Conscious breathing techniques, such as circular breathing, conscious connected breathing, and fast and full breathing, can serve as a vehicle for accessing psychological material, a topic rarely discussed in counseling literature despite its use in many spiritual traditions for personal transformation. This article describes these three types of breathing, their application in therapeutic breathwork, the facets of the breathwork experience, and clinical considerations for counselors, illustrated with a case study.
Spiritual transcendence—experiences facilitated by mindfulness, contemplative prayer, nature-based practices, or psychedelics—predicts higher compassion and empathy among professional counselors. In a sample of 95 counselors, spiritual transcendence accounted for 23.6% of the variance in compassion and 20.1% in empathy, beyond the effects of general spirituality and religion. The findings suggest that spiritual transcendence is a distinct construct linked to counselors' relational capacities, with implications for ethically integrating reflexive spiritual wellness practices into counselor education and professional development.