A World of Bridges, Lined with Beacons Shining Beauty Bright

Spiritual Awakening

Over the past few years there has been an increasing number of people across the world who have found themselves undergoing what is generally called a “spiritual awakening”. Spiritual awakening takes on many forms and goes by different names depending on the cultural or religious context a person is operating from. Those experiencing this collective shift in consciousness are coming from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds and faiths, including those who may have never identified as spiritual to begin with.

Ascension

In more recent years this collective awakening of consciousness has become popularly referred to as “ascension” across spiritual awakening communities, particularly through social media. There are many layers to spiritual awakening, but typically it includes a paradigm shift in how one experiences reality. Those experiencing a spiritual awakening often are called to embark on a journey of deep inner healing that brings new layers of meaning and a deeper sense of personal alignment and inner purpose, as well as a deeper awareness of the interconnectedness of all things.

Spiritual Emergence and Spiritual Emergency

In Transpersonal Psychology the term “spiritual emergence” is used interchangeably with spiritual awakening, and recognizes that spiritual awakenings exist on a spectrum. Non-ordinary states (or altered states) of consciousness that are experienced along a spiritual emergence spectrum may range from those which are milder and more easily integrated within the individual’s life, to those that constitute a full psychological crisis. A “spiritual emergency” typically refers to a spiritual emergence that resembles what mainstream Western psychiatry often confuses with psychosis, and is considered falling on the more extreme end of the spectrum. This often shares similar characteristics with the shamanic crisis that has been recognized and revered in shamanic cultures all over the world, rather than stigmatized and pathologized as it is in more colonialist frameworks of medicine. Regardless of where on the spectrum your spiritual emergence tends towards this is a normal transformative healing process of human development. While there are many other terms used to describe what people are going through, these are the ones I have found used most in the communities I find myself navigating.

A Normal Process Towards Wholeness

Whatever term you call this process and the wide range of altered states of consciousness often experienced, spiritual awakenings are “holotropic” in nature (as coined by Dr. Stanislav Grof), meaning they are “oriented towards wholeness.” In other words, a spiritual awakening is a natural healing process of transformation that helps move individuals towards a more harmonious way of being in the world. It is often symbolized through the metamorphosis of the caterpillar to the butterfly, the death and rebirth of the phoenix.

At this moment in time many souls that have experienced a spiritual awakening are being called on to be healers, teachers, and guides in helping humanity heal the wounds and traumas from the past and help usher in a better future that is heart centred and rooted in unity and harmony. I, for one, wholeheartedly sense this to be true. My experiences and intuition all point to this as the future we are being called to build. To build this future we need lots of bridges and many beacons to light the way from the old to the new.

Being Bridges

Bridges come in many variations and to me act like ambassadors or spiritual guides between two different realities, two different regions, energies, languages and ways of relating and knowing. It is as much the strengths, skills, experiences, and wisdom I have that have molded me into the particular bridge I am as it is the limitations and lack of knowledge and skills I have in this vast spiritual reality many of us now find ourselves. As I continue to grow and develop my own skills and connection to a more loving spiritual reality, I too will continue to evolve as a bridge. And this is the point I wish to make for those souls who are reading and considering services at The Emberheart. No one has all the answers. There are many spiritual healers and guides, doctors and clergy alike that think they have the answers when it comes to your healing, or at least act like they do. In my experience it is more important that you learn to connect and listen to your own intuition and present state of reality than others during the times where old reality structures are crumbling, and newer ones are forming.

Expanding into the Infinite

I approach my clients as I have learned it is best to be approached, heart-centred, with confidence in what I know to be true, and with the humility and an openness to learn from those who have explored mysteries I have yet to experience. I see consciousness as an infinite world with mountains and valleys that only few have explored in the past, but one where our entire species is being called to expand. An expedition through a wider reality beyond the same oppressive cycles of duality that our ancestors have been reliving for millennia. Just as our lives are unique, so is the terrain of consciousness we are each called to traverse. In surrendering to the journey unfolding before us we are uncovering paths towards wholeness that might make the journey easier for those that follow. While many of our paths are shared as we journey to a new more harmonious home within the collective consciousness, others are not and it is important that this is recognized, honoured and respected. Each of us have been tasked with mapping out our own part of this land, and as a result each of us have something new to offer one another. I have found that it is within our personal stories where a rich vein of meaning can come out of the suffering so many of us experience on this path.

Walking Each Other Home

Though the path to embodying our highest self may seem isolated, this is a shared collective journey, one where we are coming together as bridges and beacons along with support from a divine presence that seems to guide this transformation. Like a giant puzzle, we are making sense out of the bizarre and misaligned pieces we find, ultimately piecing together an image that is a truer reflection of our highest nature. It is my hope that clients who come to The Emberheart for support will be able to recognize the inherent beauty, wisdom and strength their souls carry as they heal and integrate their experiences and discover the role they are here to play in the coming era.

Supporting The Wounded Healer

The truth is that everyone, regardless of your profession, your status, your education and training, your ethics or moral compass will have to pass through some form of healing phase (or seemingly endless phases) as part of your spiritual awakening. A vital outcome of every spiritual awakening, personal and collective, lay in the breaking down of outdated belief systems. As our old systems are challenged and torn down new space is made that allows for the embodiment of a more balanced perspective. We become aware of a broader understanding of the dynamics that shape our current reality. Once we integrate this newfound awareness in our personal lives, we are better able to support the transformation required for our communities and institutional systems to also open to this broader state of awareness.

One of the central roles that a person experiencing a spiritual awakening is called to is that of the healer. This may take place before their spiritual awakening or after it has started. Odds are that if you have found yourself called to any form of a healing, teaching or coaching career you carry the wounded healer archetype.

For those drawn into healthcare before their spiritual awakening began, this part of the journey can be particularly challenging, as you are called to navigate deeper layers of your own healing as a wounded healer in an expanded reality that may not align well with the epistemic beliefs and biases embedded within the secular or religious institutional systems you are coming from. Your understanding of ethics may be challenged as well as your awareness of the presence of systemic bias and persecution trauma within most caring professions. This extends to alternative healing practices as well as mainstream ones.

As a healer in this profession I have a wealth of experience navigating the wounded healer archetype and have often been guided to support other healers and teachers who find themselves stuck in their spiritual awakening. If this resonates with you please reach out. We don’t have to heal ourselves or others in isolation anymore. It is the community of healers and teachers who have done their inner work that will help build the foundation for the social systems that will be ushered into the new world we have been tasked with building. We are this worlds leaders in the making.

Holding Wider Perspectives when Everything is Story…

Our personal journeys through spiritual awakening, just like The Hero’s Journey, as described by Joseph Campbell, takes many forms. Every hero is facing their own challenges, healing their own wounds, developing their own strengths, learning their own lessons, finding their own purpose, and forming their own perspectives on the nature of reality as they have been tasked with understanding it.

As we share the insights, experiences, and wisdom we collect along the way with others, our collective consciousness also begins to transform. This is the trajectory we are on as humanity.

Why The Emberheart for Spiritual Counselling?

Every soul is unique. Every spiritual awakening is unique. Though there are similar themes that many people going through a spiritual awakening experience, there is always something new that each of us contribute to universal consciousness.

The Emberheart is built on the premise that every person is a hero within the story their soul finds themselves living. Regardless of where you are at on your journey towards wholeness you have a right to be heard, have your story witnessed and honoured within a therapeutic context that fully acknowledges the experiences you’ve had. Your story as you understand it may deepen and change as you change and find your way back to your truest self. Though we may be only one stop on your journey to center, The Emberheart provides a safe, supportive and empowering space for those going through this oftentimes messy transformative process.

Experiences that include various altered states of consciousness and are considered mystical in nature, transcendent, transpersonal, and extrasensory are normalized, without the stigma often associated with mainstream mental health care. This includes those who identify as empaths and highly sensitive people, as well as those those experiencing “ascension symptoms” and hypersensitivity to different energies.

If this resonates with you, please feel free to contact Duve for more information.

More than Counselling

It is my hope that spiritual counselling becomes only one facet of The Emberheart. I hope to see The Emberheart act as a sacred space, a central hub, or even community centre that brings together peoples from all walks of life who are on this journey and seeking to contribute to a more unified collective. A place where healers, teachers, seekers, and entrepreneurs can come together in heart centred solidarity.

Duve’s Approach to Spiritual Awakening

My approach to spiritual awakening, ascension and spiritual emergency is multidimensional and builds on the knowledge and experience I have attained throughout my own journey traversing the wider reality of energy. I draw on my training, knowledge, and experience from more mainstream western sources within psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience, bridging them within an alternative healing framework that is more informed on the physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual dynamics at play within the various categories of spiritual awakening.

I offer counselling services to adults, youth and their families from a perspective based in transpersonal psychotherapy, while incorporating narrative, Jungian, emotion focused, and existential therapies, as well as elements of clinical hypnosis, and somatic therapies.

Transpersonal psychotherapy is a therapeutic orientation acknowledging that the spiritual component of human experience is vital for a more meaningful and holistic pathway to positive inner transformation and external life changes.

Founded in perennial philosophy, my transpersonal approach addresses the healing of the body, mind, and emotional centers, while emphasizing the clients spiritual and religious experiences, and providing a safe space where clients can directly connect with the world of soul and spirit.

Duve’s Training and Educational Background

Education

B.Sc Psychology
Carleton University

M.Ed Counselling Psychology
University of Ottawa

Certificate in Clinical Hypnosis
University of Toronto

B.Ed Teacher Education
University of Ottawa

Professional Designations

Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) Certified Consulting Hypnotist (CH)

Duve has trained with a wide variety of spiritual healers and teachers over the past two decades. The knowledge he brings stems from both traditional, alternative, and mainstream perspectives. But it is in the breadth and depth of his experiences through spiritual awakening, as well as the wisdom and connection he’s attained throughout his own journey that he draws on most to support you in yours, while recognizing that you are already bringing so much of your own.