[From, 9 Keys to Identity Crisis & Resolution, by Anne Hilty, ©2023]

Having looked at 3 forms of psychotherapy and how we can apply them to our process of identity change, we now turn to an indigenous approach: shamanism.

Shamanism at its most basic is animism plus a shaman – that is, while animism is a belief that all aspects of the natural world are sentient and imbued with spirit, shamanism simply has a central figure – a priest or facilitator, if you will – who guides a community in their animistic beliefs, rituals, and seasonal celebrations.

One of the universal principles of shamanism, found in such traditions throughout the world and which applies directly to our focus of identity crisis and renewal, is that of soul loss.

When someone is having some sort of mental challenge, especially the sort that we refer to as identity crisis, in which they’re feeling disoriented, a sense of loss, a shift in values and meaning, this experience in shamanic traditions would indicate soul loss – not a total loss of one’s identity but that a fragment of it has gone missing, typically due to some sort of shock or sudden and profound change.

In an indigenous community, such person would seek out a shaman, and in a ritual or ceremony that would often include others – the person’s family, close community members, other shamans in assistance – the shaman would go into trance or an altered state of consciousness, ‘travel’ to another form of reality or parallel world, seek out that which was lost, and return it to the person in a process of reintegration – for healing and a restoration of wholeness. In the ritual setting or sacred space, the significance of this process is enhanced and its impact thus more deeply experienced.

I’ve studied shamanic traditions throughout the world. In Korea, I once attended the 2-day funeral ritual of a traditional free-diving woman who had drowned. In one of the many rites, the principal shaman asked 3 people from the community to sit before her; she performed various procedures on each of them, including blowing into their faces and pounding them on their backs, to return their fragmented souls to wholeness. These 3 were rescue workers who had recovered the woman’s body, and as they were also members of the local community, it was considered a shock for them and a cause of soul loss.

We can apply these principles to our crisis of identity.

We aren’t shamans, and are not attempting to replicate this type of ritual. Nevertheless, the principles remain applicable: something, usually in the form of a shock to our psyche, has created a rift in our sense of identity. It has caused us to question our values, beliefs, sense of meaning and purpose, and propelled us into a state of confusion; a critical part of the self has suddenly gone missing, and we no longer quite know who we are. We understand that we aren’t merely retrieving it in order to return to who we were, as this is no longer an option for the very reasons which brought on this crisis. Instead, we must identify and retrieve this fragment of self in order not only to reintegrate it, but thereby to transform.

First, a return to our first key: introspection. We need to use meditation and/or journaling, or a similar method of self-exploration, to clearly identify that part of ourself that’s gone missing. Is it one’s professional identity, as in my case when I hurled myself abroad, leaving most of my profession behind? Is it one’s identity as a parent, in the death of a child, or the empty nest as offspring move out on their own? Is it one’s sense of attractiveness, one’s identity with one’s body, as an intimate relationship ends, or as we age? Is it our identity as an intelligent and capable person, when faced with depression or another compromise of our mental capacity? Is it our cultural identity when we relocate to a place and a culture very different from our own? Or is it our very sense of safety and stability, and possibly our religious identity, when natural disaster strikes?

There are many possibilities for how one’s identity has been shaken, or shattered.

Once we become clear about what, precisely, has gone missing, we can much better work toward reestablishing that aspect of our sense of self. Now, our task becomes clear. And even when it seems out of our control – the natural disaster, or death of a loved one, has already occurred, after all – we can find ways to fill that hole within us, to reestablish a sense of equilibrium.

And so, we go into an altered state of consciousness, much as the shaman would do. We don’t need all the whistles and bells (though if that has meaning for you, if you’d like candles and incense and drumming, for example, this is your choice); what we need is a process for healing the psyche.

In a quiet space and comfortable position, eyes closed and distractions minimized, focus on your slow and steady breathing until your mind quiets, much as if you were entering a meditative state. When you feel deeply peaceful, picture yourself in your mind’s eye. See yourself as you currently are: perhaps a little broken, something missing, surrounded by a fog.

Focus next on that part that you’ve identified, the part of yourself that’s been lost. Whether a person, a job, a home, an ability, or one’s very foundation, picture it. See this missing part. Then, allow it to morph and change. Imagine this missing part as something new: a new job or home, new ability, new sense of safety and stability, or if the loss is of a dear person, perhaps a warm and glowing light we might call love. Stay with this image, the transformed version of what’s been missing, until it becomes clear and strong in your mind’s eye.

Then, allow this missing piece to float over to the image of yourself that you began with, to hover there until you feel ready, and to merge with you – to slowly seep into your being, filling your heart and mind and soul, expanding out through your entire body, until you and the missing piece are fused. Breathe into this new experience. Draw breath into your body, letting it course throughout, again and again, slowly, until the breath has served to fully integrate this missing piece into the remainder of you, until you are whole once more.

Stay with this sensation for a few moments. Then, focusing on your breath again, take a deep and cleansing, more forceful breath, and open your eyes. Move slowly, easing yourself back into the alert state, nurturing yourself. Begin to softly hum, or to sing, and let your body sway or rock as you do, the energy you’re producing further integrating this experience, rooting it in your bodily tissues. Another deep, cleansing breath later: and then, move peacefully toward a period of reflection.

Through journaling (writing, audio, video), or another method, reflect on your experience. This follow-up processing is essential to fully understand and integrate the experience itself, and by recording your reflections, you can look back on this again at a later time.

As we’ve seen in a few earlier keys, repetition equals reinforcement. The first time you engage in an experience such as this may be profoundly moving; or, it may feel like very little, as you aren’t yet ready to reintegrate this missing part of your identity. Very important, that: this is not failure but a matter of readiness, and it also isn’t true that nothing happened – as you’ve set the stage. No matter what occurs, this is the first phase of soul retrieval, of reestablishing your sense of self. Repeat at intervals that feel right to you. But repeat, a few more times at least, each time your sense of self growing stronger, and more whole.

From fragmentation to wholeness.

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