S1: E2 Spiritual Counseling with Dr. Thomas Norris

Episode Summary

In this episode, guest Dr. Thomas Norris educates us on what Spiritual Counseling is, how it differs from traditional counseling, and why it makes the healing process 2-3 times faster. Tom was pivotal in my healing journey. I had to bring him on the show to share his magic with you!

Guest Bio

Tom is the CEO and founder of Inner Life Transformations, a spiritual counseling practice. In 2011, when it was launched, it became the first counseling center in the world to offer online counseling, serving people from all walks of life in places as diverse as Bahrain, England, Argentina, Mexico, Thailand, the Philippines, and so on. Tom brings 50 years of experience as a Social Worker, Psychotherapist, Group Therapist, Marriage and Family Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Pastoral/Spiritual Counselor, Past Life Regressionist, and Trainer to this work. Through all of this, his lifelong advocacy for children and adult survivors of abuse has been the central theme of his work. In addition to his private practice, he has worked for the State of Delaware as a Child Protective Services Social Worker and as an Assistant in the Miami-Dade County Manager’s Office in the areas of HUD, Victim Services, Domestic Violence, Police Planning, Crime Prevention, Community Services, and Corrections. Tom has Master of Social Work, Master of Divinity, and Doctor of Ministry Degrees. He teaches in the Religious Studies Department of Florida International University and authored A Fresh Cup of Tolerance, subtitled Universalism: The New Religion of Tolerance, which can be found on Amazon and all major booksellers. He is currently completing his second book, A Fresh Cup of Counseling, subtitled A Handbook of Spiritual Counseling. Hand in hand with this book, Tom is inaugurating The International Guild of Certified Spiritual Counselors and Coaches, an organization devoted to the training and development of excellent spiritual counselors and coaches. He is also an ordained Senior Minister for the Universalist Church he founded in 1992, Medicine Signs Spiritual Center.

Quotes

“You're really there for your client's needs, not yours and you're not trying to impose some sort of spiritual belief system on them.”

“Nobody gets through their childhood unscathed.”

“That little voice is always correct. I guess it's our intuition, our higher self.”

“Children are vulnerable. Everybody handles it differently. Some will handle it better than others.”

“I don't consider those miracles because of me. I consider that because of the spirit flowing through into the counseling.”

“We learned a lot from my mistake that actually enhanced the therapy.”

“So for life coaches, they should go through life coaching certification programs. So they know what they're doing. And for therapists, they should at least have a master's degree in social work or marriage and family therapy or counseling or psychology or a PhD, um, because we are a credentialed society.”

“I never lost faith.”

“The theme of all of our work is teaching people to love themselves, to treat themselves with kindness and love the same way they worked for their best friend or their children.”

“It's really inspiring to see these kids who are already spiritually absolutely aware of who they are.”