The Shaman, the Therapist, and the Coach

In this article I discuss various similarities and differences between the healing practices of shamans and the work of therapists and executive coaches. I also explore the extent to which the shamanic perspective can contribute to contemporary psychotherapy and executive coaching. I conjecture that it is important to recapture humankind's phylogenetic patterns in our present-day "rational" world, if we are to tackle the increasing alienation of humankind.I suggest that the shamanic world view does not differ greatly from that of the founders of depth psychology, Freud and Jung. While shamans are involved in "soul retrieval", contemporary psychoanalysts, dynamic psychotherapists, and many executive coaches are engaged in "self retrieval". In addition, reviewing Jung's writing, I make a number of observations about the collective unconscious, mystical experiences, spiritual healing practices, active imagination, and visualising. I raise the question whether contemporary psychotherapists and executive coaches realise the extent to which they are following in the footsteps of their shamanic predecessors. Furthermore, in this paper I also address the question whether the shamanic, more holistic perspective will help humankind to reduce their sense of rootlessness.