Integration Awareness Metapsychology:  

Psychology's Expanded Horizon

Maragaret Buice, MA, LPC, CMF

Webster defines psychology as: “1.  the science of the mind or of mental states and processes; the science of human nature.  2.  the science of human and animal behavior.  3.  the sum of the mental states and processes of a person or of a number of persons, esp., as determining action…”  Yet the root of the word, derived from the Greek  “Psyche” refers to “a personification of the soul…”

Somewhere along the road there was a disconnect, with the mind, the body and the soul being relegated to different fields of study – different disciplines.  So, for years, the norm has been to go to a medical doctor for ailments of the body, a psychologist or psychiatrist for a problem of the mind, and a religious official for a spiritual issue.  So “psychology” was developed within the field of study dealing with the mind.  The “mind” being the Western interpretation – that of thinking, perceiving, judging, etc.

On one level it’s easy to see how this happened.  Europe and the West were entering into what we call the Industrial Revolution.  The “Dark Ages” were a thing of the past.  Advances were being made in technology, in medicine and in science.  “Spiritualism” was generally thought of in the light of  “parlor games”, more for entertainment purposes than for serious seekers of truth.  Eastern forms of integrative healing were not given credence, possibly because of the seeming lack of technological advancement.  Although numerous advances in science and other disciplines were developed in India and elsewhere during this time.

Psychology as we know it today was an extension of work begun by a medical doctor, Sigmund Freud, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  From Freud’s work, numerous offshoots have developed, each focusing on a different aspect of human mental functioning; each theorist assigning his or her own form of intervention designed to achieve mental health for their clients.

Carl Rogers, founder of a branch of psychology known as “Humanism” held to the belief that the natural state of humans is to grow and thrive, and the place of the therapist is to provide unconditional positive regard and support.  This positive atmosphere would be the fertile field for the client to respond and grow naturally without any hindrances.  Roger’s use of the word “human” implies a threshold.  To thrive, grow and attain human happiness was the goal of the work.

Today,  Psychology’s fertile field to grow is the expanded horizon of awareness within the general population of the need for integration among the disciplines of not only body and mind, but of spirit as well.  More and more people are coming to the understanding  of our spiritual nature and are feeling the need to return to that.

In their book Healing the Divided Self, (Phillips & Frederick, 1995), Maggie Phillips and Claire Frederick discuss ego-state therapy “as an energy model of personality”.

“Within the human personality the ego states form a family of selves.  Whichever ego state is carrying the most energy at the time is said to be “executive” and is experienced by the individual as “I “ or the self. Ego states are energies within the greater personality.  They are not real people                          who are simply smaller or younger than the greater personality  but rather aspects or energies of the individual.  Ego states are adaptational.  They always come to help.”

Included in their work is the understanding of the healing power of man’s spiritual nature and the need to access this part for our growth and happiness.

Candance Pert, author of Molecules of Emotion, (Pert, 1997) reveals her extraordinary  path of research, exploration and discovery within the field of molecular biology and states:  “My feeling is that there is no scientific reason to leave spirituality out of medicine.  It’s a habit that our culture has gotten into ever since the seventeenth century philosopher Rene Descartes declared body and soul to be distinct, separate entities, entirely unrelated to each other.  But the truth that I have learned through my own late-twentieth-century science is that the soul, mind and emotions do play an important role in health.  What we need is a larger biomedical science to reintegrate what was taken out three hundred years ago.”

David R. Hawkins, in his book Power vs. Force, (Hawkins, 1995) speaks of consciousness as differing rates of frequency.  He states “The nature of the stream of consciousness   - its pattern of thought, perception, feeling, and memory – is the consequence of entrainment of the attractor energy fields that dominate.  Keep in mind that this domination is voluntary – it isn’t imposed, but is the outcome of one’s own choices, beliefs, and goals.”

Dr. Hawkins states that relatively few on the planet hold a high frequency but that these few individuals “hold the frequency balance” so to speak for the rest of the planet. 

In Integration Awareness Metapsychology, we are taught the importance of “holding frequency”.  This is not just a mental construct but a process and a practice that requires the entire body, mind, spirit connection.  It requires healing and integration of wounded ego-states.  It requires awareness of levels of frequency as old patterns of behavior, patterns of thought and patterns of emotions, and the spiritual will and courage to consciously choose to change those lower level frequencies for higher level ones.

In her definition of terms, the developer of Integration Awareness Metapsychology, Mary Anne Morningstar, defines Metapsychology as “a model of consciousness that defines patterns of thought/feeling/belief as energy that may be contacted and transformed to facilitate inner healing.”  This is done using Advanced Integral Kinesiology, defined as “a heart centered method of kinesiology with specific protocols to insure accuracy in accessing energetic patterns of thought/feeling/, and belief” (Morningstar, 2000).

Brought to this work is a synergy and insightful integration of aspects of the disciplines of quantum mechanics, ego-state therapy and the acknowledgement and use of the spiritual fire  to be used as tools for each individual to attain greater self-knowledge, integration and wholeness.  The insights offered by up and coming proponents in the fields of psychology, medicine and physics are now acknowledging the importance of spirit and even acknowledge spirit as being part and parcel of our true nature.  What  Integration Awareness Metapsychology offers is not only the awareness of spirit, but gives valuable instruction as to how that very aspect of ourselves can be used as fire and intent in order to reach the goal.  Just as water seeks it’s own level, spirit in us also seeks  it’s natural level of higher frequency.

What Integration Awareness Metapsychology offers is a quantum leap and it can be a fast-track to higher consciousness.  Not only are we taught to utilize our own awareness and skills but we are encouraged to call to God and the Masters for spiritual assistance and guidance.  Recognizing and calling for Divine Assistance not only helps to release the human ego, but also helps to reinstate the awareness of our own Divine nature, the attainment of which is the point of our effort.

Mary Anne Morningstar’s development of Integration Awareness Metapsychology is not for the seriously sick.  These people are better served by more traditional forms of therapy and medical treatment.  One needs to have enough of the whole person present in order to be able to consciously make the choices they need to make to get to the next higher level of frequency.  Becoming who we are as spiritual beings is seen as the goal for this work and the desire for spiritual realization is not necessarily the goal for someone suffering from a psychosis.  Their goal may simply be to get a good night’s sleep or to stop feeling so depressed they can’t get out of bed.

Metapsychology is, however, a process who’s time has come.  The fact that different disciplines are more and more coming into the awareness of the tie to spirit and our Divine nature can provide the fertile field for Integration Awareness Metapsychology’s use to accelerate, even if for just a relative few, the acceleration of consciousness needed to heal ourselves and the planet.

Bibliography

Healing the Divided Self:  Clinical and Ericksonian Hypnotherapy for Post-Traumatic  And Dissociative Disorders.  Maggie Phillips, Ph.D. and Claire Frederick,  M.D., W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1995, pg 63.

“Integration Awareness Metapsychology:  A Holistic, Energetic, Interactive Model Of Consciousness”, Mary Ann Morningstar, R.N., H.N.C.,   2000

Molecules of Emotion, Candance B. Pert, Ph.D., Scribner, New York, N.Y., 1997 Pg. 304.

Power vs. Force:  The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., Hay House, Inc., Carlsbad, California, 1995, pg 245.