The Need for Healing in a Spiraling World

Turning repetition compulsion into an evolutionary opportunity.

In psychology, one of the most useful concepts is that of repetition compulsion: we are propelled to repeat the circumstances and patterns that are not yet resolved.

One of the popular areas of Shift programming is Ancestral Healing, a new field that looks in more detail at how lineage patterns are passed on physically, emotionally, energetically, and spiritually, and how to resolve those patterns.

Combine these two areas, and I think it becomes clearer why we are in an intense period of apparent regression collectively. We are, collectively, compelled to repeat traumatic circumstances just to the point where they are dramatic and intense enough that we can surface the emotions and heal them.

When I see our current landscape, I see echoes of the Roman empire, fascism, colonialism, civil war, and more. In some way, we are being propelled into repeating some of the worst dramas of human history.

From a higher vantage point, this provides an opportunity for mass healing. But that only comes when we engage in the healing required.

So whether it is Minnesota, Iran, or Gaza, there is a need for massive healing of collective traumas. How can we be a voice for this healing? How can we resolve our own traumas that are activated in the process?

This is a precarious moment for humanity: does the impulse to repeat the polarized patterns of the past lead to the same ending? Or a new beginning?

That is really up to us and how we approach the task of evolving our consciousness beyond the polarization, demonization, and animosity to find our shared divinity, honor, and sovereignty — and commit to peace.

That is the call of our moment and the invitation to all of us. How are we being part of the healing required to turn repetition compulsion into an evolutionary opportunity for humanity?

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Stephen Dinan, founder and CEO of The Shift Network, is a Stanford- and CIIS-trained leader, author of Sacred America, Sacred World, and internationally recognized voice in transformational education whose vision for a more conscious world continues to inspire global change.