The Mystical Connection Between Trauma and Spirituality – HPP 19

Keith Kurlander, MA, LPC

Keith Kurlander, CEO of Higher Practice, is going to share his personal story of an extremely challenging crisis that began in college and led to discovering a mystical connection between trauma and spirituality, and what’s possible in the evolution of the human spirit.

While trauma has been the subject of countless studies and dialogue among the psychotherapeutic community for years, complex PTSD and spiritual dissociation is a topic that is often overlooked but extremely relevant. Many sufferers of complex PTSD identify as spiritual and highly sensitive to non-ordinary states. Which begs the question, “why do so many people with complex PTSD have so much access to mystical experiences?”

In this episode, Keith will discuss why so many people with complex PTSD have had profound spiritual experiences, when those encounters are positive resources, and when to exercise caution with spiritual practices.

Show Notes:

My first crisis in college that led to an epiphany [1:15]

Why so many sufferers of complex PTSD identify as spiritual [6:30]

Sophisticated forms of dissociation and mystical states [10:30]

Gains and drawbacks with practices that lead to mystical experiences [15:00]

Reorganizing trauma and revisiting the mystical [18:00]