Diane Zimberoff in response to the Stiles paper. In particular, Stiles suggests that early dissociative patterns may contribute to: a tendency to experience boundarylessness; merging with something beyond the self; awareness of the existence of states of nonordinary reality; and acceptance of a state of out-of-control overwhelm as near-death, i.e., "being near death is akin to being near God." These themes are explored utilizing several theoretical perspectives: (1) the Coactivation Model of healthy coping; (2) "posttraumatic growth" or "resilience"; (3) current research into purpose in life, and wisdom; and (4) the neuropsychology of mystical experience. We conclude that what begins as seeking psychic refuge from trauma through dissociation ideally evolves into allowing the dissolving of one's psychic self in spiritual experience.

The concepts that serve as a thread running through all three articles in this issue are the individual's potential ability to intentionally enter alternative states of consciousness in nonordinary reality in order to grow through adversity. The solution to a loss in power, e.g., a trauma survivor, is to re-spirit the individual that is suffering, to grow in strength and wisdom, and ultimately to thrive.

Consider submitting a manuscript for the September, 2007 issue of the Journal, and share your clinical experiences with other readers!

David Hartman, LCSW 

Editor-in-Chief

Heart-Centered Therapies Association, Issaquah, WA USA