Alchemy and Pastoral Counseling
by William Thornton
Imagine a mainline church minister using the "new age" mysticism of Alchemical Hypnotherapy in a traditional pastoral counseling practice. Some consider these to be mutually exclusive but my wife and I feel differently. We are deeply involved in the new age movement and use Alchemy as an effective tool in our counseling ministry. We feel that, in addition to increasing a pastor's skill in counseling parishioners, it can add immeasurably to success in a broad range of pastoral duties.
Among the most personally satisfying results we have seen while using these techniques with our clients has been the deepening of their spiritual lives and their increased effectiveness in prayer. While on call recently for another pastor, I found myself in a familiar situation: standing in a hospital room at the bedside of a dying woman. As she shared her loving concern for her husband and family, I began to gently "pace" her and the others in the room, "leading" them into a process I felt would bring us all into a new dimension of trust and spiritual experience. I asked everyone to gather around her bed, gave them some brief instructions, and solicited their prayerful participation.
I began with some words of counsel, assuring the woman of our love and support, and encouraged her to relax and allow the Spirit within to bring the comfort and assurance she needed. I then led her in a guided journey into the deepest recesses of her soul. Soon all of us in the room were sensing something mysteriously wonderful as this woman, though weak in body, became strong in her faith and serenity. A few days later, her husband, overwhelmed with gratitude, asked me to assist their pastor at the memorial service and "say some of those same words."
Incidents such as this are more than ample rewards for the energy and dollars I have invested in my hypnotherapy training. For much of my career I was a parish pastor. I remember my frequent feelings of inadequacy when faced with similar situations. My confidence has grown as I have developed these new skills.
Many pastors, in my opinion, are too quick to refer their parishioners to the "professions", possibly because of similar feelings of being inadequately trained. This need not be. Any parish minister or lay counselor interested in going on to a deeper understanding of spiritual healing processes will find the Alchemical training to offer invaluable assistance in their professional work. I certainly have.
Alchemical Hypnotherapy is a major breakthrough in the art and science of transformation technology. It synthesizes what those of us who have followed the development and expansion of humanistic and transpersonal technology over the past 25 years have been discovering. And, it adds some important missing pieces.
The unique contribution of Alchemical Hypnotherapy has been to open up the Inner World of the mystic to everyone. We now know that we can all go where only shamans, prophets, and saints have gone before. The Inner World is not their special domain. Through Alchemy we have the tools and techniques to fully use the powers of the mind, the spirit, the will and the imagination to achieve our goals.
Deep relaxation processes (hypnosis) open up the realm of the subconscious, the Kingdom of God that is within you. Assisted by the skilled interaction of an alchemist, in the state of alert trance, the traveler can clear the Inner World of its painful, distorting and destructive programming and contact directly and powerfully the Higher Power that we call "God."
The Reverend William Thornton has ministerial standing with the United Church of Christ. He and his wife, Ruth Canaday, are directors of Renewal Center, Inc., a non-profit religious service organization in Meiddletown, California, committed to spiritually orientated counseling and transformational training, including training programs in Alchemical technology for ministers and lay counselors.
Alchemy Institute of Hypnosis
Transformation with Hypnotherapy
Alchemy Institute of Hypnosis
Learn how Alchemical Hypnotherapy can help your life. Call (707) 539-4989 or (800) 950-4984 for a free consultation. Offering hypnosis training, hypnotherapy sessions, retreats and workshops in beautiful Santa Rosa, California for over 25 years, now people everywhere can enjoy phone hypnotherapy, hypnosis MP3 downloads and CD's, and workshops in several cities.
Many thousands of people all over the world have discovered the power of Alchemical Hypnotherapy to change their lives. The Alchemy Institute offers professional hypnotherapy sessions in person and by telephone and transformational workshops throughout the USA that can show you how to use the power of your inner mind to change your life in all of these ways: healing pain and illness, conquering addictions, losing weight, quitting smoking, transforming relationships, finding sexual fulfillment, recovery from anxiety and depression, creating prosperity, and achieving peak performance. We also offer professional training in hypnotherapy at the oldest spiritually oriented hypnosis school in the country. This program is approved by the NGH (National Guild Of Hypnotists) to offer professional training for hypnotherapists and continuing education for nurses, psychotherapists, social workers and body work practitioners. The Alchemy Web Site offers over 100 pages of information on Alchemical Hypnotherapy and the amazing spiritual and physical transformation of the graduates of our training. Use the search box at the bottom of the page to find exactly what you are looking for.
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