To purchase the book, Healing of the Soul Shamanism & Psyche, you can go to Amazon or email Ann Drake (anndrake1@gmail.com).
Healing of the Soul is a book about how the ancient healing practice of shamanism can enrich the work of psychotherapy in the West. The psyche, as we understand it, is extremely complex with richly textured layers. Western psychological theory brings us to the edge of truly understanding the psyche but bars us from a fuller comprehension. A shamanic perspective widens our perception of the psyche and shatters the confines of many of our existing beliefs.
Healing of the Soul describes the journey that led me to attempt to synthesize, in both theory and practice, two seemingly different yet surprisingly compatible systems of healing. As a psychologist, I often faced questions to which I had no answers. Working with clients who had experienced severe trauma, I began to glimpse aspects of how the psyche works that are far beyond what we currently allow into conscious awareness. During a visit to Borneo, I met a shaman who opened my eyes and heart to a different way of knowing. The Bomoh initiated me into the lineage of his shamanic path, opening the mysteries of his teachings and of the spirit world to me.
As a psychologist and a student of shamanism, I have discovered elements of western psychological theory in shamanic practice that bring intellectual form to a seemingly unstructured process. The goal of Healing of the Soul is to provide a bridge between shamanism and psychotherapy so that a blend of the two will emerge that can facilitate deeper levels of repairing and restoring the soul.
The heart of the book is my personal journey from being a clinical psychologist to becoming a shaman’s apprentice. Clinical stories bring to life the process of integrating the ancient and magical practices of shamanism with psychotherapy. Current psychological theories—from object relations, cognitive, and systemic perspectives—are interlaced with examples of shamanic healing to illustrate the power of the work and enhance our knowledge of the soul. The reader travels with me as I journey to other realms to meet the guides who instruct me on the steps needed for healing my clients. How I interface shamanic work with my psychological practice is woven throughout the text. Another focus of the book is to offer a new perspective on healing. In the West, we tend to break a problem down to its smallest part and explore this part in depth, trying to find the one thing that will solve the problem. In contrast, shamanism places healing in a larger context.
To understand the psyche, and in turn the soul, we must grasp the interconnection among the physical, emotional, spiritual, and political aspects of existence, including ways in which these forces interact to create who we are. Healing of the Soul draws on several theories and traditions, exploring the many factors that impact the psyche, so that the true nature of the soul can emerge. Combining shamanic healing with psychotherapy facilitates this process. The groundbreaking integration of this ancient healing practice with western psychological theory expands and enhances the way we conceptualize who we are. I invite the readers to listen with an inner wisdom to the ideas offered.
To order the paperback, email Ann Drake (anndrake1@gmail.com) or you can purchase it on paperback or Kindle at Amazon.
NEWEST RELEASE!
The Energetic Dimension was released in November of 2019 and can be ordered on Amazon.
The Energetic Dimension: Understanding Our Karmic, Ancestral and Cultural Imprints explores the energetic web in which we are encased, ways to cultivate its strengths and heal and remove the negative aspects of unwanted energies. The objective is to be able to shed the layers that block us from truly experiencing our core essence and who we truly are. Ways to recognize and work with our ancestral, karmic and cultural imprints are at the heart of the book.
We are energy; our bodies, as well as all matter, is merely slowed down energy. We each have an energetic body, in some cultures known as the dreambody that houses all of the memories and experiences of each of our many lifetimes. It streams into our crown as we are born and is the vehicle that carries our soul to other dimensions when the physical body dies. Moments of trauma or fear may catapult part of our soul essence out of the energy field leaving a vacuum that is readily filled by the terror and trauma of the situation forever haunting us unless healed. Often energies of our parent’s anxiety or depression are subtly absorbed into our energy field evoking reactions that frequently do not correspond with what we think or feel. Some of us arrive in a new lifetime bearing the trauma or triumphs of previous incarnations. Many unexplained traits, anxiety or fears stem from past life traumas that cripple us from birth. Others arrive with a clarity of purpose from a previous incarnation that astonishes family and friends. Layered upon our energy body are the energetic influences of our culture, race, gender and generation that cannot be underestimated.
One of the goals of this book is to awaken us to the energetic dimensions of our being, how to enhance the ancestral and karmic traits that benefit the trajectory of our soul and heal those aspects that block us from our true nature. We carry an intuitive awareness of the energies within and around us, but it is not part of the conscious collective paradigm of western medical and psychological thought. It is hidden behind a veil of rational concrete thought. It is my hope that this book will break through this veil to alter the way that we understand our basic being and how we heal.
What People are saying about The Energetic Dimension:
“I was so inspired by the work Ann shared in this timely book. The Energetic Dimension has critical work we all need to focus on to regain a state of balance in our lives. This is a must-read!”
–Sandra Ingerman, MA award winning author of 12 books including Soul Retrieval and The Book of Ceremony: Shamanic Wisdom for Invoking the Sacred Into Everyday Life
“Ann Drake sees pain with eyes of wisdom and compassion, prompting us to look into our family myths and see beyond cultural biases in order to liberate our inherent creative and loving capacities as humans.”
–Marcy Vaughn, Internationally known senior teacher of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
“A profound combination of Western and Non-Western theory transforms the healing process.”
–Robert Bosnak, Jungian Analyst
You may order the paperback or Kindle on Amazon.
