Sin or Salvation

Implications for Psychotherapy

Amy Mahoney, Oliva M. Espin, Amy Mahoney, Oliva M. Espin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317994190
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medizin
• Subtopic: Medizinische Theorie, Praxis & Referenz

When in therapy, women inevitably present both sexual and spiritual issues of importance. However, there has yet to be brought forth an integrating approach to women's sexuality and spirituality. The book fills this gap, integrating these two diverse yet connected aspects of therapy. This innovative exploration of women's experiences of their sexuality and spirituality is presented from a feminist psychological perspective, clearly illustrating the dichotomy that exists in Western culture and offering a unique approach for convergence. This book provides therapists with positive and self-affirming viewpoints and practical strategies to help harmonize sexual and spiritual issues in women clients.

The book uses a synergistic perspective to facilitate healing for women's psycho/sexual/spiritual growth and development. Therapists are provided with invaluable tools for personal understanding and clinical practice when considering sexuality and spirituality and how they interact in a client's life.

This book is crucial reading for psychotherapists, counselors, social workers, educators, pastoral counselors, and anyone interested in learning more about the intersections between sexuality and spirituality.

This book was published as a special issue of Women & Therapy: A Feminist Quarterly.

Our Inner Black Madonna: Reclaiming Sexuality, Embodying Sacredness

Lillian Comas-Díaz

SUMMARY. Feminist therapy needs to acknowledge the role of spirituality in women’s lives. The process of uncovering the inner Black Madonna-a feminist psycho-spiritual approach-is discussed as an empowering and healing tool. Clinical material illustrates how the client reclaimed her sexuality and spirituality. Cultural resonance is discussed within the intra ethnic and gender dyadic therapeutic relationship.

For I am the first and the last.

I am the honored one and the scorned one.

I am the whore and the holy one.

I am the wife and the virgin

I am the mother and the daughter.…

I am the barren one,

And many are her sons.…

I am the silence that is incomprehensive…

I am the utterance of my name.

—Thunder, Perfect Mind (excerpt) Robinson (1990)

INTRODUCTION

Hundreds of icons of the Virgin Mary have black faces. While in France they are called Black Virgins, they are known as Black Madonnas in other countries. The Black Madonna is the iconic remains of the ancient goddess worship syncretized into Christianity. She has been associated with Isis, Black Artemis, Demeter, Cibele (Begg, 1985), Green Tara (Galland, 1990), Kali (Boyer, 2000), and many other dark goddesses. Like her predecessors, she stands for female sexuality in the journey to wholeness (Kidd, 2005). The bearer of the pleasures of love, the Black Madonna is the embodiment of fecundity. Her blackness represents fertility, the color of rich dark soil. When Christianity usurped the goddess, it fragmented and dissociated her qualities, splitting them between the Virgin Mary (immaculate whiteness) and Mary Magdalene, wrongly designated as a whore by early patriarchal church writers (Pagels, 1989). Misogynist clergymen labeled sacred sexuality as prostitution. They suppressed female sexuality and ostracized it from spirituality.

The popularity of the Black Madonna extends to the psychothera-peutic arena (Comas-Díaz, 2003; Mato, 1994; McDermott, 1996). She represents the feminine in man and the self in woman within Jungian psychology (Galland, 1990). As a symbol of inner transformation, the Black Madonna embodies the hidden feminine qualities of healing, intuition, and ancient wisdom. She brings forth, nourishes, protects, heals, receives at death and immortalizes those who follow the way of nature (Begg, 1985). The awakening of the inner Black Madonna facilitates the unfolding of internal guidance.

Contemporary feminists have reinterpreted the Black Madonna as a source of justice, empowerment, reconciliation, and liberation (Castillo, 1996; Comas-Díaz, 2003; Galland, 1990; Mato, 1994; Teish, 1996). The integration of the Black Madonna into our consciousness promotes resilience in the struggle against sexism, oppression, racism, and materialism (Kidd, 2005). In this article, I discuss the psychotherapeutic encounter of a Latina client with a Latina psychotherapist. Utilizing a feminist psycho-spiritual approach, I illustrate the uncovering of the client’s inner Black Madonna as a process of recovery and transformation.

DARKNESS ILLUMINATED: AUREA REACHES THE MOON

Aurea presented to psychotherapy after a breakup with Diego. “I’m not sure I want to be here,” she reported. Aurea stated that a female voice in a dream asked her to see a Latina therapist. Upon exploration, the client revealed that she had tried therapy before. “I was ambivalent.” A thirty-five-year-old attractive brunette, Aurea was plagued by insomnia and anxiety. “I enjoy men, but can’t commit.” Upon exploration, Aurea disclosed that she experienced sexual pleasure, but could not achieve orgasm.

Aurea was the older of two daughters. Her parents were Mexicans who met and married after immigrating to the United States. She grew up in a Latino community, where her parents were part of the “servidor” system. Composed of Latinos who use their influential position in the community to benefit others, the “servidor” system functions like an extended family. The owners of a popular bodega, Aurea’s parents were in service to others (“servidores”) as well as effective community leaders.

Aurea was the first in her family to attend college, and the only one to complete a Ph.D. She secured a tenured academic position as an art historian. The backdrop of her professional success was her history of dramatic losses. At age 12, her parents were in a car accident, where Aurea’s mother died while her father was unharmed. “I lost myself that day.” Consequently, Aurea assumed the mother’s role by taking care of her sister and father. At age 17, she met Rafael and became his girlfriend. Aurea reported that they made love and she achieved orgasm. The romance ended when Rafael drown swimming on Good Friday.

Aurea stopped going to church soon after Rafael’s death. “I became an unwed widow.” Since he was an only child, Rafael’s parents “adopted” Aurea while her father battled alcoholism. At that time, Juan, her older half brother, moved into the family house. Juan became overly involved in raising his half siblings. As a reaction, Nydia, Aurea’s younger sister, became a rebellious adolescent, started to abuse alcohol and drugs, and joined a Latino gang.

Aurea became the parental child, the substitute mother, and the caretaker. Her mother’s death, her father’s emotional abandonment, Juan’s intrusiveness, and Nydia’s acting out profoundly affected Aurea’s ability to sustain attachments. She had several romantic partners, was engaged twice, but broke both engagements. “I am like Dona Flor and her two husbands,’ Aurea said, referring to a Brazilian movie with that title. “Rafael’s ghost watches over me even if I have a lover.” Aurea stated that she could not achieve orgasm with other men. “Only when I am thinking of Rafael,” she said.

Aurea’s Prophesy

Aurea complained of insomnia and excessive worrying. Her fears seemed connected to bereavement and subsequent loss of control. I used a cognitive behavioral (CBT) approach to help Aurea enhance her sense of agency and mastery. She responded well to the relaxation techniques and systematic desensitization. The therapeutic progress cemented our alliance. Additionally, I suggested mindfulness meditation, an Eastern approach that has been integrated into psychotherapy (Bennett-Goleman, 2001). Indeed, mindfulness has been successfully used in clinical practice for reducing and managing stress (Salmon, Sephton, Weissbecker, Hoover, Ulmer, & Studts, 2004). Moreover, it has been clinically effective in treating abandonment and unlovability schema (Bennett-Goleman, 2001). After challenging her negative schema, we worked on her insomnia. Several trails of behavioral approaches to promote sleep hygiene met with failure. Finally, Aurea stated: “I’m afraid of the dark.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“When I sleep I see things … things that scare me.”

“Nightmares?”

“No, I foretell the future in my dreams.” Aurea stated that she “saw” Rafael’s drowning, her sister’s involvement in a gang, and countless events in her dreams before they happened. She felt responsible for the events foretold in her dreams. In particular, Aurea felt that her failure to “protect” Nydia caused her sister to “descend to hell.”

I suggested an experiential approach following a mind-body connection to address the prophetic nature of Aurea’s dreams. Aurea expressed interest in my suggestion. She revealed that she was a student of Eastern philosophies as well as a yoga practitioner. I introduced the concept of guided imagery or creative visualization stating that it has been used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Native Americans, Chinese Phoenicians, and others long before Carl Jung made it part of depth psychology. I added that guided imagery was commonly used in medicine (Rossman, 2000). I asked her to get familiarized with the topic through the Internet before our next session. Since Aurea was an avid reader, she read several books on the subject before her next appointment. “The ancient Hindu sages believed that images were one of the ways that the gods sent messages to people,” she noted.

After helping Aurea get relaxed with progressive muscle relaxation, I introduced the healing light exercise. Borrowed from yoga, this exercise is part of the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) protocol (Shapiro, 1995). The technique entailed visualizing a vessel (cup, receptacle, vase, etc.) and placing it six inches above the crown of the head. Then, I instructed Aurea to imagine a ray of light the color that she associated with healing. Aurea identified golden yellow as her healing color. The goal was to have the healing light fill her cup, enter Aurea’s head, and flow throughout her body. Aurea reported that she felt dizzy during the exercise. I suggested that she ask her healing light to get rid of the dizziness as it traveled throughout her body. Aurea became more relaxed after expressing the request to the healing light. “I’m floating,” she said with a smile. After the healing light went throughout her body, I asked Aurea to accompany the light into points in her body that coincide with the seven chakras or energy centers (Brennan, 1988; Fox, 1999; Myss, 1996). Aurea discovered an obstruction in her throat.

“It’s a rock in the middle of my throat.” Aurea started to hyperventilate.

“Can you shine the healing light into it?” I asked her. “What’s happening?”

“The light is breaking the rock. It’s pulverizing it.”

I continued to guide Aurea through the visualization process.

“My light changed from golden yellow to bright blue,” Aurea reported. “The color associated with the throat chakra,” she added.

I worked on positive cognitions to counteract Aurea’s negative schema. Afterwards, I asked her to repeat the following affirmations:

I hear and speak the truth.

I express myself with clear intent.

Creativity flows through me.

My voice is necessary.

These affirmations were used to balance her throat chakra. After we completed the guided imagery I recommended specific yoga asanas (postures) for chakra cleansing and balancing. These included the shoulder stand, plough pose, fish pose, head lift and neck rolls (Judith, 1996). Aurea replied that she was going to incorporate these asanas into her yoga routine. We processed the significance of the impediment in her throat during talk psychotherapy. Known as the fifth chakra, the throat energy center is usually associated with communication and with lessons related to will and self-expression (Myss, 1996). I examined Aurea’s ability to express her needs within relationships because many women of color adhere to a relational worldview that is central to their sense of healing, well-being, and identity (McGoldrick, García-Preto, Hines, & Lee, 1989). We worked on increasing assertiveness within a Latino cultural context (Comas-Díaz & Duncan, 1985). Aurea used her new assertive style in dealing with her sister Nydia, who notwithstanding her recovery, was still behaving in a dry drunk manner.

“I’m tired of being a substitute mother,” Aurea said. She decided to address her co-dependence with Nydia. Moreover, she asked her sister to assume more responsibility.

Sex and the Black Spider

During the next experiential session, I asked Aurea to complete a body scan following the EMDR protocol (Shapiro, 1995). She expressed discomfort in her...