In integrative psychotherapy this relationship between psychology and spirituality is widely referred to as the relationship of the self to transcendence.
The relationship of the self to transcendence refers to the way in which each person seeks to give a wider meaning to his or her existence, it refers to spirituality, to the mystical side, to the belief or lack of belief in a higher order.
“Hycner (1993) criticizes our society’s overemphasis on the rational and the development of separateness. He emphasizes the fragile nature of this emphasis, pointing out that this fragility requires individuals to be constantly on guard to maintain these illusions. He argues, “The repression of spirituality also creates a highly anxious society and anxious individuals. When people are disconnected from a sense of relationship with others and a broader sense of reality, they experience anxiety and emptiness. Such psychological isolation creates a vacuum that yearns to be filled. Since it cannot be filled with what it wants, it must find a substitute. But, that substitute – money, drugs, sex, even television – can only create an even greater longing” ” (apud Gilbert, M. & Orlans, V. (2013). Integrative psychotherapy: 100 key points and techniques. Bucharest: Liber Mundi, p. 85).