ACIM Chapter 9. V. The Unhealed Healer P 4, 5

ACIM Chapter 9. V. The Unhealed Healer P 4, 5

V. The Unhealed Healer P 4 and 5

4 Some newer forms of the ego’s plan are as unhelpful as the older ones, because form does not matter and the content has not changed. In one of the newer forms, for example, a psychotherapist may interpret the ego’s symbols in a nightmare, and then use them to prove that the nightmare is real. Having made it real, he then attempts to dispel its effects by depreciating the importance of the dreamer. This would be a healing approach if the dreamer were also identified as unreal. Yet if the dreamer is equated with the mind, the mind’s corrective power through the Holy Spirit is denied. This is a contradiction even in the ego’s terms, and one which it usually notes even in its confusion.

Paragraph 5

5 If the way to counteract fear is to reduce the importance of the mind, how can this build ego strength? Such evident inconsistencies account for why no one has really explained what happens in psychotherapy. Nothing really does. Nothing real has happened to the unhealed healer, and he must learn from his own teaching. His ego will always seek to get something from the situation. The unhealed healer therefore does not know how to give, and consequently cannot share. He cannot correct because he is not working correctively. He believes that it is up to him to teach the patient what is real, although he does not know it himself.

I think the last sentence sums up both paragraphs. “He believes that it is up to him to teach the patient what is real, although he does not know it himself.” This is the unhealed healer. He is confused about what is real and what isn’t. He looks at the story for the truth, for clues to undo what he has made real. Making it real is how you keep it, not undo it.

The story is just form and not content.

And changing the form will not really change anything. Changing the form is what we do all the time as we try to make the world change to suit us, and it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because it is the content that must be changed, and the content is not found in the form, though the form can lead to the content if one knows to look for it.

The unhealed healer goes into the relationship expecting to get something from it. He wants to be the one who knows, the one who succeeds. He thinks he needs the patient to respond as proof that he has done his job. It may be that he wants prestige and money. But giving to get is not really giving. The unhealed healer isn’t sharing, so there is no union and, therefore, no true relationship. It is in union and relationship that we are healed because it is separation that is the sickness.

The psychoanalyst, theologian, or I will not do anything of value if our own minds are not healed. No amount of digging around in the story is going to undo the story if the therapist is confused about the patient’s true nature and about the nature of healing and his part in it.

There are ways to help, though.

When someone comes to me for counseling, I begin the session by asking the Holy Spirit to work through me. I listen to the story and then guide them out of the story to its true content, to the confused mind. I offer them an opportunity to see differently through the Holy Spirit in their mind.

If I share my own story of darkness, it is only to share what I got out of it and to share how I did that. I don’t teach that the darkness is real because I don’t believe it is real. Rather, I teach that what is unreal cannot keep us bound. I am not concerned about the outcome because I am not asking them for anything. We are simply joining, forming a union with the two of us and the Holy Spirit. The union itself is healing for us both. When the healer is healed along with the patient, that is true healing.

Here is an example of how this works: Someone comes to me with a problem. He is in a troubled relationship and doesn’t know if he should continue it or let it go. Silently, I ask the Holy Spirit what He would have me say. Or perhaps we will pray together for the Holy Spirit to join us in our conversation. First, we talk about Inner Guidance. In the Song of Prayer, Jesus tells us this.

ACIM, S-1.I.2:1-9

You have been told to ask the Holy Spirit for the answer to any specific problem, and that you will receive a specific answer if such is your need. ²You have also been told that there is only one problem and one answer. ³In prayer this is not contradictory. ⁴There are decisions to make here, and they must be made whether they be illusions or not. ⁵You cannot be asked to accept answers which are beyond the level of need that you can recognize. ⁶Therefore, it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked. ⁷The form of the answer, if given by God, will suit your need as you see it. ⁸This is merely an echo of the reply of His Voice. ⁹The real sound is always a song of thanksgiving and of Love. ()

I encourage him to talk to Jesus/the Holy Spirit about his confusion. When he asks me how to do this or what to say, I tell him it doesn’t matter. When I have a problem, I remember that Jesus tells us to share our lives with him so he can help us even more. So, I tell him everything. I don’t try to be spiritual or correct. I tell him about my confusion, resentment, anger, and fear. God’s Love will answer in a way that is understandable and helpful to the situation.

But, I tell my client that what is more important than knowing what to do about this situation is letting it show you what needs to be healed in your mind. I talk about being aware of his feelings because they will let him know when he is looking at the situation from the perspective of the ego. We discuss the thoughts and beliefs that are driving his emotions. If he needs help getting to the core belief so that he can ask for healing, we might do some self-inquiry.

This can be very helpful.

Sometimes, a client will have a hard time looking past the story to the real issue, his beliefs. He may be stuck on the idea the other person is the problem. Together, we may be able to turn it around. My rule of thumb is that it is always about me, not the other person, whether that is immediately apparent or not. If we realize that our goal is to heal our mind rather than to change something within the story, then we will use every encounter as a means of accomplishing this goal.

What is said in any situation varies, of course, but the one thing that does not change is the ultimate goal. The client may get guidance on what to do, but the goal is to heal the mind. I always place the focus on the thoughts and beliefs that are at the crux of the problem. Nothing happens without a thought, and all thoughts are expressions of a belief. It isn’t ultimately helpful to focus our attention on what to do in the story. A healed mind will be aware of the answer to the story because it is not confused about its purpose. Without the ego’s fear and guilt thoughts obscuring the truth, the Answer becomes obvious.

As for me, each time I go through a situation like this, I receive what I give. If I am patient, loving, and kind, I receive the effects of those beliefs. If I have opened my mind to guidance to help my client, I receive guidance to help myself. What my client receives from me is given to me. His healing is my healing. It is a very efficient way to awaken the Sonship and bring peace and happiness to each other. We are all teachers and all psychotherapists because we all influence others. The only question is whether or not we act from our split mind or our right mind. The outcome of the encounter will indicate the answer to that question.

Click here to read Regina Dawn Akers’ step-by-step description of conducting a Root Cause Inquiry.