A journey into the hidden chambers of the psyche, where ancient treasures await those brave enough to face the guardians of the past.
By Clara Angel, Psychotherapist
When my clients first come to me, they often expect something clinical—sitting in their own space, talking through their struggles with a professional who has all the answers. I see our work together through a very different lens. What if therapy isn’t like a doctor’s appointment at all? What if it’s more like an Indiana Jones adventure?
This isn’t just my playful imagination at work. In my practice, I’ve witnessed how the therapeutic journey shares striking similarities with our favorite archaeologist’s quests into forgotten temples and buried civilizations. Both involve venturing into dark, uncharted territories to recover something precious that’s been long hidden from view.
The Call to Adventure
Every Indiana Jones story begins with a map, a legend, or a relic hinting at treasure waiting to be discovered. Therapy often starts with similar clues. A client tells me about a nagging sense that they’re not living fully, or patterns that seem to hold them back despite their best efforts.
I’ve sat with people who describe feeling like strangers to themselves. Others say they keep repeating the same relationship dynamics no matter how hard they try to change. Like Indy poring over ancient texts, we begin by researching the territory together—exploring family history, examining past experiences, and acknowledging that some terrain requires professional guidance to navigate safely.
The Archaeological Expedition
Once Indy assembles his team and sets out, he’s committed to a journey into unknown territory. In our work together, I serve as both trained guide and fellow traveler. While I walk beside my clients as their companion in this exploration, my professional training provides the essential safety structure and ethical framework that makes this journey possible.
I’m not an all-knowing mapmaker, but rather a skilled guide who can recognize dangerous terrain and hold space for whatever we might encounter in the depths. My clients are the true archaeologists of their own experience—I simply provide the professional structure for them to do this sacred excavation work.
What makes me different isn’t that I’ve transcended the need for this journey, but that I’ve been trained to create safety without interference. I recognize that we are all unique human beings with unique histories and unique ways of solving our own puzzles. I’m more like a curious scientist asking questions and helping make sense of a subjective, unique, and individual reality.
Just as Indy carries his whip, fedora, and survival gear, in my integrative approach I bring training in various modalities: Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR, somatic practices, psychodynamic insights, cognitive-behavioral techniques, hypnosis, and tones of curiosity, among others. These become the ropes and torches that allow us to explore inner chambers with more confidence—tools that support the work, but never replace the client’s own inner knowing.
It’s worth noting that some of these approaches, particularly IFS, represent innovative and promising therapeutic methods that are still building their research foundation. While early studies show encouraging results for trauma, depression, and other concerns, these approaches are part of psychology’s evolving understanding of how healing occurs.
The Buried Treasure
At the heart of every temple lies something invaluable—a golden idol, the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail. In therapy, that treasure is the authentic self—buried beneath protective strategies formed during painful times. I’ve had the privilege of witnessing these treasures emerge again and again in my practice.
These treasures may include:
- Joy and spontaneity that got suppressed for survival
- The ability to trust and connect deeply with others
- A sense of inherent worth and belonging • Suppressed creativity waiting to flourish • Courage to pursue true desires
What moves me most is realizing these aspects were never lost—only hidden away for safekeeping when life felt unsafe. My role is to help create conditions where they can safely emerge again.
The Booby Traps
Indy’s temples are full of traps: step on the wrong stone, and darts fly; move too fast, and the floor collapses. Our psyche has its own defenses, installed during moments of real danger—abuse, neglect, trauma. They kept us alive then, but now they may misfire when triggered by situations that only resemble the original threat.
In sessions, I witness these defenses appear as:
- Anxiety when intimacy approaches
- Dissociation when emotions overwhelm
- Self-sabotage on the brink of success
- Panic at major life changes
I never see these as flaws in my clients. They are brilliant, outdated security systems that simply haven’t received the update that we are now safe. Part of my professional training involves recognizing when additional stabilization work is needed before we venture into deeper exploration, ensuring that clients have sufficient resources before encountering these protective mechanisms.
The Ancient Guardians and Ancestral Echoes
In many of Indy’s adventures, he encounters guardians—sometimes rival archaeologists, sometimes spiritual protectors standing watch for generations. In my practice, I meet my clients’ inner guardians: traumatized parts that have been protecting them for years, sometimes decades.
But I’ve also learned something profound from recent research—some of these guardians have been standing watch since time immemorial. We are literally a collection of information from our ancestors: genetics provides the fundamental blueprint passed down through generations, while epigenetics reveals how the contexts where our lives develop determine which genes can prosper, develop, turn on, or remain dormant.
Like layers in an archaeological dig site, my clients’ psyches hold not only personal experiences, but ancestral echoes written into their very biology. The intense anxiety that seems disproportionate might reflect both inherited genetic predispositions and epigenetic imprints from a grandmother’s survival through war. The hypervigilance might echo not just learned behavior, but genetic and epigenetic inheritance from a grandfather’s persecution.
This understanding of trauma inheritance is supported by growing research showing that environmental stressors can create lasting changes in gene expression that affect offspring. While the mechanisms are still being understood, studies of Holocaust survivors, war veterans, and other trauma-exposed populations consistently demonstrate measurable biological changes that can be transmitted to children and grandchildren.
I’ve learned to approach these guardians with deep respect. They aren’t malicious—they’re loyal sentinels carrying both genetic wisdom and contextual adaptations, their voices sounding familiar:
- “Don’t trust anyone.”
- “It’s too risky—stay safe.” • “You’re not strong enough.”
- “If you change, people will leave.”
They’re still fighting old battles, unaware that times have changed.
The Power of Imagination
For Indiana Jones, imagination lets him see beyond ruins—reconstructing temples from fragments and envisioning how hidden mechanisms might work. In my practice, I’ve discovered that imagination serves a similar healing purpose: it allows our Self now—the part of us with
strength, safety, and perspective—to return to our Self then, the one who was overwhelmed, and help reprocess what was once undigestible.
When trauma first occurred, my clients didn’t have the resources to face it fully. Their minds did the only thing they could—they buried the experience to ensure survival. But through carefully paced guided imagery and imaginative exercises, I witness profound healing as we:
- Bridge past and present, allowing the Self they are today to accompany their younger Self with compassion and understanding
- Reprocess the undigested experiences piece by piece, until they no longer control their present
- Transform memory into integration, turning pain from a trap into a story they can carry with wisdom
I’ve seen how imagination isn’t mere creative fancy—it’s an instrument of healing, a bridge across time that allows people to reclaim treasures buried in their inner temples and bring them into the light of the present.
This work requires careful attention to each client’s window of tolerance and current resources. Not everyone is ready for deep memory work, and part of my professional responsibility involves ensuring adequate preparation and stabilization before venturing into these vulnerable territories.
The Moment of Truth
Every Indy film has a scene where he must risk everything to claim the treasure. In therapy sessions, I witness similar turning points—moments when my clients either retreat to safety or step into transformation. It might be feeling the grief they’ve avoided, speaking long-silenced truths, or taking risks they’ve postponed.
These aren’t moments of recklessness—they’re acts of courage, built on preparation and our established therapeutic relationship. I’m honored to witness my clients choose growth over comfort, always within the safety of our professional container.
The Perilous Return
Indy’s work isn’t done once he grabs the treasure—he must return safely and integrate it into the world. I see this same pattern in therapy. Insight is only the beginning; the real work happens as my clients weave their discoveries into daily life:
- Living with new awareness
- Practicing coping skills in real situations
- Setting healthier boundaries
- Growing while managing inevitable setbacks
The treasure isn’t meant to stay hidden in our sessions—it’s meant to enrich how they live and connect with others.
The Wisdom of the Journey
What makes Indy unforgettable isn’t just the treasures—it’s his courage to face danger, his respect for guardians, and his recognition that some risks are worth taking. Working with clients has taught me that therapy requires the same qualities: courage, patience, respect for psychological defenses, and trust in what lies buried within.
Not every session yields golden relics. Sometimes traps are triggered, sometimes guardians are too strong. But I’ve learned that each step teaches us more about the terrain and brings my clients closer to reclaiming what’s rightfully theirs.
It’s important to recognize that this adventurous approach isn’t suitable for everyone or every situation. Some clients need different kinds of support, more stabilization work, or alternative therapeutic approaches. Part of ethical practice involves honestly assessing what each person needs and when they might benefit from different kinds of professional support.
Your Own Adventure Awaits
As I reflect on the hundreds of therapeutic journeys I’ve been privileged to witness, I know that each person’s temple is unique—their guardians, treasures, and pathways belong only to them. But one truth remains constant: the very fact that these treasures are buried proves my clients already survived the forces that hid them away.
The question I gently pose isn’t whether they’re brave enough for this journey—they’ve already demonstrated that courage. The question is whether they’re ready to exchange the familiar darkness for the adventure of discovery.
And here’s what I promise: like Indy, they don’t venture forth alone. In our work together, they walk with a professionally trained companion who can provide both the safety structure and holding space their journey requires. They also carry the accumulated wisdom of all those who’ve walked similar paths before them—including the biological wisdom of their ancestors, both the trauma and the resilience encoded in their very cells.
The temple is waiting. The treasure is real. And the most authentic version of us is ready to be rediscovered.
Clara Angel is a licensed psychotherapist with training in multiple therapeutic modalities. This article represents her clinical observations and should not be considered a substitute for professional mental health treatment. If you’re considering therapy, please consult with a qualified mental health professional to determine what approach might be most beneficial for your unique situation.
