About Dr. Judy Marshall

Dr. Judy Marshall received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  In over twenty years of clinical practice, she has worked with many different groups, from children to the frail elderly, with particular interests including self-esteem, depression, creativity, and aging.  On a broader level, she seeks to help bridge the gap between spiritual and psychological understanding.  An artist, Judy has had a lifelong interest in philosophy and the need to explore what is mysterious and intuitive in guiding our lives.

Why a spiritual approach to psychology?

"My transition from traditional to spiritual psychologist has been the result of both a personal and professional journey.  For the first ten years of my career, I would have dismissed the suggestion that spirituality could positively change a person's life.  I took a traditional approach in doing therapy, and my work confirmed that what we learn through our culture and childhood experience has an enormous effect on how we function and feel.  I saw with my clients that insight into personal "issues" is a powerful tool for affecting positive change.

Yet, increasingly in my practice, I began to feel that many of the problems that people face are vague and underlying.  Some of the greatest challenges in modern life are lack of meaning and internal emptiness, alienation from others, nebulous feelings of dissatisfaction, and a sense of being inadequate or "out of sync" with respect to societal values.  As time went on, I began to feel these existential issues were not adequately addressed by mainstream psychological concepts.

Like many people in the early 1990's, I also became interested in spirituality.  Initially the impetus was personal.  Coming from a minimal religious background, I began to read widely in various religious and metaphysical traditions.  I attended services of many different faiths.  I began to meditate, and I began to pray.

While subtle, change began almost immediately.  Although I was barely aware of what was happening, spirituality seemed to open a door to another existential dimension, a world more in sync with my own perceptions, principles, and goals.  I found positive explanations for my interpretation of reality and the totality of who I was.  Like many sensitive people, coping with an emotional roller coaster and fluctuating self-esteem had always been pivotal challenges of my adult life.  Through spiritual practice, I found new ways of dealing with my intense emotionality and accessing the positive aspects of my sensitivity.  I discovered an artist within, a part of myself that has since come to be such an important aspect of my life and identity, but had lay dormant and unacknowledged for thirty years.

As I became more self-aware of the power of spirituality in my own life, I also became aware of how spiritual belief and practice affected others.  In one aspect of my work, I performed evaluations of individuals from all over the globe.  I began to notice that people with strong faith of any kind - whether through organized religion or simply a deep, personal inner conviction - seemed to have another dimension of support and "bigger picture" perspective that served them, both in times of crisis and in coping with life on a daily basis.

I observed similar patterns in working with frail elderly people in nursing homes, where despairing feelings are common.  Although still faced with depression and loneliness, people with strong faith seemed, on the whole, to do better.  In my therapy practice, I also began to notice that the course is often different with those for whom faith is important.  I saw how a spiritual worldview teaches how to maximize the positive, opens up unexpected avenues of connection and relationship, and provides a sense of a truer, personal identity.

Over the years, I have come to the realization that spiritual belief and practice can transform psychology.  In fact, I now feel that spirituality may be the most powerful resource we have for self-knowledge, healing, loving, and living life."