Night Sea Journeying: Soul Recovery from Childhood Trauma - Paperback

by Fiona Gardner (Author)

Night Sea Journeying explores the psycho-spiritual healing needed to recover from the damage caused by childhood trauma and the soul recovery that will happen if we can allow it. The journey is one of death and rebirth, where the old order and the dispiriting grip of trauma can be lessened and something new and more mature be spiritually born in its place. The universal myth of the night sea journey and parts of St. Mark's Gospel provide a framework for reflecting on the mind, body, and spirit journey needed to overcome and get freer from past pain. Insights from trauma-informed theology, analytical psychology, psychoanalysis, and yoga teaching are illustrated by drawing on the experiences of (among others) Thomas Merton, James Finley, and Carl Jung. Alongside this the reader follows in each chapter the compelling stories of two people in spiritual direction, who through different and sometimes very unexpected ways have confronted their inner anguish and found soul recovery, spiritual renewal, and psychic integration.

Author Biography

Fiona Gardner is a spiritual director and writer living in the UK. She previously worked as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and as safeguarding advisor for the Church of England. Recent publications include Taking Heart (2021), Sex, Power, Control: Responding to Abuse in the Institutional Church (2021), and The Only Mind Worth Having: Thomas Merton and the Child Mind (2015).