From Punk to Interfaith Minister

Mar 18, 2024

Recently, one of our interfaith ministers shared an incredible interview between himself and the author and poet, Leslie Tate. We thought we’d give you an introduction to both Stephen and the article!

“I have trained as both a OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation minister, and as a transpersonal counsellor at the Psychosynthesis Trust in London, and am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Similar to OneSpirit, Psychosynthesis is known for its deeply spiritual and creative approaches to counselling work. My training in both fields has helped me to deepen my counselling work, and continues to assist me in being present and profoundly responsive to the dynamic interactive environment of working with clients – making room for the transpersonal to assist in client’s development.

I will work empathically and interrelationally with you in order to explore your reasons for coming to counselling and any resolutions or changes you wish to reflect on, and will fully support you throughout that processes. I will regularly conduct reviews to check how our time together is working, and if it is meeting your needs or requires adapting, reassessing or expanding. As no two clients are the same or have the same needs, you will find me open and accepting to what you uniquely bring to sessions, such as past beliefs and experiences and how they may still be influencing you. Alternatively, we may work together in looking solely at what is happening now in your life.

I will provide a sacred space for you to explore and reflect on your well-being. Together we may look at issues of loss, abuse, discrimination, abandonment or gender related issues. You may wish to do a minimum of six sessions or require longer, which will supply you with more time to go deeper and process more fully what emerges in sessions. The work will hopefully empower you both spiritually and holistically to integrate and embody what you need for making wholesome choices and bringing about healthy changes in order to find deeper meaning and purpose to your life’s unique journey.”

Are you interested in working with Stephen? Contact him here.

From Punk to Interfaith Minister – The GreenSpirit of Stephen Wollaston

“I interviewed Stephen Wollaston, aka Santoshan, a OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation minister, who holds a BA degree in religious studies and is trained in psychosynthesis counselling. Stephen is the current chair of GreenSpirit’s Publications Committee and has coauthored and edited more than a dozen books on different areas of Eastern and Western spirituality.

In Part One of his interview, Stephen talks about his creative and spiritual development, including his time playing bass guitar for an early punk rock band, The Wasps.

Leslie: What’s the story behind your chosen name Santoshan? Where did it come from, what’s its meaning and why do you feel it fits you?

Stephen: The name Santoshan was given to me in the mid-90s in a naming ceremony by a female English swami – Swami Dharmananda Saraswati Maharaj – who was a teacher from the Bihar School of Yoga. She in fact later asked me to co-write the book ‘The House of Wisdom: Yoga Spirituality of the East and West’ with her, which was published in 2007. The name means ‘contentment’ and is given as something to aim for rather than simply being a statement about someone.”

View more of Stephen and Leslie’s conversation on Leslie’s website, below.

In the first part, Stephen talks about his creative and spiritual development, including his time playing bass guitar for an early punk rock band, The Wasps: view part one here. In the second part, Stephen talks about psychosynthesis, GreenSpirit and eco-justice: view part two here.

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