The labyrinth of psychotherapy

I first came across the power of the labyrinth in the 2000s when I undertook my NLP Training.  The training school I attended had one at the bottom of the car park, a tranquil spot where we could go and explore.  It had quite an effect on me and to this day I have labyrinths in my therapy room to remind me of the power of journeying toward self-discovery, inner understanding, and when desired, transformation.

Labyrinths are often used as a form of meditation or prayer, they have a single continuous oath that you walk from the outside to the inside, and back.  You may not always see where you are going next, but the path does lead to the centre.  The winding route represents the idea that growth is not always a straight line or straight forward, it is a wandering route. 

Walking in towards the centre represents turning inwards and coming to know yourself more deeply, like a Hero’s Journey. It may be that the centre represents a deeper self, a difficult emotion, an unresolved experience, or something you need to turn towards and understand rather than avoid. The twists represent the uncertainly and challenges of both the therapeutic journey and life, and call for patience, faith and trust.

Sometimes people mistake a labyrinth for a maze, but the distinction is important.  A labyrinth is not designed for us to get lost in, it has one path to the centre which symbolises finding your way, quite the opposite of being lost.  You move through the experience in the labyrinth rather than trying to find a quick way out of it as you would with a maze.

The labyrinth is a useful metaphor for psychotherapy, in both we can not see the whole path from the beginning, we take it one step at a time.  The path is defined, there is containment and safety within it, it’s a structured space that enabled troubling or confusing experiences to be explored.  There are no wrong turns, detours, pauses and cycling back are all part of the process.  Reaching the centre and gaining in the insight is not the end, the journey back out of the labyrinth symbolises bringing the gains of psychotherapy out into the world and integrating them.  As we emerge the external world may not have changed, but our relationship with it and with ourselves has.

The labyrinth represents being in the process of finding your way.  You may be somewhere on a journey whose meaning may not be clear, but that does not mean you are lost.

For labyrinthine exploration with yourself or in your relationship, get in touch on 01325 605160 or at fjchrichard@gmail.com.