A Healing Space: Befriending Ourselves in Difficult Times

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Is healing a matter of solving a problem, curing a sickness, or making our wounds disappear "In my experience," writes depth psychotherapist and mindfulness teacher Matt Licata, "true healing is not a state where we become liberated from uncomfortable feelings, but one in which we are free and flexible to welcome our complete experience-whether happy or difficult-more fully." With A Healing Space, Dr. Licata invites us to explore a more vital sense of wellness-one that does not put us in opposition to life's hardship, but instead welcomes all experience as part of the soul's majestic vastness. "While there is a part of us that very genuinely wishes to heal, awaken, and transform," writes Dr. Licata, "there is a lesser known, hidden part invested in maintaining things the way they are." Through metaphors and teachings from diverse traditions such as alchemy, neuroscience, mindfulness, contemplative spirituality, Buddhism, and depth psychology, he illuminates the spiritual journey with profound subtlety and deep insight. If you've found yourself wondering why years or even decades of self-improvement, meditation, prayer, or therapy hasn't resulted in a feeling of wholeness or completeness, you may be ready to enter A Healing Space.

Reviews

"Matt Licata pinpoints a space within us where healing, awakening, and a vibrant reckoning of who we actually are can be realized. The wisdom hidden deep within our darkest experiences comes from not turning away from these, but by directly tending to them with gentleness, love, and compassion. This book depicts a way of genuine freedom." --Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness

"Matt Licata's A Healing Space is a wise, compassionate, and helpful book. While healing is a mystery, we all have to consider, 'What is life asking of me, and how can I bring my mature self to the task' This book is an accessible, kind, insightful, and useful guide to assist any reader in this good work." --James Hollis, PhD, Jungian analyst and author of Living Between Worlds

"Matt Licata's book is a true companion for the journey of being here in earth school. It's as if he takes you by the hand and heart and gentles the way into the descent of the shadow and the ascent into the light and wholeness of true healing. He has a beautiful, firm, loving grasp of the subtleties and difficulties, the joys, and the ultimate wonders of being human." --Geneen Roth, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Women Food and God and This Messy Magnificent Life

"Tender, profound, and deeply useful, this book is gem. Remarkably, Matt Licata weaves together self-compassion, depth psychology, and radical acceptance into a beautiful, passionate, soaring exploration of all that it means to be human." --Rick Hanson, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Neurodharma

"A Healing Space is a beautiful, insightful, and moving contemplation of the journey of healing we all undertake as human beings. It illuminates how self-compassion--holding our own pain with love--transforms our experience in a profound way so that we can learn the lessons life offers us moment by moment." --Kristin Neff, PhD, associate professor at the University of Texas and author of Self-Compassion

"A goldmine of wisdom for difficult times, A Healing Space offers a profound understanding of the healing process and a deep compassion for those who travel there. Here lies a weaving of depth psychology and alchemy, with a fresh view of spiritual truths and fallacies. It shows us that true healing begins only when we stop looking for the quick fixes and fully embrace our wounds. Rich and soulful, it is a must read for anyone on their healing journey, and for all practitioners who guide them. This book is the kind of therapist we all wish we could find." --Anodea Judith, PhD, founder and director of Sacred Centers and author of Eastern Body, Western Mind and Charge and the Energy Body

"This inspiring book invites us to trust the intelligence of whatever is unfolding in our lives, especially when it hurts, and to meet it in a deeply compassionate way. Matt Licata is a cartographer of the human heart. He knows the ineffable space where healing occurs and offers us a map for getting there, right up to the threshold. The rest is alchemy. We have been waiting a long time for a book like this." --Christopher Germer, PhD, clinical psychologist and lecturer at Harvard Medical School, author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion and co-developer of the Mindful Self-Compassion program

"Matt Licata's book is a thoughtful and gentle approach to how we might heal ourselves and others. This book leads us on a practical and compassionate healing path without the complexities of much theory. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the mysteries of the healing journey." --Lionel Corbett, MD, psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, professor of depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and author of The Sacred Cauldron

"In A Healing Space, Matt Licata skillfully and gently introduces the reader into some of the most important and least-discussed work in personal spiritual development--the play of the unconscious and unilluminated parts of self. I applaud him for bringing this to all of us and highly recommend this book for anyone interested in personal healing. This is the 'secret' recipe for a transformational journey that must be taken yet requires guidance to achieve. I am thrilled to see Dr. Licata taking the leap to sharing this work with anyone who has the courage to engage it." --Ann Marie Chiasson, MD, director of the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine, associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, and author of Energy Healing and Self-Healing with Energy Medicine (with Dr. Andrew Weil)

"A Healing Space is a brilliant weave of Jungian and Eastern contemplative wisdom. In this powerful new offering, Matt Licata guides us to a place of sacred refuge, where we can meet even our greatest moments of confusion and suffering with compassion and grace." --Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Compassion

"A Healing Space invites us to explore and endeavor the alchemist's way of facing the tough stuff that haunts us. Matt Licata, skilled psychotherapist and spirit-beacon, offers respite for the troubled soul. Along the way, he prepares us with the exercises necessary to face the wounded psyche, question its purpose in our lives, and go through the middle of it in order to free the best parts of ourselves. Healing is a tricky thing, and Matt is just the one to guide us through the psychic fog. He writes with the vulnerability of a poet and the insight of a master alchemist to help us shape what remains a recurrent struggle into a form we can face, question, and--with practice--balance and embrace." --Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT, developer of the Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT) and author of We Do and Wired for Love

"If you are looking for a book to be a companion to you during this extraordinary time, it's this one. A Healing Space is a robust guidebook into the inner territory of yourself, assisting you in the exploration of deep and rich personal and life questions that lead, always, to wondrous realizations and growth. What a treasure to find in these times of great change." --Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Intimate Conversations with the Divine

"I have read, benefited from, and shared Matt Licata's writing for years, and was overjoyed to discover his new book, A Healing Space. This inspiring book provides an integration of psychological and meditative traditions and is an excellent resource and guide for all of us seeking to learn, grow, and heal." --Shauna Shapiro, PhD, clinical psychologist and professor at Santa Clara University and author of Good Morning, I Love You

"A Healing Space invites you to lean into the mystery of this ordinary life and discover the holiness and healing power of a single instant--a single breath, a bodily sensation, an old feeling that's been waiting so long to be felt. The ordinary turns out to not be so ordinary at all. This is a book to keep close to your heart! Infused with Matt's compassion and a deep wisdom forged in the fire of his lived experience, it soothes and encourages as it teaches. Poetically weaving together insights from neuroscience, mythology, depth psychotherapy, contemplative spirituality, and the great alchemical traditions, this book is a companion, a loving friend, and trusted guide to encourage you onwards on your path when you feel down, despondent, and stuck; to validate and befriend you when the world seems a dark and lonely place; and to help you rest, perhaps more deeply than you have ever rested in your life. Deeply profound yet highly accessible, simple yet never simplistic, A Healing Space deconstructs so much misunderstanding and misinformation around spirituality and healing work, and it plunges us into the vast mystery of living, opening our eyes to the wonder and awe of existence itself, and awakening us to the gift of this impossibly beautiful life, in all its joy and sorrow." --Jeff Foster, author of The Joy of True Meditation and You Were Never Broken

"A Healing Space is a beautifully written book exploring how walking through the darkness ultimately brings blessings, wisdom, and beauty to your life, and moves you onto a path of evolution that you simply cannot perceive during difficult times. Matt Licata is a perfect guide, as evidenced through his life experience and work as psychotherapist. This book is so timely and filled with helpful tools to guide you from the darkness into your own divine light." --Sandra Ingerman, award-winning author of twelve books, including Walking in Light and The Book of Ceremony

"Weaving the wisdom of reflective practices, the insights of Carl Jung and the alchemists, and the relational truths of attachment research and psychotherapy practice, Matt Licata offers us a beautiful tapestry of truths to transform trauma into healing and strength. Adversity can constrain us, but with this wonderful book we can find the perspectives and courage to embrace the reality of life's innate uncertainty to guide us on a journey of growth and discovery--moving from post-traumatic imprisonment to liberation." --Daniel J. Siegel, MD, clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine, director of the Mindsight Institute, and author of Aware and Mindsight

"Matt Licata has become an important and eloquent voice inviting us to go to, rather than avoid, what seem like unbearable emotions buried in our dark depths. From his Jungian perspective, he provides needed reassurance that doing so will achieve alchemical

Author Bio

Matt Licata, PhD, is a practicing psychotherapist and hosts in-person retreats. His work incorporates developmental, psychoanalytic, and depth psychologies, as well as contemplative, meditative, and mindfulness-based approaches for transformation and healing. He co-facilitates a monthly online membership community called Befriending Yourself, is author of The Path Is Everywhere, and is the creator of the blog A Healing Space. He lives in Boulder, Colorado. For more, visit mattlicataphd.com.