Conversation with Merlin [email protected] · Tue Dec 12 2023

give me some examples of people using tarot as a mental health treatment

Some individuals have found comfort and support in using tarot cards as a tool for mental health treatment. In a personal account, a person shared their experience of using tarot for introspection during challenging times, where pulling a card daily aided them in seeking understanding and solace. Another individual sought the assistance of a social worker who used tarot cards as a means of therapy, providing guidance and support during a difficult period in their life. Additionally, there are various tarot decks available, each designed with unique themes and artistic styles, offering individuals a diverse range of options to explore and connect with. These examples illustrate how some people have integrated tarot into their health practices as a complementary aid for reflection, self-care, and personal growth.

This story was originally published in Group Therapy, a weekly newsletter answering questions sent by readers about whats been weighing on their hearts and minds. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.As was the case for many people, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was a time of soul-searching for me. I questioned everything my values, my career, my relationships.An essential tool for me in this era of introspection was tarot. It started one night when a good friend offered to do a reading for me, a simple one-card pull. I cant remember what the card was, but sharp in my memory is my freshly broken heart and a profound feeling of resonance with whatever themes the card represented.I bought a tarot deck (the classic Rider-Waite) and began pulling a card every morning as I sought understanding and comfort. The card I found in front of me with startling regularity was the Hermit, which depicts an old man standing on a mountain peak, clutching a staff in one hand and a lit lantern containing a six-pointed star in the other. For many, the card represents seclusion, hardship and quiet contemplation, which was certainly my experience during that dark year. I was never unsettled by the cards reappearance, though; it helped me accept and lean into this chapter of my life rather than resist it, as Id done during so many other challenging times. Newsletter Get Group Therapy Life is stressful. Our weekly mental wellness newsletter can help. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Jessica Dore, a licensed social worker and author of Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance, and Growth, offers an alternate interpretation of the Hermit that has complicated my own understanding of its symbols: In Tarot, the Hermit is often read as an instruction to go inward. To withdraw, or to get quiet enough to hear whats inside. But if thats the true meaning, then why is the Hermits lantern which carries a shining star on the outside of his body? Might this hint at an interpretation of quietude as not blocking out noise from the outside, but becoming more deeply attuned to it?Like me, Dore uses tarot not as a form of fortunetelling or divination but as a way to better understand ourselves and live in alignment with our values. Her book, a reflection on each of the 78 cards, weaves together ideas from psychology, behavioral science, spirituality and traditional aspects of tarot reading. Dore replaces the black-and-white thinking thats all too pervasive in our culture with meditations on the paradoxes of life. As one New York Times review put it: No one and nothing is all good or all bad no monster, no witch, not even ourselves.I spoke with Dore about how she blends psychology and spirituality in her work, the role of synchronicity in tarot reading, and how metaphors can help us become more self-aware. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.A Q&A with Jessica Dore Group Therapy: How would you describe the practice of tarot as you use it in your ife?Jessica Dore: Ive worked with tarot in a few ways over the years, including drawing cards for myself daily and pulling and interpreting cards in dialogue with individuals. Ive even used tarot in individual and group therapy settings. And in each of these contexts, Ive thought about the cards as supports in processes of exploration ways to stimulate new ideas or ways of seeing things that maybe hadnt been previously considered. But the predominant way Ive used the cards is working with the images themselves as a way to sort of categorize and process ideas that Ive encountered, primarily in the fields that would broadly be called psychology and spirituality.For example, when I started studying tarot, I was working for a book publisher that published books specifically about behavioral therapies. And so I spent a lot of time thinking about the visual metaphors and the cards through the lens of these therapies that are geared toward

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Im sitting at a wooden table, in a room with yellow walls, to talk about my divorce. Im not actually married yet.What do you want to focus our session on today? Um, lets see, where TF do I even begin?My nails are uneven and bitten, my phone is permanently attached to my hand, and I havent slept more than four hours straight in months. On paper, it looks like I have my shit together. I have a good job at a magazine; Im engaged; my Instagram is a probably annoyingly curated mix of happy hour prosecco, recycled Tulum yoga shots from my last vacation, and marathon training (#SeenOnMyRun). But on the inside: Im feeling overworked, anxious, completely distracted, and scared that my marriage that hasnt even started yet is going to end in divorce like my parents did.Oh, and just two weeks ago, I found out my exyou know, the ex, the one you have the Worst Breakup Ever with and never fully recovernow works right off the same subway stop as me, and the constant unpredictable and painful run-ins with him are making me nauseated.Im falling apart.In a burnt-earth-tone cotton top, her thick brunette hair pulled back out of her face, a few strands escaping, the woman Ive come to see starts shuffling a worn deck of Rider-Waite tarot cards, spreading them out on the table. Smoke from a nearby smudge stick wafts through the room. I look down at symbolic images I recognize: Knight of Swords, Chariot, King and Queen of Pentacles. Here we go. Nearly everyone you know owns a tarot card deck. In 2019, there are more than 2,000 different types of tarot cards currently for sale on Amazon, ranging in themes from the Golden Girls to literary witches to yoga poses, many of them designed by talented artists, which makes them colorful, collectible (and highly Instagrammable) coffee-table accessories. Hell, even Neiman Marcus sells a cool, art-deco-y deck for $17. Its no wonder #tarot on Insta is currently at 4.7 million postsand growing. Its all self-care, of course. You know the deal: Were busy, stressed out, and in a perpetual state of (Twitter-induced) panic. And tarot is right up there with ASMR, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and stocking up on amethyst crystals to treat depression and anxiety. Its no surprise, then, that according to the Pew Research Center, our interest in mysticism and spirituality is on the rise. Theres more: The National Science Foundation found that more Americans considered astrology scientific in 2012 than they did in 1983 (the study did debut to mixed reviews). So perhaps the most surprising place youll shuffle a tarot deckyour therapists officeisnt actually surprising at all. Tarot cards have always had deep roots in psychological applications. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung explained that the cards were an easy way to represent the archetypes of mankindor universal traits like strength, ambition, and passionin psychology, making them ideal tools for therapy and mental health.Tarot cards are universally applicable and can create a visualization of your situation, says Inna Semetsky, PhD, from Columbia University. Once you see things laid out, it becomes clear what you actually want. They help you externalize your problems. Translation: Its all about the visuals. Tarot decks, with their easy-to-understand symbolism, are so strangely useful in healing and therapeutic sessions because they allow you to storyboard your lifeyou can look at the cards and see colorful, palatable images of behaviors you may identify with and that are now assigned to you, since theyve been pulled for you. Seeing your hopes and fears laid out in pictures, they become more obvious and less therapy. The thing is, the cards would represent entirely different things for different people going through different problems. Theyare universal. Thats the point. Theres nothing here that is just for me or you. Thats precisely why theyre so useful in psychology. They put a cartoon on a concept that, when its just floating around in your brain, can be impossible to pin

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My favourite tarot card was tweeted by Jessica Dore on the 4th of March.The Nine of Swords: nine blades slicing horizontally in the darkness above a person sitting up in bed, hands over their face. The blades cut through everything, dominating and unavoidable. They look scary, actually. The accompanying text read: "Today's card. Intrusive thoughts can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety so it is natural to want to get rid of the them. Unfortunately, the more we resist unwanted thoughts, the more power we give them. Try changing your relationship w them. Every thought is not a message."I found it comforting that the blades illustrated how intrusive thoughts feel. When they arrive, anything you are doing or thinking is disrupted. The feeling is visceral, forcing you to jolt up, mentally or physically. You might have various thoughts competing against each other, like the parallel layers of blades. The hands to the head represent the distress you feel during, and the ruminating or compulsions that can come as a result.But there is an alternative to feeling like this, as is explained in the caption: "every thought is not a message". You don't have to attribute meaning to these intrusions. What a revelation.Every day on Jessica Dore's Twitter feed, a new tarot card is pulled. It might be the Ace of Swords (a hand holding a silver blade, upon it a crown draped with a wreath); the Five of Pentacles (two beggars fighting their way through the snow, under a stained glass window); or The Lovers (a couple, naked, with an angel blessing them both). This daily card pull is not about divination. They don't offer a glimpse into the future unless, I suppose, you're willing to engage with the messages and change your life as directed. To put teachings in practice.I started following Jessica online around the end of summer last year, when she had a modest following. I am now completely obsessed as are many of her 44,000 followers and find myself refreshing her profile daily between 12PM and 4PM GMT, which is when she usually posts. It is one small no-cost act that makes me feel I am productively integrating mental health care into my day.I often see people I know favouriting her tweets now people who, as far as I know, don't believe in astrology and have no interest in tarot cards or witchcraft or spirituality, but who do, for whatever reason, have a personal interest in mental health, personal development and wellbeing.A couple of Jessica's tweets Jessica posts captions with her cards that serve as helpful reminders throughout the day. At first glance they might look like the platitudes of a social media influencer, but absorb them properly and you could get something from them. An example: "Black and white thinking is a common response to trauma; after traumatic experience, the brain categorises grey area as uncertain and potentially dangerous. Healing involves re-learning to be in life's grey areas. Good people sometimes behave badly, and can still be safe." Another: "One of the simplest ways to practice magic in our lives is through introspection and self-inquiry. Each time we become aware of a pattern whether it be emotional, behavioural, cognitive, energetic we initiate an alchemical reaction that alters our being."In her early twenties, Jessica lived in California and worked for a book publisher called New Harbinger. They release behavioural therapy books with titles like The CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) Workbook For Perfectionism and Overcoming Harm OCD, as well as psychology books for mental health professionals."For the first few years I was a publicist there, so it was my job to open up these manuals and pull concepts in them and translate them into language that editors at womens magazines or regular readers could understand," Jessica tells me over Skype. During that period, she was studying psychology and got her first deck of tarot cards, which she only used on herself, to understand what was going on in her own

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analyze how people use tarot as a mental health treatment

Incorporating tarot cards into mental health treatment involves utilizing the symbolic imagery and archetypes of the to gain insight, reflection, and emotional processing. When a person pulls a tarot card, they delve into the meanings and symbolism, intuition and emotions. This process can help individuals explore their feelings, process emotions, and a deeper understanding of themselves without judgment, leading to acceptance and clarity.

The act of using tarot for psychological purposes is not new, as it has been recognized by figures like Carl Jung, a prominent psychoanalyst, who viewed tarot cards as a means of tapping into the subconscious. Individuals can benefit from this practice regardless of their knowledge of psychology or the tarot itself. Through this process, individuals can gain new perspectives on their thoughts and emotions, personal growth and supporting their mental well-being.

While tarot is not an alternative to professional medical treatment for mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, it can be employed as a complementary tool alongside therapy, meditation, and journal, aiding individuals in maintaining their mental health between therapy sessions.

In summary, people use tarot as a mental health treatment to connect with their emotions, explore their subconscious, and gain clarity, acceptance, and new perspectives as part of their overall mental wellness journey.

Im sitting at a wooden table, in a room with yellow walls, to talk about my divorce. Im not actually married yet.What do you want to focus our session on today? Um, lets see, where TF do I even begin?My nails are uneven and bitten, my phone is permanently attached to my hand, and I havent slept more than four hours straight in months. On paper, it looks like I have my shit together. I have a good job at a magazine; Im engaged; my Instagram is a probably annoyingly curated mix of happy hour prosecco, recycled Tulum yoga shots from my last vacation, and marathon training (#SeenOnMyRun). But on the inside: Im feeling overworked, anxious, completely distracted, and scared that my marriage that hasnt even started yet is going to end in divorce like my parents did.Oh, and just two weeks ago, I found out my exyou know, the ex, the one you have the Worst Breakup Ever with and never fully recovernow works right off the same subway stop as me, and the constant unpredictable and painful run-ins with him are making me nauseated.Im falling apart.In a burnt-earth-tone cotton top, her thick brunette hair pulled back out of her face, a few strands escaping, the woman Ive come to see starts shuffling a worn deck of Rider-Waite tarot cards, spreading them out on the table. Smoke from a nearby smudge stick wafts through the room. I look down at symbolic images I recognize: Knight of Swords, Chariot, King and Queen of Pentacles. Here we go. Nearly everyone you know owns a tarot card deck. In 2019, there are more than 2,000 different types of tarot cards currently for sale on Amazon, ranging in themes from the Golden Girls to literary witches to yoga poses, many of them designed by talented artists, which makes them colorful, collectible (and highly Instagrammable) coffee-table accessories. Hell, even Neiman Marcus sells a cool, art-deco-y deck for $17. Its no wonder #tarot on Insta is currently at 4.7 million postsand growing. Its all self-care, of course. You know the deal: Were busy, stressed out, and in a perpetual state of (Twitter-induced) panic. And tarot is right up there with ASMR, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and stocking up on amethyst crystals to treat depression and anxiety. Its no surprise, then, that according to the Pew Research Center, our interest in mysticism and spirituality is on the rise. Theres more: The National Science Foundation found that more Americans considered astrology scientific in 2012 than they did in 1983 (the study did debut to mixed reviews). So perhaps the most surprising place youll shuffle a tarot deckyour therapists officeisnt actually surprising at all. Tarot cards have always had deep roots in psychological applications. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung explained that the cards were an easy way to represent the archetypes of mankindor universal traits like strength, ambition, and passionin psychology, making them ideal tools for therapy and mental health.Tarot cards are universally applicable and can create a visualization of your situation, says Inna Semetsky, PhD, from Columbia University. Once you see things laid out, it becomes clear what you actually want. They help you externalize your problems. Translation: Its all about the visuals. Tarot decks, with their easy-to-understand symbolism, are so strangely useful in healing and therapeutic sessions because they allow you to storyboard your lifeyou can look at the cards and see colorful, palatable images of behaviors you may identify with and that are now assigned to you, since theyve been pulled for you. Seeing your hopes and fears laid out in pictures, they become more obvious and less therapy. The thing is, the cards would represent entirely different things for different people going through different problems. Theyare universal. Thats the point. Theres nothing here that is just for me or you. Thats precisely why theyre so useful in psychology. They put a cartoon on a concept that, when its just floating around in your brain, can be impossible to pin

cosmopolitan.com

Tarot is the rage because more and more people are using it for reasons other than predicting the future. Several people use it to gain insight into situations they are in and reflect on themselves. It can also be used to spark creativity. The Tarot is an excellent tool for removing writer's block, and we'll discuss that in the future. What else can tarot cards be used for besides making predictions?Tarot cards can be a powerful tool for mental health. How? And how can they work? Mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder need to be treated medically. Your physician or psychiatrist can prescribe the appropriate treatment. You should also seek therapy. You can only be treated effectively for mental illness if you do that. Could you use tools in addition to that? In between therapy sessions, you need to use the tools to keep working on your mental health.There is meditation, meditation, and journaling, and you can also use tarot cards. Tarot cards can be a valuable tool for mental health.How Do Tarot Cards Help Your Mental Health?Consider this. When you pull a card, you won't just look at the card itself but also the imagery and symbols surrounding it. They stimulate your intuitive and emotional side. The cards you pull will also help you get in touch with your emotions and feelings. You will explore them further and process them.Tarot use for psychological purposes is not new as Carl Jung, a well-known psychoanalyst, saw tarot cards as the perfect tool for tapping into the subconscious. In fact, you don't even need to know much about psychology or the Tarot to benefit from this type of practice. Tarot can still be quite helpful when it comes to maintaining your mental health.The Tarot helps you understand your feelings without judging them, which leads to acceptance. It will help you determine what you want, your values, and what really matters to you. Tarot can reveal what is really holding you back from achieving your goals.A card such as the Eight of Swords, for instance, represents feeling trapped and not seeing a way out. When it comes to this card, you only believe you are trapped. Your belief is all in your head. In reality, you are not trapped. In Ryder-Waite-Smith-style tarot decks, the first thing you'll see when this card appears is the image of someone being barricaded by swords sticking through the ground.There is a good chance you can relate to this card. You will then start to explore what it is you feel is trapping you. You will realize that this card represents the feeling of entrapment that is all in your mind. Then you will see that it doesn't have to be that way, and you will get some ideas about how you can start feeling less stuck. You won't be able to come up with this on your own if you have a mental illness. You should discuss this with your therapist. If your therapist is not open to tarot cards, you will want to question them for lacking open-mindedness. That being said, your therapist does not need to believe in tarot cards, but a good therapist will understand that they help you and will work with you regardless.The Tarot can really help you discover a lot about your psyche, so you can go on to explore it further. In a non-confrontational way, the Tarot can help you understand your motivations, behaviors, and experiences. Since it is non-judgmental, it is also quite valuable. In the long run, it can help you better your habits by enabling you to understand why you do the things you do.Here's another example. You draw the Nine of Swords. This is called the nightmare card. It represents excessive worries and fears, as well as intrusive thoughts. Such thoughts can cause a great deal of anxiety. Although you want to resist these thoughts, you know that what persists. It may be time to examine the thoughts and figure out why you are thinking them. Then, the therapist can help you understand these intuitive thoughts and give you tips on working with them.Tarot cards are beneficial

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on trch ni bt t webA lot of the work is helping people understand simple concepts like: When there are feelings you're not willing to feel, that's a lot of how people get stuck. You can use tarot cards to help people understand by showing them images and helping them explore the ways those things are happening in their own lives.28 thg 10, 20194 thg 11, 2019 Tarot cards have always had deep roots in psychological applications. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung explained that the cards were an easy way to...4 thg 6, 2021 Pros to using tarot for mental health It turns self-care into soul care It can complement therapy Tarot can open dialogue It's getting more...27 thg 10, 2021 Tarot cards can be a powerful tool for mental health. How? And how can they work? Mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar...2 thg 9, 2017 Both tests are designed to explore personality dynamics in the patient and better understand their motivations, beliefs and inner conflicts.5 thg 11, 2021 Tarot cards are being increasingly used for providing mental health support. But can they be used in therapy sessions?25 thg 4, 2023 Another way that tarot cards can benefit mental health is by providing a sense of empowerment through choice. Being a somatic experiencing...25 thg 3, 2019 AB: Therapy and tarot are both practices that people sometimes ... JD: There's so many different traditions and ways that people use tarot cards.17 thg 2, 2022 Spiritual practices like tarot cards and astrology have been seen a lot in wellness culture because of Twitter and horoscope apps.9 thg 11, 2023 Tarot is a therapeutic tool that can contribute to improved mental health through intentional reflection upon life themes, circumstances,...

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