Page 35 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 11

Peter Milnes (Australia)
Comment to

“The Rhythm of Dr Peter Milnes
Redemption. On our (PhD, M.Ed.Ad-

Relationship with the Holy min, B.Div.,B.
Educ.) is an Ad-
Spirit in Clinical Work“ junct Associate
Professor at the
School of Law and
Spirituality is increasingly being referenced Justice at Edith
and encouraged in “secular” psychotherapeu- Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia
tic practice. For example, the predominantly as well as a therapist specializing in Trans-
Transactional Analysis Journal has devoted an actional Analysis at Psychology Australia.
edition in 2018 to examine the effect of spiritua- Peter is an ordained minister who served for
lity in practice. This followed a 2017 publicati- eight years in Brazil as a director of a cross-
on of the “Pilgrim Model” where Transactional cultural studies centre and seminary lectu-
Analysis(TA) was applied to the spiritual jour- rer.
ney. I am delighted to find a similar impulse ari-
sing spontaneously in other psychotherapeutic peter@psychaust.com.au.
quarters such as this well-crafted and scholar-
ly article by the Hoffmans. In making their
case, they reached back to a lost world when
the “social was grounded in the sacred” (Tay-
lor, 2007:61). The article references the work of
the philosopher/theologian G.F.W.Hegel, and
the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection lity of the secular mindset caused Mellacqua
of Christ, before showing the way in which this (2016:149) to argue that TA needed to advance
could be used in practical counseling. The tit- its understanding of “spirituality and its com-
le suggests that there are two main elements – plex interfaces with religiosity and religious
“the Rhythm of Redemption”, and “Our Relati- psychopathology”. So, I welcome the Hoffmans’
onship with the Holy Spirit in Clinical Work”. I article that is in keeping with my own desire
will respond to both elements from a personal to understand the spiritual journey within the
viewpoint as a Transactional Analyst trained in practice of psychotherapy.
Christian Theology.
Interestingly, the Hoffmans’ base their ap-
Eschewing the effects of the sterility and disen- proach to the spiritual journey in Hegel’s The
chantment of this secular age on the practice Phenomenology of Spirit. This heavy work has
of psychotherapy, the Hoffmans have respon- been subject to various interpretations – star-
ded from their Christian worldview. Spiritual ting with the presence of the word Geist in
psychotherapy is seen as an incarnation where the title Phanomenologie des Geistes that can
the Holy Spirit indwells a pilgrim in the “here be translated as either “spirit” or “mind”. He-
and now” and in the journey through Christ’s gel argued that individual knowing is derived
sufferings and the resurrection into spiritual from a tension between the individual’s unique
freedom. Similarly, I have encountered a lar- consciousness and the categorization of our
gely secular psychotherapeutic approach in TA perceptions from our collective consciousness.
even though there were some early Transactio- The individual is forced to mediate perceptions
nal Analysts who were Christians (e.g. Muriel from these two sources in the now well-known
James and John McNeel). However, the steri- “dialectic” - a concept famously used by both

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