Tarot and Psychotherapy
Tarot and psychotherapy are similar elixirs: they will show you where you live. It is not unusual for our longstanding defenses to become prominent after hardship, and we find ourselves in denial or dissociated to our deeper feelings. Seeing where we are psychologically can be a mountainous task, as these feelings and realities can be very painful. By blending Tarot into therapy, we can call on another medium for guidance, acting as a reflection of the psyche.
What is Tarot?
The earliest references to cards resembling Tarot decks can be traced back to 14th century Italy. These early decks were used for card games, similar to modern playing cards. Over time, Tarot decks were created throughout other regions of Europe, and by the 19th century, there was a resurgence of mysticism and occult interest that impacted the use of these cards. This period included the Spiritualist movement and contributed to the popularization of Tarot cards as tools for divination and spiritual insight. During this time, the most recognized Tarot images came into being with the Smith-Waite deck, created by Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith.
The Tarot typically consists of 78 cards, divided into the Major Arcana (22 cards) and the Minor Arcana (56 cards). The Major Arcana depict symbolic archetypal figures and themes. Whereas the Minor Arcana depict the day to day practicalities and challenges of life. Together they tell a story about the self.
Tarot as a free association
When we think of Tarot as a story about a journey through life, this brings us to the psychological and to the human. With this in mind, I conceptualize Tarot in the therapeutic field in a few different ways. One is that it can be seen as a free association from the beyond. For instance, you may be in the process of working through a trauma in therapy and we decide to draw a card. When this new association in the form of a card comes into view, it gives us a chance to consider a different feature of what is being worked through. Maybe the card is noticing the wish for structure, or the card is about ways that we trap ourselves, or maybe this is a card calling you to rest. It offers a new corner of the psyche to examine in the context of what is already coming up. I like to think of this perspective as incorporating collective archetypes into the personal psyche.
Tarot as a dream
Tarot can also be taken as a dream. Dreams throw us into imagery and stories from our unconscious, which often has a funny way of communicating. One method of dream interpretation is thinking about each actor in the dream as a different part of the dreamer. If we take the Tarot card as a dream, we can view it as something new to consider (as noted above) but it can also provide us with an embodied image of the person in therapy. We can begin to ask: which images in the card do I see in me? Is it hard to see myself in the position of the queen? Do I feel more connected to the person cast out in the snow? Does the image of being alone feel safe? This can be a helpful jumping off point when trying to locate unconscious dimensions of the material coming up, noticing parts of the self that may be hidden or cut off.
Tarot in our work together
Tarot offers a landscape of the psyche, but is not the final say. It works best when we approach it with subjectivity and curiosity, where it becomes part of a larger context and discussion. If we worked together in therapy and incorporated Tarot, I would approach the process from the above noted standpoints, paying close attention to how these images are specific to your psyche and life. I would be interested in your associations to the cards, regardless of the “objective” interpretation, allowing us to follow your instincts together. Here, we get a window into your psyche and what you are working through, where Tarot can act as a guide to help us sink into the shadowy parts of the experience.