ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the two key terms: psychotherapy and spirituality. Melanie Klein elaborated on Sigmund Freud’s “pleasure principle” and renamed it the paranoid–schizoid position, which she regarded as the earliest stage of human functioning. The connection between the earliest healing practices and modern psychotherapy are well worth further exploration. Research into shamanism reveals that many shamans discover, usually in dreams or visions, that only by becoming healers themselves will they be able to cure their own prolonged and mysterious illnesses. Shamanic training was always conducted by a senior shaman, whose modern equivalent would be the training therapist. In practice, it is widely acknowledged that Freud was personally devoted to the pursuit of truth, appreciated beauty, and valued goodness. The practice of Buddism requires the student to sit for long periods in a form of meditation known as “mindfulness” practice.
