Radical Healing, Wholeness and Islam (Part 1)
An Introductory Narrative on Transforming Emotional Pain Through Journeywork
Part 1
By (Dr) Muzammal Hussain
Accredited Journey Therapist, Coach, and Medical Doctor (with background in NHS Psychiatry)
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Healing, Illness and Becoming Whole
I have reached the conclusion that authentic healing and authentic religion are not just complementary, but can in essence be said to be one and the same.
At their heart, when stripped of dogma, healing and religion are very alike. My conclusion comes through a range of life-experiences - and particularly through my journey as both an emotional healing therapist and as a Muslim.
I’d like to share some of my discoveries on this journey - discoveries that have been both illuminating and enriching. A useful starting point is simply the word, ‘healing’, and what it evokes.
At one level, ‘healing’ can mean the eradication of an illness - which is indeed a wonderful outcome for any one suffering from ill health. There is, however, something in the term, ‘healing’, that also touches on a quality, deeper than this. This deeper quality is captured by a related word that sounds similar: ‘wholeness’.
The term, ‘healing’, when used in a certain way, and the term, ‘wholeness’, both go beyond the eradication of symptoms. They evoke the quality of moving from the fragmentation and marginalisation of parts, to the parts coming together. They are about integration, and the individual (or entity) becoming… more whole.
Let’s now look at where the word ‘Whole’ might take us…
Therapists and ‘Religious Distancing’
The uncanny relationship
If we consider the word, ‘Whole’, it seems to have an uncanny relationship with the word, ‘Holy’. This relationship can be a slight inconvenience for those in the healing fields, as the word Holy is one that many healing practitioners would actually be quite phobic of!
This is because the word Holy has an association with… er.. religion. And quite a few healing practitioners view religious institutions as carrying much dogma.
I see some validity in this concern, though as someone who sits in both camps - as a healing practitioner and a religious practitioner - I am also aware that dogma can be held on both sides.
But what do we mean?
To move forward constructively, if we are to explore the relationship between healing, or anything for that matter, and religion in particular, then we need to ensure that we understand what we actually referring to.
If we are referring to the essence of a religion, my understanding is that, just like the essence of healing, both are about the restoration of wholeness. Indeed, the heart of all true religions is surely about wholeness being restored, not only within the individual, but also within wider society.
Hence, why I believe that the two, healing and religion, can in essence be said to be one and the same.
Healing Breakthrough and the Birth of Journey Therapy
A tumour the size of a football
The emotional healing work that I practise with clients has also had a dramatic impact on my own life (I’ll touch more on this later). It is largely centred on Journey Therapy.
Journey therapy came about through a series of remarkable experiences by a dynamic woman, Brandon Bays. who in the 1990’s was diagnosed with a uterine tumour the size of a football. The surgeon told her she would likely die within a matter of days if she did not have urgent surgery to remove the tumour. However, Brandon chose in this instance, to go the non-conventional route.
Healing from within
Brandon’s roller-coaster healing journey led her, through the help of friends - and perhaps Divine intervention - to finally releasing the emotional root cause of the tumour.
In short, Brandon was able to consciously access a deep, healing place in her being. From this place, it became possible for her to release stored emotional pain associated with a traumatic memory of abuse. . She was then able to finally forgive those concerned. Within days following this, remarkably, her belly began to soften and gradually shrink.
Through an internal scan six-and-a-half weeks after her initial diagnosis, the doctor confirmed Brandon’s uterus to be totally clear - her tumour had healed completely. Brandon was overjoyed, and along with other profound experiences that aren’t the scope of this piece, this led to the birth of Journey therapy - also known as, The Journey process, or Journeywork.
A client who sees a Journey Therapist may come because they are in emotional pain - perhaps experiencing anxiety, depression, an addiction, work stress, lack of meaning, a relationship breakup, or are going through bereavement, to give a few examples. As a practitioner who also has a background in psychiatry I most commonly see clients in these named groups. However, clients may also come because they are experiencing a physical illness, as Brandon was.
Synergy and the Experience of Travellers
The synergy of the steps
So what happens in Journey sessions that helps to catalyse the restoration of wholeness?
Journeywork sessions are facilitated with the client seated comfortably with eyes closed. A remarkable characteristic is that the process has a collection of key synergistic steps that provide a depth and coherence rarely found in conventional psychological work. Yet, in Journeywork these steps are typically woven together into each and every session.
This collective chemistry holds the client in a powerful, healing matrix that often enables the release of deep-rooted emotional blocks in a very short period of time. This goes to explain why remarkable shifts are often reported following a session or a package of sessions.
Travellers speak
In the words of a client I worked with over video call:
“I have done years of various talk therapies… and felt that this was something radically different. I proceeded to have the full recommended cycle of 3 sessions, and indeed, the process was like no other I've experienced. The focus and deep exploration of emotions, without entering the mental story, allows one to enter unchartered territories....a geography where talk therapies rarely arrive.”
Journey sessions do take longer than most psychological therapies (i.e. often 2-3 hours - rather than an hour - though it will feel like much less). This gives the necessary time to apply the tools, so that each step the client takes in the session can provide the secure foundation for the next.
This is further clarified by these words shared by another client:
“I recognised a variety of therapeutic/psychological methods and modalities within the process, but the synthesis of all of these is what makes the process so powerful. The practitioner has time to lead you right down to the deep core of your personal programming and through that tough resistance. So often in therapy, just at the point where a client reaches this level the clock intervenes and of course they are then let off the hook and avoid the really uncomfortable bit of the inner journey which brings about transformation and change.”
The letting go in Journey sessions can be remarkably thorough. Here’s words from a third client:
“I felt supported to process some difficult emotions that led to some beautiful discoveries. I felt heard, supported, comforted and seen throughout the session and because of this I was able to tap into that peaceful center within and grace myself with self compassion. I felt it was ten years of therapy in one session.”
The final part of this client’s comments capture the deep and profound releases that can occur through this kind of work. Thus, while an individual session typically takes 2-3 hours, the time-period over which a person might see a Journey practitioner is typically much less compared to most other forms of psychological work: i.e. 1-2 months for Journeywork, compared to several months or years with mainstream psychological therapies.
Now that we have some idea of the power of this work, let’s go into the key steps that comprise a Journey process. This will help us to later view the process through the lens of Islamic psychology…
Download this series as a single compact E-book right away (no email required)
About the Author
Dr Muzammal Hussain (likes to be called Muzammal) has worked as a medical doctor in the area of NHS Psychiatry over more than 12 years. He is also an experienced Accredited Journey Therapist and a Coach at Restorative Wholeness.
Additionally, Muzammal is active in ecological activism where he weaves together the strands of Islamic ecology, Permaculture and Inclusive leadership. He is especially passionate about the relationship between inner transformation, conscious community building and ecological healing. He lives with his wife in Brighton, East Sussex, in the UK.
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Helpful References
Bays, Brandon: ‘The Journey: A Practical Guide to Healing Your Life and Setting Yourself Free’ (2012)
Billet, Kevin: The Enneagram - Ancient Wisdom, Modern Insights: (VIdeo, 2020)
Rahman, Jamal: ‘The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam’ (2004): See p. 109-110 for a description of 'Sacred Holding'.
Rothman, Abdallah and Coyle, Adrian: Towards a Framework for Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy: An Islamic Model of the Soul (2018)
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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Elizabeth Lymer for her dedicated time and attention in carefully reading the first two drafts of this publication, and providing valuable feedback that helped immensely with adding clarity and refinement to almost all aspects of the final version of this book.
I thank my caring friend, Ben Rogaly who, having listened to a writing update on one of our physically distanced woodland walks, offered an insightful idea for the main title that I just had to take up.
I would also like to thank my dear wife, Shumaisa, for her love and encouragement every step of the way, with this piece of work and so many others.
Privacy
The names of any clients mentioned in this book have been intentionally changed to honour their privacy.
Disclaimer
If you have a medical illness, you are advised to consult your own medical practitioner. Any approach described in this post is not a replacement to seeking medical advice. While people have reported significant improvements in physical and mental well-being following Journeywork, each of us is unique, and no one can say in advance how any one individual will respond.