What Is the Third Realm? A Heart-Centered Approach to Integration

Maegan Kenney
Jul 27, 2022
4 min read

Updated: 10 hours ago

Third Realm Integration as a Living Field of Transformation

When I decided to name my practice Third Realm, I was knee-deep in my own heart-centered meditation journey. At the same time, I was taking a Jung and Imagery course, where I encountered a concept that stopped me in my tracks.

In an article by Haule (1997), later expanded upon by Ogden (2018), I was introduced to what is called the interactive field or the analytic third. This refers to a third psychological space that emerges between analyst and analysand—a living, dynamic field of consciousness that exists beyond either individual alone.

This third space is invisible, yet palpable. It is composed of the conscious and unconscious processes of both people, and the way those processes interact moment to moment. Within this field, deep psychological transformation becomes possible—not only for the client, but for the therapist as well.

The role of the analyst is not to control this space, but to observe it, traverse it, and help the client move through the unseen terrain of their inner world (Haule, 1997).

Over time, this understanding evolved into what I now call Third Realm integration—a heart-centered approach to healing that honors the shared field where conscious and unconscious processes meet.

The Third Realm as a Space of Transformation

In this shared field, unconscious material begins to surface. Projections can be recognized and reclaimed. The client is gradually freed from the invisible grip of their own unconscious patterns.

In practice, Third Realm integration is less about fixing symptoms and more about cultivating presence, safety, and relational depth so transformation can emerge organically.

But this work requires something essential of the therapist first.

The therapist must be aware of their own transference—their reactions, responses, and emotional entanglements with the client. They must also be capable of holding a container of safety strong enough to allow vulnerability without collapse. Only then can psychic defenses soften and true integration occur.

Reading Haule’s work, I didn’t yet realize how deeply this concept would shape my life.

Burnout, Disillusionment, and the Call for Something More

At the time, I was working as a case manager in a mental health system that no longer aligned with my values. I was burned out after seven grueling years in the field. I watched clients struggle to survive, let alone thrive, and I felt defeated.

I was actively planning my exit.“I just need to finish my degree first,” I told myself.

What I didn’t yet understand was that leaving entirely would have meant walking away from the most profound opportunity of my life.

Instead, I stayed—but I changed course.

I left my job. I withdrew from a clinical psychology training program that felt constricting. I enrolled in a transpersonal psychology PhD program. And I launched Third Realm.

I did all of this while feeling deeply unprepared.

Heart-Centered Meditation as the Gateway

For four or five years prior, I had been devoted to my own healing through heart-centered meditation. Slowly, incrementally, insights emerged. I began to see my life patterns clearly—how I participated in my own suffering, how my attachments and relationships were attempts to find something I wasn’t yet capable of receiving.

That period of my life was exhausting. One toxic relationship after another. And this was after I had already recovered from addiction.

The heart-centered work changed everything.

It became the foundation that allowed me to take intuitive risks—and follow through on them. It taught me how to listen to stillness. This, I came to understand, was the doorway into the Third Realm.

Entering the Third Realm in Clinical Practice

As I began working with clients, something subtle but profound started to happen.

I showed up with clarity, presence, and grounded awareness. At times, I struggled to feel useful. I stayed in close supervision with my teacher, who helped me reconnect with why I chose this work when doubt crept in.

Eventually, things began to click.

During this period, I made another pivotal decision: I moved fifteen hours away from my childhood home to a town where I knew no one. I needed space—true space—to face the parts of myself I had long avoided.

That move changed my life.

Without distraction, my energy shifted. Confidence emerged—not the performative kind, but the grounded knowing of alignment. I began to recognize my own codependency patterns and why I wanted healing for others more than they wanted it for themselves.

As I let go of attachment, the work deepened.

Where Unconscious Minds Meet

In sessions, I stopped trying to fix. I allowed the work to unfold. I rooted myself in my heart center and grounded into compassion. Before each session, I meditated on the client’s energy—not to control it, but to meet it openly.

Some sessions arrived in insightful chaos. Others in sacred stillness.

Through it all, my feet stayed planted and my heart stayed open.

I began to understand the Third Realm as the space where unconscious minds meet and transformation begins (Kenney, 2021).

An Invitation Into the Third Realm

The Third Realm is not a technique or a destination.It is a living space that emerges when presence, safety, and willingness meet.

It appears when you are no longer trying to fix yourself, outrun your pain, or perform healing correctly—when you are ready to listen instead. To slow down. To let what has been unconscious begin to speak.

If you feel called to explore this work more deeply—whether through psychotherapy, integration work, or heart-centered practices—I invite you to step into this shared field with me.

We don’t force transformation here.We create the conditions where it can arise.

When you’re ready, the Third Realm is already waiting.

Work Together