More than a decade ago, a friend recommended A Course in Miracles (ACIM) to me.
I tried several times to work through its daily lessons, but I struggled with the Christian terminology and never made it very far.
Years later, while completing my three-year Transpersonal Therapeutic Counselling program through Clearmind International, I encountered A Course in Miracles again. This time, I was encouraged to stay with it and look beyond some of the language that had initially created resistance for me.
That experience changed the way I understood many of its teachings.
What Is A Course in Miracles?
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual self-study program first published in 1976. Its teachings explore themes such as love, fear, forgiveness, judgment, perception and our relationships with one another.
Although it uses Christian language—including words such as God, Holy Spirit and Christ—I came to understand the material less as traditional religion and more as an invitation to examine the way I perceive myself, other people and the world around me.
One of the central ideas I took from the Course is that changing our experience doesn’t always begin by changing everything outside of us. Sometimes it begins by becoming curious about the lens through which we are seeing the situation.
Learning to See Things Differently
One of the things ACIM challenged me to examine was judgment.
I began noticing how easily I could move between feeling “less than” someone and feeling “better than” someone.
Although those positions appear opposite, I started to recognize that both created separation.
That realization became important for me personally and eventually influenced the way I think about relationships and counselling.
What happens when I stop trying to determine who is better, worse, right or wrong and become curious instead?
What am I protecting?
What am I afraid of?
What story am I telling myself?
And could there be another way of seeing this?
Forgiveness as an Inner Process
Another theme that stayed with me is forgiveness.
For me, forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending something painful didn’t happen, accepting harmful behaviour or abandoning healthy boundaries.
Instead, I’ve come to think about forgiveness as an internal process—an opportunity to notice what I continue to carry and decide what I want my relationship with that experience to be.
Sometimes we can’t change what happened.
We can, however, explore how much of our present life we want that experience to continue occupying.
“I Am Never Upset for the Reason I Think”
One lesson that has stayed with me is:
“I am never upset for the reason I think.”
I don’t interpret this as meaning that our reasons for being upset aren’t real or that painful circumstances should be dismissed.
Instead, I use it as an invitation to look underneath my immediate reaction.
If I’m angry, hurt, anxious or defensive, what else might be happening?
Is an old wound being touched?
Am I afraid of rejection?
Do I feel unseen?
Am I interpreting someone’s behaviour through something that happened long before this particular moment?
That kind of curiosity can take us somewhere very different from simply deciding who is right.
Some Lessons That Stayed With Me
There are many lessons throughout A Course in Miracles, but a few ideas have continued to resonate with me:
- Being willing to see things differently
- Choosing peace when possible
- Examining fear rather than automatically following it
- Letting go of grievances
- Practising forgiveness
- Remembering our shared humanity
- Looking inward rather than expecting the outside world to resolve everything for us
I don’t always find these things easy to practise.
For me, that’s part of the point.
Personal growth isn’t about reaching a place where we’re never triggered, defensive, afraid or judgmental. It’s about becoming more aware when those reactions arise and having more choice about what we do with them.
How This Influences My Counselling Work
A Course in Miracles is not something a client needs to believe in or study to work with me.
Spirituality may be meaningful to some clients and completely irrelevant to others. I respect both.
What I’ve carried into my counselling work isn’t a particular spiritual doctrine. It’s curiosity about perception, compassion, forgiveness, relationships, judgment and the possibility that we can learn to relate differently to ourselves and others.
These ideas fit naturally with my training in transpersonal counselling and holistic therapy and with my belief that counselling should make room for the whole person.
Finding Your Own Path
One of the things I’ve learned through yoga, counselling, mindfulness, movement and spiritual exploration is that there isn’t one path that works for everyone.
A Course in Miracles became one influence in my own journey.
You may find meaning somewhere completely different.
What matters to me as a counsellor is creating space to explore your experiences, values, relationships and understanding of what gives your life meaning.
If you’re curious about my broader approach, you can learn more about my counselling services in Nanaimo and online.
And if you’d like to explore whether counselling together feels like the right fit, you can request a free 15-minute consultation.