Dr Serge Beddington-Behrens

I also run Spiritual Development Courses and hold regular Spiritual Retreats in Majorca and teach workshops on many different topics.

I also train Psychotherapy students to bring more Spirituality into their Psychotherapy.
I have a private Psychotherapy and Coaching practice in London, Gloucestershire and Majorca.

THE NEED FOR AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH
I like blending all these roles as I believe that people need a more inclusive service than can be offered by any one approach on its own. I see myself first and foremost as someone who helps people on their spiritual journey and who is able to draw upon his knowledge in other disciplines in order to offer them fuller support.

I differ radically from those spiritual teachers who treat our personalities as the enemy to be overcome, and who believe one can only enter the sacred life if one learns to transcend this (lower) part of ourselves. I also don’t agree with those psychotherapists who only treat the personality and ignore the realms of soul. I believe many people today require a deeper kind of healing which can only in fact come about as they begin to explore higher dimensions of consciousness. Indeed, I see us all as being multi-dimensional in our nature and as such, I regard it as important that we honour equally our spiritual side – the side that primarily wants to awaken to love or know God - and our personal side, that wants to be successful in our work, earn good money and live a personally fulfilling and creative life.

So essentially, what much of my work is about, is helping people integrate and embrace these two aspects of themselves. One could say I try to help them relate to their inner structures in such a way that these structures gradually become more flexible and transparent, and, in the process of gradually dissolving, reveal to them their inner depths. I see our spirituality slowly growing inside us as we increasingly ‘allow’ the light of our soul to become ignited within more and more parts of ourselves. From this perspective, there is no ‘higher’ or ‘lower’. All aspects of us have magnificent gifts to offer us.

As this work progresses, we may gradually come to rest more fully into what I call our core human essence. This brings about a sense of inner peace, happiness and strength. And I believe such experiences can happen without our necessarily having to be part of any religion. Indeed, I agree wholeheartedly with the Dalai Lama when he said:

"Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit – such as love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of harmony – which bring happiness to both self and others….
There is no reason why the individual should not develop these, even to a high degree, without recourse to any religious or metaphysical system. This is why I sometimes say that religion is something we can perhaps do without. What we cannot do without are the basic human qualities.’

And where these basic human qualities are to be found, is inside our hearts. Or rather, inside our hearts as our hearts begin opening up. (When our hearts are closed down, our humanity is also closed down.) Therefore central to all my work is supporting people open up their hearts. This, in turn, may require that they identify and address some of the wounds they may be carrying there. My experience is that the more we learn to heal the pain in our hearts, the more ‘space’ we create for our innate wisdom, love, compassion and many other heart qualities, spontaneously to emerge.

I believe that there is a connection between the deepening of our heart imprint and the lessening of our carbon one. Changes of mind often yield very little. Changes of heart yield a lot as they come from a much deeper part of ourselves. Gandhi told us that ‘We must become the change we seek in the world.’ Profound words, and to do this I believe we need to be open-hearted. For me, our hearts are our greatest weapon of mass-construction. Indeed, to think we can radically change how we live and open up to the spirit of joy and goodness and experience truly meaningful relationships, without an open heart, is like believing we can play tennis without a racket!

All the different things I do or the different courses I offer, are inter-related and complimentary, as my aim is to help people evolve and become happier and more fully human, to the end that they can bring more quality, love and meaning into their lives. Many of my therapy clients find many of my articles and CDs to be useful, as very often they are on subjects that they themselves are currently wrestling with. Also, people attending a retreat or doing a particular course, may find there is some area of 'work' that they need that may best be achieved in a one-to-one psychotherapeutic context. Similarly, many therapy clients realise that certain objectives can best be gained by working in a group and going on a spiritual retreat.

My objective is to support those I work with, to heal themselves and live more fulfilling personal lives to the end that eventually they may feel an integral part of those forces that are about the building of a new and better world ( a new culture).

Anyhow, I hope you find something in the many different areas of my work that may be of support to you.

Serge Beddington-Behrens, M.A. (Oxon.), Ph.D., K.S.M.L. is a Psychotherapist, Philosopher, Couples Therapist, Life Coach, and  Wholistic Educator, who for over thirty years, has been conducting seminars, workshops and retreats, nationally and internationally, designed to help individuals realise their deeper human potential, and lead more fulfilling lives. He is a well-known lecturer and writer on themes relating to personal, financial and social change, and his  many Self-Help CDs have gone out all over the world.