©2002 by George A. Boyd
The client in therapy is in a state of evocation. He/she is actively
seeking help after trying and failing to find resolution. This evocation,
in return, draws from the therapist ministry to assuage the pain,
guide through the tangles of confusion, assist in integrating the aspects
of nature which have become split-off and repressed, and empowering the
individual to master the issue.
This ministry can take several forms:
COUNSELING the communication of advisement, clarification
of clients situation and options, giving necessary information
for optimal decision-making.
PSYCHOTHERAPY the emotional resolution of painful issues
of life, leading to self-understanding, integration, and mastery.
HEALING the clearing of the etheric channels to permit
the active working of the life force to resolve conditions of malaise,
fatigue or disease. Healing modalities may include pharmaceutical
drugs, herbal and nutritional remedies, massage and bodywork, chiropractic,
acupuncture and light immersion (spiritual) healing.
ART the communication of understanding, guidance and
healing through affirmations, images or tones by an artistic medium
which can be readily understood and related to by the client. This
can alternately take the form of guiding the clients self-exploration
and discovery through an artistic medium.
TEACHING imparting conceptual information that allows
the client to make sense of his/her situation and understand what
and why he/she is experiencing what he/she is at this time. May also
involve the training in relevant social skills, stress reduction methods
and insightive techniques, or informing about relevant community resources.
CHANNELING the transmission of guidance to the personality,
attentional principle, spirit and soul through the spoken word (satsang)
and the radiation of spiritual Light/Fire energy through the vehicles
of the Superconscious mind and/or the physical body of the minister
(shakti).
INITIATION the confidential instruction in spiritual
techniques, which allow active transmutation of karma and unfolding
of the Souls potentials (diksha). This may also take the form
of the active acceleration of spiritual evolution through translation
of the active spiritual principles, e.g., the attentional principle,
spirit, Superconscious mind, and Soul through the Overshadowing of
a Master Soul (Shaktipat).

Evocation, or asking for help, is important for several reasons:
- Help is not offered against a clients will. He or she must
voluntarily seek it.
- While the therapist or helper may have several modalities at his/her
disposal to assist the client, the client must reveal what it is he/she
wants help with and what type of intervention he/she will accept.
- Evocation arises at a time of vulnerability, crisis or sense of
personal defeat. The client recognizes this and seeks support and
guidance until the issues impacting him/her are resolved.
- Help offered without the clients request will be rejected.
Mere complaining does not constitute evocation; evocation is heartfelt,
sincere and genuine.
- Evocation is soulful. It brings with it humility, a willingness
to be taught and guided. It also brings a willingness to trust another
with his/her secrets, and seeks to be known, affirmed and respected
by another who can confer help.
- Evocation is a state of passion, of yearning, of aspiration. It
is a movement towards freedom, problem-mastery, empowerment and self-transcendence.
- Evocation is based on genuinely sensed need and not merely a passing
whim or fancy. It is an issue that has been deeply experienced and
is inwardly known to be vital or essential to ones growth, happiness
or survival. It comes from a persons core and is an offering
of their essential self in a living prayer for succor, solace or resolution.
If one cannot genuinely assist a client in need who is in a state of
evocation, then one needs to refer him/her to one who has the requisite
skills to assist him/her. Often, a team approach may work best, where
therapists with expertise in different disciplines collaborate in a common
effort to assist the client.
A thorough assessment will help reveal what types of intervention are
indicated for the client. Determining the intensity of the clients
sense of the problem and its urgency will give clues to what modalities
need to be utilized first. Often, where one intervention has not been
successful, another may lead to breakthrough and resolution. The therapist
must be persistent and actively work to marshal the clients inner
resources to understand, resolve and master the problematic life issues.
The first five forms of ministry primarily address concerns of the personality.
In contrast, the last two address the concerns of the spiritual faculties
of a human being; as such, they are transpersonal forms of ministry. These
Transpersonal forms of ministry are germane for those who have begun the
Great Work of self-transcension embodied by the aspirant, disciplic and
intiatic stages of the spiritual path.
According to his/her natural gifts and tendencies, the therapist may
be drawn to develop one or more of these ministerial pathways to be of
service to others. Learning ones avenue of ministry is an ongoing
academic and experiential educational process. In those imbued with the
desire to be of service, this ministry typically becomes his/her avocation
or career.
Such a career is one of both satisfaction and frustration. But in embracing
the ministerial path, he/she also finds healing, understanding and answers
to his/her life questions in the process: for in seeking to heal others,
the healer may also find inner healing for him/herself.
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