Puja, arati and darshan

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · India

What it is

What the observance is. These are religious observances, not a therapy. The psychotherapist does not lead or prescribe them. This guide describes them as institutions publish them, then sets out the therapist's own work alongside them.

Format

• No source sets out phases, session counts or a format for working with these observances. The phases below are a working structure built from the CFI and the clinical sources. Number of sessions: not specified by sources.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Being drawn into ruling on correct ritual. It is working when the client experiences you as respectful and clearly not a religious authority.
• Parent and child disagreeing about practice. Safeguarding concerns. It is working when family worship is something the child can talk about openly.
• A clash between the clergy's and the clinical view; bring it back to the client to decide. It is working when the client reports consistent messages from both.
• Your own bias for or against guru devotion. Requests that you endorse or condemn the teacher. It is working when the client can speak about both devotion and doubt.
• Therapist enthusiasm turning the practice into homework the client feels judged on. It is working when the client reports the practice as meaningful and freely chosen.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.