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Editor’s Note: The following article has been edited and adapted from original writings by Ruth Altschuler and further interviews by Jann Garitty. Transforming the Core Wound to Liberate Our Purpose As practitioners we know that the healing challenges and wounding we’ve dealt with in our own journey become very meaningful. These life experiences influence the types of therapeutic services we offer and the clients who tend to come to us. Our initial core wounding is actually part of our healing purpose. What’s so fascinating is that while the wound is connected to our purpose, it also has an expiration date. At a certain point it becomes exhausting to be locked into that looping pattern. We have built constructs and patterns to survive and cope with the wounding situation. But it will require a deeper healing of that core wound to fully unfold one’s Soul Purpose, and truly flourish. Opening the Layers of the Onion to Access the Core In the early books about Flower Essence Therapy, it is often said that the transformation involves many layers like those of an onion, gradually moving us to the core. But not much is said about the nature of this core and how we unravel the core wound. With three decades of experience as a Flower Essence Practitioner applying this work, and then expanding into further research and training, I have deepened my understanding of core wound formation and its healing. For this work, I value the excellent Voice Dialogue technique originally developed by Hal and Sidra Stone , who were inspired by the understanding of Roberto Assagioli , an Italian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was a contemporary of Jung and Freud. The Early Work of Psychosynthesis and Its Further Development Assagioli guided his clients through a process known as Psychosynthesis, which involves moving one’s inner Voices, or “Parts,” toward deeper levels of integration. In this interview, Assagioli is surrounded by flowers and talks about the healthy integration of the human psyche. In his book What We May Be, Piero Ferrucci shared more about Assagioli’s multidimensional work, and how it integrates with the Spiritual Dimension of the Self. Today, other kinds of “parts work” exist, the best-known and respected being Voice Dialogue and Internal Family Systems . Furthermore, the evolving areas of study with neuroscience, trauma healing, plus an understanding of our Interrelated Selves (especially Daniel Siegel’s groundbreaking interdisciplinary approach in The Neurobiology of We ) continue to unfold these vital aspects of the soul. As a result, we are gaining further clarity on how to use these integrated approaches to more effectively heal. Since Flower Essence Therapy plays a major integrative role for renewing and embodying new patterns, this awareness is at the foundation of the processes described here.
Choosing My Tools and Gaining Experience Becoming a Voice Dialogue practitioner has involved training and extensive practice . As I continued this learning, I stepped into the role of assistant coach in the team guided by Tim Kelley and Beth Scanzan . Here, I participated in an intensive journey with more than 100 individuals working through a process called Evolving Beyond Your Wounds . Seeing the results so many participants experienced, has helped me grow much further in my ability and confidence to guide clients through their core healing. I began to appreciate how the Voice Dialogue method is based on the Assagioli approach to the many dimensions of the psyche with different voices. They are like various characters in a play that form the larger Self. These aspects can exist at different times in our biographical history. Some might be transpersonal components that live more deeply in the soul identity. The work of Voice Dialogue has been inspired by Jungian approaches, developing into a very dynamic and even playful way in which we participate in these voices. In the process, the client embodies one of the voices through a conversation with the practitioner, so that it becomes its own character. These parts of the psyche now have the opportunity to express themselves, as they come out of hiding and are heard. Amazing changes happen that are truly alchemical. Bringing in the flower essences takes this transformation to a whole new level of integration. Using Voice Dialogue to Reach the Vulnerable Inner Child In talking with a client and in the consultations done previously, we can begin peeling the onion to reach the important core aspects. We discover that there are some main players with a very strong presence. We can call them primary parts .
In a Voice Dialogue session, we have a dialogue with two or three of these aspects. Through this conversation, I ask more questions. As this unfolds, we often discover other vulnerable identities typically connected to the inner child that have stayed undercover for protection. They shielded the fragile part from being hurt and wounded again. Some of the most profound and transformative sessions are the ones in which we get to meet those vulnerable inner child parts. A Guided Pre-Birth Journey with Evening Primrose
I'll cite one example of a recent client session. This individual had pre-birth traumatic memories extending into the actual birth event and following the birth. Evening Primrose was indicated to address these perinatal experiences. In doing a Voice Dialogue, I guided the client on a journey of meeting these vulnerable aspects in their original preverbal state. She needed to hold her tender infant self and find a way of allowing that aspect to feel appreciated, seen and loved. It is like the sun shining on the moonlike unformed experience of the child, where there had never been the sense of being met with a gaze of love and appreciation. During these guided journeys I might also use nature music to create a sense of entering an alchemical space. Bringing in the "Healing Team" After such sessions, I formulate a dosage bottle of flower essences, or perhaps the client is already taking the essences, and we continue the processing with Voice Dialogue. We might invoke the presence of the spiritual guides to be there as well. Truly we are bringing in a team for multidimensional healing. Depending on the transformation that happens in that session, there might be another combination to support the process of integration. Learning to Receive and Give As the transformation progresses, we identify different layers that comprise the over-arching pattern. For instance, there might be a people pleaser component specialized in sensing other people's needs. That pleaser aspect can learn to sense and honor its own needs. In a survival pattern the person gets conditioned to care for others and neglects self-care. We expand and embrace what stayed in the shadow, so that such a pleaser can now learn to ask for what is needed. Of course, learning to receive is a big topic for many of my clients. They have become so good at giving, but often have enormous difficulties really receiving. This includes even asking for what they need and allowing themselves to truly receive. Shadow Work and Emotional Release Working with the shadow really depends on the situation. During the session, transformation already happens, and the focus is on an integration of these new realizations. The releasing occurs during the session, and during day-to-day life as memories emerge and new awareness takes hold. As these patterns begin to expand, we identify the higher life purpose for each individual. This higher awareness breaks the vicious cycle of behavior that has locked in the old dysfunctional patterns. The Central Role of Flower Essence Therapy The unique aspect I bring is adding Flower Essence Therapy to these processes. For my clients, the journey with the flowers is a central part of the process and is what makes it even more effective. For me, it's almost impossible to do this deep work without the flower essences. Sometimes I have a client who is not so interested in the flower essences, but when I suggest it, they are usually receptive. Our Core Wound is Intimately Related to our Purpose One of the basic tenets of the True Purpose Institute approach is that we all experience an early imprint of a wound, and this wounding generates a core belief about ourselves, coupled with unique patterns of coping and survival. In order to adapt and survive while harboring this core wound, we develop Inner Parts of our psyche that enact our unique behavioral patterns. Our wounding propels us into developing unique skills that will turn out to be perfectly suited for our true life purpose. But this same core wound might also keep us locked in painful vicious cycles, blocking us from truly manifesting our purposeful action in the world. This is why we need to find a path for evolving beyond our wounds.
The combination of Flower Essence Therapy with this deep understanding of the core wound can become a very effective approach for transformation so that one’s true life purpose can be manifested. The Core Wound Stems from Negative Beliefs A core wound usually results from a major impactful experience, or the constant repetition of traumatic experiences, most often happening early in childhood during the first 8 to 10 years of life. These experiences create a sense of overwhelm, in which unbearable feelings are stored away and conditioned coping responses are activated. These crippling negative beliefs need to be transformed through conscious awareness and identification. Flower Essence Therapy is a powerful approach that helps us uncover and transform these wounding beliefs held in the core identity. The transmutation of negative beliefs allows the entire core wound pattern to gradually unravel, with all functions upgraded to a renewed version, that potentiates the fuller manifestation of our Soul Purpose. The Inner Marriage Journey: Relationships within & with Others Another process that is significant is the Inner Marriage Journey. Here one addresses the blueprint for relationships. In that approach, we transform the difficulties people have in meeting a partner and establishing a healthy relationship. We examine the assumptions and expectations, or inner blueprint, that has been set and how it can be transformed. An Artist Finds Her True Purpose Ruth's Voice Dialogue work Ruth's work with the Inner Marriage Journey Diagram of the Stages of Alchemical Core Wound Healing Diagram of the most used essences
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Ruth Toledo Altschuler
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