How do we make sense of the many ways that a crisis of faith can affect us? How do we begin to tease apart the healing that needs to take place? We will use our developmental theories discussed in the section on Human Development to give structure to this discussion. We will see how these theories help us understand life issues and the healing process and how understanding and healing come together in a holistic fashion. They show us the way that healing progressively moves us along a journey toward greater wholeness, joy, and expansion.

Richo (1991) says that healing is a journey, much like the archetypal Hero’s Journey. As we walk this journey, we first heal the immature and ineffective parts of ourselves. Then we move forward to meet and accept adult responsibility. Finally we transform ourselves in spiritual consciousness. In other words, we first heal the wounds of the neurotic ego, we then build strong and healthy egos, and finally we transform and transcend the ego to release the spiritual Self and move into spiritual consciousness. This is the journey of personal transformation.