Integrating Shamanic Methods into Psychotherapy

David Hammerman, Ed.D.

Evidence of shamanism dates back to prehistory, perhaps as early as 40,000 years ago, and
the practices continue to this day. As a psychologist in private practice in Western society, I
have had the opportunity to introduce and integrate shamanic methods with psychotherapy.
My guiding principle is to help my clients, and over the course of many years, I have become
pragmatic, using many varied methods and approaches. Depression, dream work, resolving
therapeutic impasses, physical healing with spiritual and psychological components,
empowerment, the removal of curses, soul retrieval, strengthening of the self and the
releasing of shame are just some of the situations in which shamanic techniques can be used.
Shamanism and psychotherapy are a natural fit in industrialized society.
How and when does a Western therapist decide to use shamanic methods? What are
the indications and contra-indications for their use? How does the psychotherapist introduce
and use these techniques? How do these methods influence the client and the therapy
relationship?

Shamanic worldview
Shamanic methods uniquely access nonordinary reality, and draw upon spiritual dimensions
for help. Nonordinary reality (NOR), a shamanic term defined by Harner 1, an
anthropologist, Ingerman2, and others, is outside everyday life, and is divided into separate
worlds; the Upper World, which helping spirits inhabit and the Lower World where power
animals are encountered. The Middle World in this shamanic cosmology is ordinary reality,
and is experienced with the five senses.
A shamanic journey is the method most often used to enter a state of consciousness
that allows access to nonordinary reality. By drumming or rattling the therapist and client can
enter an altered state of consciousness and communicate with spirits in the Upper World or
power animals in the Lower World, in addition to working with spirits in the Middle World.
Beings encountered in nonordinary reality are experienced as real.
I use shamanic journeying with clients in psychotherapy to enter nonordinary reality.
A journey allows the therapist and client to bridge ordinary and nonordinary reality and
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brings help to the client. Although the content of the journeys may seem unusual to the
Western mind, the results are positive and healing. There are a variety of situations when
shamanic practices are the preferred method over other therapeutic approaches.

Introduction of shamanic methods: Why and when

Experiential methods have been part of treatment ever since the beginning of modern
psychotherapy when Wilhelm Reich introduced body-based techniques.3 Along with
increased awareness and understanding of trauma in the last 20 years there has been a
flowering of experiential mind-body-energy techniques to treat people who have experienced
trauma. Hypnotherapy, eye movement and reprocessing desensitization (EMDR),4 TAT,
somatic experiencing, past life regression therapy, and guided imagery are some of the
approaches used today within psychotherapeutic contexts.
Bringing in spirit allies when there is a therapeutic impasse provides good
consultation, as illustrated by Ellen’s case example. I have also journeyed alone to access my
helping spirits when I need consultation to help me understand what is going on either in
the therapeutic relationship with someone in my practice or in the dynamics of a client.
Using just the name or names of a person, members of a peer consultation group in which I
participate journey to understand a case, with good results.
People suffering from depression, a sense of emptiness, or of “not being all there,”
particularly benefit from shamanic practices. The soul retrieval method brings back lost parts
of the soul in ways that no other experiential method can do. Many clients who have a
history of sexual, physical, or emotional trauma benefit from this technique. It is a way to re-
invigorate, re-integrate without retraumatizing a wounded person.
Introducing shamanic methods into a psychotherapy treatment is a different process
than what occurs in tribal societies or in a freestanding shamanic practice. In indigenous
societies, or a freestanding shamanic practice, both client and practitioner share the same
worldview, or openness to the same worldview, and there is little need for extensive
explanation and education. Within a psychotherapy practice, some clients may be
uncomfortable with any alternative to mainstream psychology, and may not be open to a
shamanic approach. In addition, they may not want to tap into the spiritual dimension in
their therapy. Therapeutic judgment determines when and how much to push the boundaries
of a client’s comfort level. It goes without saying that a therapist should not force a client to
try anything they do not want to do.
If a client is open to trying a shamanic method, explanation is essential. Using such
techniques requires expanding the worldview of the client to include concepts such as soul,
energy, nonordinary reality, and journeying into Upper, Lower, and Middle Worlds. I find
that most people intuitively and quickly grasp the shamanic worldview, and are interested in
getting relief from their suffering. A brief discussion and perhaps some reading is usually a
sufficient first step.
Just as building an alliance with the helping spirits is an important part of shamanic
work, building an alliance with your client is crucial in psychotherapy. Unless the use of
shamanic methods is well established with a client, as in the case of Ellen, it is contra-
indicated if there is not a positive therapeutic alliance. In tribal societies, the shaman has a
respected position, and any person requesting their services knows them or knows of their

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reputation, and views them in a positive light. A healing alliance is already established from
the outset. When I have had clients see me just for shamanic work, alliance building is still
important, and I must connect quickly with them in a caring, confidence inspiring way. If I
cannot do this, shamanic work will be unsuccessful, and should be delayed until a better
connection can be forged.

Typically I share the imagery from my journey with the client, as they share their experience
during the journey with me. I am careful to share the imagery in ways that can be heard by
my client. Often the process of sharing brings great healing benefit.

Therapeutic impasse
I had been seeing Ellen, a woman in her forties, for a number of years in psychotherapy, and
had used shamanic methods in our time together. Ellen used therapy well, but our work had
reached an impasse. She was going through a particularly difficult period in her life, and felt
that I was not listening to her, that I wasn’t helping. She wanted to end therapy. I thought
that I had heard her, but knew that I must be contributing to the impasse, although it wasn’t
clear how. We agreed to journey together to understand the therapy relationship. Here is a
partial summary of those journeys:

Therapist’s Journey: I went to the Upper World and found Ellen. She’s
very young, grieving, concerned about survival. The helping spirits gathered
around me and began working with me. I had hurt her with words, and had
been unaware that I was doing this. I had been pushing too quickly to get to
some of her core pain and missed some important aspects of her experience,
activating her defenses. I felt genuine remorse about what I had done. The
helping spirits worked with me around phrasing and language, devising what
I could say to her. In addition, they worked with me around accepting
whatever decision she made about therapy.

Ellen’s Journey: I went to the Upper World, and found my chief helping
spirit, who told me to be open to my therapist.

Therapy progressed rapidly after this, as we both learned important lessons through
journeying together. My helping spirits were able to work with me quickly, efficiently, and
powerfully, understanding the therapy relationship and what I needed to do to dissolve the
roadblock. Ellen’s helping spirit prepared her to hear the words I needed to say. The helping
spirits worked with each of us to open our hearts to each other.
Therapeutic impasses are a difficult and painful part of a psychotherapy practice, and
I usually seek consultation from a colleague to help me when this happens. I now realize that
my colleagues in nonordinary reality are also invaluable resources in understanding and
repairing the therapy relationship.

Shame

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Shame is an extremely difficult, often disabling, and usually hidden emotion. The sense of
unworthiness, embarrassment, dishonor, and wrongness can be pervasive, harsh, self-
punishing, and unrelenting. Jack, a client in his sixties, was writing a memoir chronicling his
career. It included biographical and personal information, with descriptions of a marriage in
which he felt shamed and abused. His deepest level of shame involved his difficulty and
inability to stand up to his wife. We had talked about this in a variety of ways, but the sense
of shame was untouched. With Jack’s consent, I decided to journey to heal the shame.

Therapist’s Journey: I went to the Upper World with the intention of

asking for the healing of Jack’s shame. It was foggy; I began thinking of other
things, errands I had to do later in the day, other clients. There was strong
resistance to healing. I saw a circle of sand, and it was blank. Nothing was
drawn on the circle. I had a sense that I needed to get inside the circle for
healing to occur but there was no way in.

When I shared this journey with him he revealed that an uncle had molested him
when he was ten years old. He felt ashamed and humiliated, blaming himself for “letting it
happen.” While the first journey showed that he was not fully ready to heal, it opened up
another source of his pervasive shame, and it could then be examined within a therapeutic
context. Bringing sunlight to the causes and contributing factors of shame is often a first and
necessary step for growth.
After a number of sessions focusing on Jack’s feelings of shame, I also worked with
the parts of Jack’s psyche that were managing these feelings and associated beliefs. The
feelings of shame were so toxic that they were buried outside conscious awareness, and parts
of his mind protected him form feeling shame, although there was a price to pay for these
defenses. He used considerable psychic energy to keep his feelings underground and when
triggered by external events Jack experienced them as erupting from within himself, from
out of the blue. He lived in a state of being half-awake.
In the past, I had used a variety of other experiential methods with Jack to help him
deal with deeply buried feelings, with varying degrees of success. However, with this
multilayered shame no method I previously used helped, even after Jack’s protective parts
stepped aside enough to allow him the possibility of healing. I did another journey, hoping
the helping spirits would be gentle enough and wise enough to work with Jack.

Therapist’s Journey: I went to the Lower World and Snake appeared,

swallowing Jack whole. It began sucking out the venomous feelings from
Jack’s body. Snake then slithered into a pool of water, and regurgitated what
it had sucked out into the water, where it was transformed. Snake returned
and drew the venom of shame out of Jack’s energy field.

Although this was not a “gentle” approach, within a week Jack began feeling better,
more alive, more open. The feelings of shame were more available to him and less
burdensome because they were loosened and reorganized. The pattern had shifted and

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changed using shamanic methods. He did not have to spend as much energy pushing these
feelings down outside of conscious awareness. One final journey helped.

Therapist’s Journey: I went to the Lower World and Snake appeared again,
circling Jack. Snake sucked shame out of the periphery of Jack’s energy field,
ingesting and transforming it.

His feelings of shame were not eliminated, but their venomous sting was removed.
The outline of these feelings, along with the memories and events that helped create them,
still existed within his psyche. There will still be times when he experiences them, but the
disruptive and destabilizing power of shame was greatly lessened, freeing up psychic energy
for a healthier life.
It was during these journeys that I first met the power animal Snake. I have since
met Snake on journeys for other clients, and when I meet this spirit ally I know that shame
and energetic pattern transformation might be part of the helping process. I also call on
Snake for other healing tasks, and am learning through experience which situations Snake is
best suited. The more I work with each spirit ally the more I learn about each one’s
capabilities and strengths.
As I continue to use shamanic methods for a wider and wider range of problems and
conditions, I find additional spirit allies with different areas of expertise. Anthropologists
report that shamans in tribal groups often have hundreds of helping spirits with different
specialties to call upon for varied circumstances. The psychotherapist using a shamanic
approach experiences a similar process; the more a therapist uses shamanic methods the
larger the network of connections with helping spirits in nonordinary reality grows.

Stabilizing the self

A central problem for many clients is a lack of a stable sense of Self. After spending time
with them and listening to their life stories, it becomes clear that they do not have a solid
core Self to ground themselves and help them navigate and withstand the vicissitudes of life.
According to Richard Schwartz, the developer of Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, the
core Self is both particle and wave: an active, compassionate inner leader and an expansive,
boundaryless state of mind.5 Sandra Ingerman defines “soul” to mean vital essence, distinct
from the body, the seat of “emotions, thoughts and sentiments.”63Soul and self are often
used interchangeable, although there are differences. People with an unstable sense of Self
often do not have access to wisdom greater than themselves, to the ability to form solid
relationships. Shamanic methods can be used to help solidify and strengthen a sense of Self,
and allow a client to function and lead from their soul.
James, a college student in his early twenties, came to therapy after a difficult three-
month stay abroad, seeking help for his panic attacks and help with separating from his
parents in order to stand on his own, an appropriate developmental task for his age. He also
described energy cycling though this body, and his mood swinging up and down during the
day. His trip overseas had turned out differently than he had expected, and during his stay he
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often felt lonely and confused. He felt pain in his heart and his solar plexus, and many times
felt he was having a heart attack, when in fact he was having a panic attack.
When he was just seventeen, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was forced
to drop out of school for a year. Because one of his aunts was a Buddhist nun, he was
attracted to Buddhism: he acitvely studied it and developed a strong meditation practice. He
was an excellent student at a prestigious college, although he felt out of step with the
majority of his peers, who did not share his spiritual interests.
My initial therapy with him focused on helping him to tolerate and manage his
emotional swings on a daily basis. I used experiential methods such as eye movement
desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and hypnotherapy to help him learn and use
cognitive and emotional skills and inner resources to ground and center himself, and manage
his emotional life. During the early stages of therapy I did not use experiential methods, such
as shamanic practices or abreactive techniques that foster emotional release and reliving of
past experiences, until he was sufficiently grounded and practiced in managing his emotions.
Shamanic practices are powerful, and at times destabilizing. Clients can experience
strong reactions immediately after soul retrieval or other shamanic methods, and these
reactions can be disorienting and confusing. Until a person’s emotional container is strong
enough, I find it is best to work on strengthening a client’s ability to tolerate strong emotions
rather than on deep exploration or using potentially upsetting methods. Through this
process of stabilization a foundation for a stable self is built.

Perhaps in a tribal society, with community support for shamanic healing practices,
the stabilization process that individual and group psychotherapy provides would not be
necessary. Any period of disorientation and confusion experienced by a client in indigenous
populations might be understood as part of the healing process, and others would support
clients through it in the community. In Western society, which lacks community support,
psychotherapy methods that foster stabilization are important since they provide the
necessary emotional and psychological centering required for the next phase of work.

However, talk therapy and experiential methods for stabilization were not sufficient
for James, as he was dealing with a life-long issue energy of bodily imbalances. Also, through
his meditation practice, he was getting glimmers of some of his past lives and their carry
over effects on his current life. After the stabilization phase of therapy I began to use
shamanic techniques to continue to foster and strengthen a solid and stable sense of self, and
to deal with his energy imbalances, past life influences, and to guide therapy. They proved to
be more creative and innovative since they weren’t bound by the laws of ordinary reality, and
engaged the energetic and spiritual dimensions in deeper and more profound ways than
other methods that I use.
Our sessions together began to have a familiar rhythm. After a brief period of talking
and reflection, we chose an appropriate intention and shamanic technique, and spent nearly
all of the rest of the session doing shamanic work together. Most sessions were devoted to
using shamanic healing methods. An early mutual journey James and I did to heal his energy
imbalances showed us where work needed to be done, and the spirit allies in nonordinary
reality began to help.

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 Therapist’s Journey: I went to the Upper world, and saw James lying
down, weak, surrounded by legions of soldiers. My spirit allies were able to
find a path through the circles of soldiers. James was not ready to let down
his guard. He was able to stand up, let the sliver of an opening stay open,
then he put on armor. I promised to return.

James’ Journey: Lots of energy, experienced shifts in my way of seeing. I

see myself as a male… I have an increased sense of needing people…What
can I get, how can I help them?

My journey revealed the strength of his defenses, but showed a path through them to
his core Self, while James experienced the beginning of a connection to his inner Self. Our
two journeys were complementary and linked. I have found this to be a common experience
when journeying with my clients. Sometimes the contents of the journeys are almost exactly
the same, but usually the results of mutual journeying complement each other.
Energy imbalances show up in James as a bipolar disorder. Traditional Western
treatment approaches, which emphasize medication and talk therapy, did not address his
energetic experience. The following journeys from James’ therapy illustrate how using
shamanic methods can allow the therapist to access and transform the client’s energetic
reality in a direct way.
James was familiar with chakras7, a metaphysical system from India that describes
psychological and spiritual development in energetic terms. In the first journey I merged
with a healer, working energetically in nonordinary reality, doing an extraction. I am
unfamiliar with the healing techniques used by the Healing Buddha, or even the notion of a
Healing Buddha, but James identified this healer when I described my journey to him.

Therapist’s Journey: I journey with the intention of healing the second

chakra, an energy center associated with sensuality, sexuality, emotions and
creativity. This center is located around the solar plexus. I went to a healing
circle in the Upper World, met the Healing Buddha, and merged with him. I
held James, felt his energy off kilter along the second and third chakras on
the right side of his body. There was a clump of energy, a ball, and a sense
that karmic experiences were causing the instability. I cannot heal right away.
I took the ball, which had lumps on it, out of the energy body and placed it
in a bowl for meditation and release.

The next journey was confusing to me. Until it occurred, I did not know that I could
be in two different places at the same time in nonordinary reality while a part of my
consciousness stayed in the Middle World. I have learned through my shamanic practice to
trust the process of the journey and nonordinary reality; whatever happens needs to happen.
This guideline has been difficult for me to follow, as the logical, rational part of my mind

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often wants to shape the journey, or doubt the usefulness and truthfulness of the experience,
particularly if it is one that I haven’t previously encountered.
The following journey also demonstrates the importance for the therapist to have the
ability to tolerate new experiences and strong emotions. Trusting the experience is key.

Therapist’s Journey: I was fluctuating between the Upper World and the
Lower World. Confusion. I found myself in both worlds simultaneously. In
the Upper World I found James in a past life as a member of the Ku Klux
Klan. He was angry at the world, at himself, and directed his anger outward.
Chaotic energy. In the Lower World a power animal, Snake, did direct
healing work, straightening the energy flow in James’ body, stabilizing him.

Intention directs the work and experience of any shamanic method. The bulk of the
journeys during the rest of his therapy focused on balancing and aligning his energetic field
and healing past life influences. As the work advanced his sense of self became stronger and
more stable, energetically he was more balanced and grounded. In my journeys in
nonordinary reality for James my vision grew clearer, he became stronger and more present,
and helping spirits appeared with whom he had a strong connection. The increasing clarity
of vision I experienced paralleled the growth of his overall solidity of self.

Effects of shamanic methods on psychotherapy

There is a natural tendency for a client in any therapeutic relationship to see the therapist as
having special power. When a therapist uses methods of helping that involve the spiritual
dimension and nonordinary reality there can be an amplification in the perception of power
attributed to the therapist, and this can cause further difficulties in the therapeutic
relationship. If a client overvalues the therapist’s power they may tend to undervalue their
own abilities.
Demystifying and educating a client about shamanic methods and the use of
shamanic practices is crucial in lessening the negative effects of overvaluing the therapist,
and counters a tendency some clients have to be passive. Teaching shamanic skills helps
remove the mystique, and makes the therapeutic process a collaborative one. Ellen, Jack, and
James all learned to journey, and participate actively in their own healing, an empowering
process. In addition, through their own experiences they learned the importance of being a
vessel for the helping spirits, and of working with their spirit allies. Rather than attributing
any positive healing solely to the therapist, the importance of nonordinary reality, of spirit
allies, is personally experienced by them as the primary helping source.

Conclusions
Shamanism and psychotherapy complement each other. As shamanic techniques access help,
wisdom, and guidance from the spiritual dimension of nonordinary reality, they extend the
range and scope of therapeutic interventions available to the healing process. Mainstream
psychotherapy, with its focus on the psychological dimensions and rooted in contemporary

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culture, offers approaches that are valuable on their own, and facilitates the effectiveness of
shamanic methods by providing an anchor and context for their use. In addition, therapists
who use shamanic practices can increase their impact through follow up within the therapy
relationship. Through the application of shamanic practices therapists act as bridges, dancing
between healing approaches, connecting two worlds, the nonordinary spiritual realms and
ordinary reality. Therapists also act as explorers, bringing new methods and insights to the
psychotherapy process, further expanding the frontiers of healing.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my wife, Sylvia Hammerman, Ed.D., for her invaluable editorial help
and incisive comments which helped shape this essay.

References Cited
1. Harner, M. The way of the shaman. San Francisco: Harper, 1990.
2. Ingerman, S. Soul retrieval: mending the fragmented self. San Francisco: Harper, 1991.
3. Reich, W. Character analysis, third edition. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1980.
4. Shapiro F. EMDR: The breakthrough therapy for overcoming anxiety, stress and trauma. New York:
Basic Books; 1997.

5. Schwartz, RC. Internal family systems. New York: Guilford Press; 1995.
6. Ingerman, S. Soul retrieval: Mending the fragmented self. San Francisco: Harper; 1991.
7. Ledbetter, CW. The charkas. Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing Press, 1927.