The healer at the edge of the village doesn't always follow the rules if the rules get in the way of the healing. Mainstream healers, who metaphorically speaking are at the center of the village, have bought into a whole package of beliefs and regulations that are the current accepted criteria for healing. An example would be that psychologist are not allowed to touch their patients. An edge of the village healer is available for hugs if intuitively it feels like the right thing to do. A recent movie, "Good Will Hunting," features Robin Williams in the role of a healer at the edge of the village, and he illustrates beautifully the healing power of valuing the person over the system. There is a scene in the movie where the young man he has been working with, whose name is Will, reaches out to hug him. Will asks him if the hug violates their doctor, patient relationship and the psychiatrist, played by Williams, responds by saying "It's just fine unless you grab my ass!" The movie is filled with examples of not being limited by accepted norms, but instead getting to know the essence of the person and following their process - a process the healer knows will lead to healing.
The mainstream healer is supposed to rely heavily on a book called the DSM. We're talking diagnosis and statistics here. Each patient needs to fit a description in this book for diagnostic purposes and so the healer will know which interventions to use to return the person to a socially acceptable - mainstream - way of being (and so the insurance company will pay for their services). The healer cares more about facilitating a person to his or her own truth and supporting that person in living that truth even if the result does not mesh with mainstream expectations. James Hillman writes in his book, A Soul's Code, about each of us having a calling and a wise part of ourselves that knows from birth what that calling is. He says that many great people throughout history would have been diagnosed and medicated in today's mental health system and very likely would never have fulfilled their calling, depriving us of their genius. A few of the examples he gives are Mozart, Einstein, and Gertrude Stein, each marching to the tune of a different drummer and easily diagnosable in the DSM.
For those who are a danger to themselves or other people, or so out of touch with reality that they can not function, perhaps the mainstream approach is best with its medications and learned interventions. For the remainder of us who sometimes struggle with unfinished business, lack of direction and/or lack of conscious awareness - we can mostly benefit from REALLY being seen and heard and facilitated to our own truth in a way that often occurs when we work with a healer at the edge of the village. Non-traditional healers have always been with us and will continue to do their work. It is up to the current mainstream mental health establishment's regulations whether they get to continue doing their work at the edge but still within the perimeters of the village, or have to move underground. I sincerely hope that healers can stay at the edge of the village and be allowed to continue openly offering another option to people, other than seeing themselves as pathological when all they are is on a path.
Editor's Note: The above is a response to the question "Is Anyone Really Normal?", originally printed in the Feb/Mar/Apr. 1998 issue of "People House," published by the People House Spiritual Community in Denver, Colorado, and reprinted with permission. The Community is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization "dedicated to fostering awareness and a healthy way of life in individuals, families and groups through fellowship, education, facilitation, and leadership training."
Pat Pendleton is one of the four non-sectarian co-leaders of People House and an artist who paints vibrant, somewhat non-traditional landscapes. The main meeting room at People House is the Pendleton Gallery, named in her honor, which hosts monthly shows of work by various artists.