The Metaphysics of Trauma
Sacred Psychology - A Global Perspective - Samuel Bendeck Sotillos
Samuel Bendeck Sotillos [+]
Psychotherapist
Description
Trauma, which has become a hallmark of everyday life in the modern world, forms part of the broader mental health crisis that afflicts society today. It also, arguably, reflects a lost sense of the sacred. Throughout humanity’s diverse cultures, suffering is understood to be intrinsic to the larger fabric of life in this world; trauma, therefore, is a direct consequence of not being able to properly integrate afflictions into one’s life. The prevalence of acute traumatic suffering has always been a major cause of disbelief in religion. Yet the increased weakening of faith in the modern world has provoked a particularly severe spiritual crisis, which could be dubbed the “trauma of secularism.” Through recourse to traditional metaphysics, we can begin to understand this phenomenon in greater depth, and thus provide better mental health care. Healing and wholeness cannot take place outside the purview of a “sacred science”, the spiritual dimension of which transcends the limitations of mainstream psychology and its profusion of profane therapies.