Tarot & Therapy … what’s all that about?
“You’re a COUNSELLOR … why do you work with the tarot?”
That’s a good question!
I’ve always loved crystals (I have lots of them dotted around my therapy room!) and tarot cards are often found in the same intriguing little shops that are crammed full of spiritual goodies.
But it took me a while to get there with tarot … and I believe that I only really connected with the cards once I began my work as a therapist. I found myself being drawn to learning more about symbolism, imagery, archetypes, and Jungian ways of working with clients. And as part of this, I began reading and watching more and more about tarot and I bought my first deck to see for myself what these picture cards could bring.
I didn’t want to use them for fortune-telling or divination and I knew there could be more to them than that. The thing that really clinched it for me was this …
The tarot deck is made up of four suits, and each suit has its own particular quality, theme & story.
The CUPS suit is all about our feelings & emotions, hopes & dreams, and everything under the surface in our subconscious.
The SWORDS are our conscious minds, so here we are dealing with being rational, logical, and everything to do with our mental health.
The WANDS are our passions, what we get enthusiastic about, and what drives us … and they talk to our willpower and our creative side.
And the PENTACLES suit represents our physical world, where we are investing our time & energy, these cards are all about our homes, our work, and our money.
And these things are basically the themes that show up with every client in pretty much every therapy session in one way or another.
It’s the fact that I can use these cards with my clients to encourage introspection and reflection. I can ask a client to look at a card and tell me what they see, and together we can reflect on what’s coming up for them.
Tarot can be a great icebreaker in a therapy session and is such a useful tool in helping a client to get ‘unstuck.’
Of course the tarot cards are completely an ‘optional extra’ to my work. I see them as any other therapeutic tool we might use in a session … we may talk about attachment styles, for instance, or look at the drama triangle … but I completely appreciate that this approach is not for everyone so there’s no pressure here!
However, if you think that they might be for you, I also offer one-off Therapeutic Tarot sessions and these combine creative storytelling using the card’s characters and symbols with the gentle, holding, and empowering space of a therapeutic session.
I like to say that they are individual, personal and full of wonder and exploration in a safe and non judgemental space!
Therapeutic Tarot sessions are offered online, you can have your own deck of cards or we can use mine, and sessions are an hour long.
If you would like some more details about these sessions you can read about them here.
I also love running Tarot Workshops locally in Bedfordshire and online.
My signature ‘Tarot for Self Care’ is a 90 minute workshop introducing people to the reflective magic of the tarot.
‘Tarot for Therapists’ allows me to share my love for tarot with fellow therapists & counsellors, inviting them to think about how they could incorporate the cards therapeutically into their own work with their own clients.
Workshops are run throughout the year and you can take a look at my calendar of events, and book your tickets, here!
Bring your imagination!