What if healing isn't a linear healing journey, but a cyclical descent into the depths of the soul—and a transformative return?

A practitioner's guide to the 9 stages of Soul Healing, rooted in depth psychology and Black feminism

Inspired by the Sumerian myth of The Descent of Inanna, this book for therapists and depth psychology clinicians offers a decolonial, feminist path that evolves beyond the linear “Hero’s Journey" as envisioned by Joseph Campbell. Author Lindsay Fauntleroy draws on Black feminist literature and Indigenous wisdom to reimagine transformation through the Nine Stages of Soul Healing, a process of surrender, relationship, death, rebirth, and return.

• The journey begins with Illusion, when latent gifts remain suppressed and something feels subtly wrong.
• Clients are then moved through Rupture and Awakening, as disruption creates the openings and opportunities for conscious change.
• In Transformation, practitioners accompany clients through the shadowy work of Descent, exploring the psychic landscape through dream work, active imagination, intuitive drawing, and archetypal systems such as the chakras, Orishas, and Tarot.
• Rest offers necessary integration, while Death brings the “dark night of the soul,” where old identities must give way for new ways of being to come forth.
• In Emergence, reconnection with community, nature, and Spirit leads toward Rebirth and Return—an embodied wholeness that ultimately becomes a resource for collective healing.

Each stage includes clinical indicators, psychological portraits, guiding questions, and flower essence recommendations for both practitioner and client. Grounded in therapeutic practice, depth psychology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Ifá, and enriched by contemporary mythic mapping onto pop-culture icons like Moana and Beyoncé, Into Our Depths reframes the practitioner not as someone who fixes, but as a guide and witness who facilitates the space where transformation unfolds.

What if healing isn't a linear journey, but a cyclical descent and return through the depths of the soul?

A practitioner's guide to the 9 stages of Soul Healing, rooted in depth psychology and Black feminism

Inspired by the Sumerian myth of The Descent of Inanna, this book for therapists and clinicians offers a decolonial, feminist path that evolves archetypal soul healing beyond the linear, patriarchal “Hero’s Journey" as envisioned by Joseph Campbell. Author Lindsay Fauntleroy draws on Black feminist literature and Indigenous wisdom to reimagine transformation through the Nine Stages of Soul Healing, a process of surrender, relationship, death, rebirth, and return.

• The journey begins with Illusion, when latent gifts remain suppressed and something feels subtly wrong.
• Clients are then moved through Rupture and Awakening, as disruption creates the openings and opportunities for conscious change.
• In Transformation, practitioners accompany clients through the shadowy work of Descent, exploring the psychic landscape through dream work, active imagination, intuitive drawing, and archetypal systems such as the chakras, Orishas, and Tarot.
• Rest offers necessary integration, while Death brings the “dark night of the soul,” where old identities must give way for new ways of being to come forth.
• In Emergence, reconnection with community, nature, and Spirit leads toward Rebirth and Return—an embodied wholeness that ultimately becomes a resource for collective healing.

Each stage includes clinical indicators, psychological portraits, guiding questions, and flower essence recommendations for both practitioner and client. Grounded in therapeutic practice, depth psychology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Ifá, and enriched by contemporary mythic mapping onto pop-culture icons like Moana and Beyoncé, Into Our Depths reframes the practitioner not as someone who fixes, but as a guide and witness who facilitates the space where transformation unfolds.