What Is the Dark Night of the Soul?
The “Dark Night of the Soul” describes a profound period of inner crisis when life loses its previous meaning. Originating from the writings of the 16th-century mystic St. John of the Cross, it has become a universal term for spiritual transformation.
Today psychology increasingly recognizes this process as a transformational threshold. Researchers in transpersonal psychology, trauma integration, and neuroscience of consciousness note that what we call a “dark night” often mirrors the brain’s process of reorganizing after deep stress, loss, or spiritual awakening.
This stage isn’t about failure or weakness, it’s a restructuring of identity at the deepest level.
The Psychology of a Dark Night
Recent findings in psychology and neuroscience highlight a few important aspects:
- Identity Dissolution; fMRI studies show that during crises of meaning, activity in the brain’s default mode network (the part tied to self-narrative and ego) shifts. This can feel disorienting, but it creates the conditions for a new sense of self.
- Existential Depression vs. Spiritual Awakening; Clinicians in 2025 differentiate between major depressive episodes and “existential depression.” The latter is less about chemical imbalance and more about the collapse of old meaning structures. Properly supported, existential depression often leads to greater resilience and post-traumatic growth.
- Neuroplasticity Under Pressure; Periods of inner collapse are often accompanied by heightened brain plasticity. This means the brain is unusually receptive to creating new beliefs, habits, and perspectives, if guided with awareness.
- Attachment and Spiritual Crisis; Research shows that those with secure relational support navigate dark nights of the soul with more ease. With nurturing connections (friends, therapists, mentors) acts as a buffer, allowing transformation rather than breakdown.
Signs You’re in the Dark Night of the Soul
- A hollow or feeling of loss, even when external life is “fine”
- A collapse of old spiritual beliefs or loss of faith in life, work or relationships
- Heightened sensitivity to meaninglessness or existential questions
- Emotional intensity, despair, grief, or emptiness, without clear triggers
- Feeling lonely or isolated from others, even loved ones within relationships
- A longing for something deeper, though you can’t name it
How to Navigate the Dark Night – Psychology Meets Spirituality
1. Allow the Death of the Old Self
Psychology calls this ego dissolution. Spirituality calls it surrender. Both agree: the more you fight the unraveling, the longer the suffering. Journaling about “what is ending in me” can help bring unconscious patterns to light.
2. Anchor the Nervous System
Your nervous system is processing intense change. Practices like slow breathing, vagus nerve stimulation, somatic movement, and time in nature regulate the body so the mind can reorient safely.
3. Practice Meaning-Making
According to meaning-centered therapies, healing arises when we start creating new meaning. Ask: What values still feel alive? What new truths want to emerge through me?
4. Work with Safe Guides
Therapists trained in existential or transpersonal psychology can help you differentiate between destructive despair and transformative crisis. Spiritual therapists and mentors or peer communities can offer comforting support and reminders that you are not alone.
5. Stay Open to the Mystery
Many holistic therapists now acknowledge the role of spiritual emergence, a crisis that precedes awakening. Holding both science and soul together allows us to see the dark night not as breakdown, but as the initiation of a higher consciousness.
The Gift on the Other Side
Those who emerge from the Dark Night often describe:
- A quieter, more authentic sense of self
- Less dependence on others for external validation
- A deeper sense of unity with life and nature
- Greater compassion for others’ suffering
- A new clarity of purpose
What you are going through is not punishment, it is preparation. Like the caterpillar dissolving into formlessness, your soul is reorganising into a higher expression of self.
If you’re in this phase, know that you are not “broken.” Psychology sees your brain and identity restructuring. Spirituality sees your soul birthing a higher state. Both perspectives agree: this is a new passage, not a dead end.