I attended a Counseling Training for Attitudinal Healing last weekend. As I listened to the speakers at the training and what they offered, I thought of you, the lovely readers on my blog. I thought that you might enjoy hearing more about Attitudinal Healing too.
Dr. Jerry Jampolsky, a psychiatrist from Tiburon, California, founded the International Center for Attitudinal Healing (ICAH) in 1975. The center was based on the belief that LOVE is the most powerful healing force in the world.
Attitudinal Healing
Attitudinal Healing is a self-healing method that allows us to remove self-imposed blocks. It focuses on letting go of our fearful attitudes, like our judgments of ourselves and others, that hinder our experience of love, peace and happiness in our lives.
At the heart of Attitudinal Healing is the belief in the extraordinary ability of ordinary people to help each other, and the idea that we have the power to choose our attitude at any given moment, regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Dr. Jampolsky teaches that it’s not people or circumstances that are causing our upset at any given moment, but rather it’s our own thoughts, attitudes and judgments about those things that cause us distress. He believes that we need to heal our own minds and hearts so that we can have harmony and integrity in all that we think, say and do.
Some of the beliefs that were established with Attitudinal Healing are as follows:
- Defines health as inner peace.
- Defines healing as letting go of fear.
- Regards our primary identity as spiritual and affirms that each individual possesses a quality of being or an inner nature that is essentially loving and that this loving nature is shared by all human beings.
- States that love is the most important healing force in the world.
- Does not tell other people what to do but offers them choices.
- Emphasizes equality in every aspect of our lives and affirms that we are all student and teacher to each other.
- Recognizes that peace is our only goal.
- Emphasizes listening with empathy and without judgment or advice.
- Sets the goal of living a life focused on unconditional love.
The Origin of Support Groups
Before the modern day idea of a ‘support group’ was ever conceived, Dr. Jampolsky started a small support group for children who were facing life-threatening illnesses. He thought that the children might be able to help each other face the challenging issues dealing with their illnesses. These support groups quickly grew to be very successful and very helpful to the children and the families involved.
Because of that, Dr. Jampolsky was soon asked to establish groups for siblings, parents and caregivers of these children. And over time as these early support groups continued to grow, many other types of support groups were established to deal with other emerging needs in the community.
Dr. Jampolsky’s groups actually marked the beginning of our modern day support groups. He provided a very important contribution to the healing opportunities that are available to us today.
The 12 Principals of Attitudinal Healing
There are 12 Principals that are commonly used in Attitudinal Healing Support Groups:
- The essence of our being is love.
- Health is inner peace. Healing is letting go of fear.
- Giving and receiving are the same.
- We can let go of the past and of the future.
- Now is the only time there is.
- We learn to love ourselves and others by forgiving rather than judging.
- We can become love-finders rather than fault finders.
- We can be peaceful inside regardless of what is happening outside.
- We are students and teachers to each other.
- We can focus on the whole of our lives rather than on the fragments.
- Because love is eternal, death need not be viewed as fearful.
- We can always see ourselves and others as extending love or giving a call for help.
The Healing Power of Love
I learned about Dr. Jampolsky’s work in the early 1980s. As a young psychotherapist at that time, it helped me to establish my own work based on the principle that LOVE is the most healing power in the world. As I focused on the healing power of love through the years, it proved to be very true in my psychotherapy practice as well.
Love is definitely what heals your emotional body! The good news is that when your emotional body heals, everything in your life is affected, including your health, your relationships, your family and your career.
Choose Love
After three decades, Dr. Jampolsky’s book Love Is Letting Go of Fear
If you are interested in finding an Attitudinal Support Group in your community or in learning more about Dr. Jerry Jampolsky, you can contact him at http://www.jerryjampolsky.com/.
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Have you experienced the principles of Attitudinal Healing in your life?
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