Selected Analyst Training Program theses are now available publicly via our online library catalog. The catalog database is primarily for students in our training programs to borrow physical books, but analyst theses are available as PDFs. Use the catalog link below and browse our other theses.
Thank you to Deborah Lukovich for sharing this interview. From the YouTube video description:
In this episode, I’ve brought back Vlado Solc, Jungian Analyst and psychotherapist practicing in Milwaukee, WI, my hometown. Vlado is a co-author of the book, Dark Religion: Fundamentalism from the Perspective of Jungian Psychology. After listening to this episode, you might want to listen to our last chat about his book in Episode 26 of Season 1. It’s titled Self-Reflection in a Time of Conspiracy Theories. I’ll put the link in the description box. It’s my most listened to episode. So today, we’re going to go deeper into Jung’s theory of individuation in a way that you’ll be able to relate to and will enhance your practice of self-reflection.
Vladislav (Vlado) Šolc (pronounced “Schultz”) is a professional psychotherapist and Jungian analyst practicing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Vlado received training from the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago and Charles University in Prague. He is the author of five depth-psychology-oriented books: Psyche, Matrix, Reality; The Father Archetype; In the Name of God—Fanaticism from the Perspective of Depth Psychology;Dark Religion: Fundamentalism from the Perspective of Jungian Psychologyand most recently Democracy and Individuation in the Times of Conspiracy Theories.
I write on a splendid fall day in Chicago when my immediate world—and the Jung Institute—feel full of hope and promise! On September 10, 2022, we resumed in-person classes and gathered for a joyful dinner and graduation ceremony for the new analysts who graduated during COVID.
I can report that our podcasts and online courses were sought out by people worldwide during the pandemic, and they remain popular. As of October 2022, the podcast has had 928,701 listens across 96 episodes. We average 20,000 listens a month from users all over the world – from 112 countries in September 2022.
Interview by Dominik Čejka, translated from Czech.
“I try to approach them the Jungian way – with understanding and love. I try to involve them in a dialogue but also to listen. Attempting to convince someone about the opposite only increases mutual resistance.”
Bizarre conspiracy theories, but also fundamentalist religions are found in history of humanity from times immemorial. Many different fields strive to understand those phenomena better. One of them is psychology. Jungian analyst VLADO ŠOLC examines them from the perspective of depth psychology.
How did you become interested in conspiracy theories?
Basically, through Jung. When I studied at the Jungian Institute in Chicago with George Didier, a colleague of mine, we researched fundamentalist forms of religion. Then we discovered various interesting parallels between those aspects of religiosity and conspiracy theories.
Vladislav Šolc, member of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts, was a guest on Dose of Depth, a podcast by Deborah Lukovich, PhD, that seeks to “explore the deeper meaning of ordinary life experiences through conversation, stories, and education”. From the episode description:
Vladislav (Vlado) Šolc (pronounced “Schultz”) is a professional psychotherapist and Jungian analyst practicing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Vlado received training from the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago and Charles University in Prague. He is the author of five depth-psychology-oriented books: Psyche, Matrix, Reality; The Father Archetype; In the Name of God—Fanaticism from the Perspective of Depth Psychology;Dark Religion: Fundamentalism from the Perspective of Jungian Psychologyand most recently Democracy and Individuation in the Times of Conspiracy Theories.
Speaking of Jung is available through a variety of podcasting platforms and apps, including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. Just search for “Speaking of Jung” in your favorite podcasts app to subscribe on your mobile device. You can also listen to select episodes on YouTube.
Death was sacred to some aboriginal people in Colombia. Near the town of San Agustin and Isnos, the journey to death called for a necropolis to be built by unknown indigenous tribes. Approximately more than 2000 years ago, funerary mounds, megalithic, anthropomorphic, anthropozoomorphic, and zoomorphic statues, funerary corridors, and stone slab tombs were constructed beneath the earth! Earth mounds covered stone slab dolmens that contained the dead body of important people who had natural powers or occupied important roles in their tribe (Instituto Colombiano de Antropologia e Historia-ICANH, 2011). We know very little about who these tribes were and why they abandoned this area by the 14th and 15th century. The indigenous people who currently live near this area do not seem to have a direct racial lineage with these Colombian ancestors.
Why do these aboriginal people construct and bury these “death-related” sites underground? What is the meaning of the anthropomorphic, anthrozoomorphic, and zoomophic stone sculptures? This brief article attempts to provide a psychological hypothesis to these questions, from an Analytical (Jungian) Psychology perspective, in order to emphasize “ancestral wisdom” (Leon, 2010) of indigenous for modern times.
Harvey H. Honig began his life’s work as a Lutheran minister but soon recognized his need for a more spacious and inclusive approach through which to heal and understand his inner self. This led him to spend many years exploring and experiencing other paths of religion and spirituality. In recent years, though, he found that the message, mission, and being of Jesus still played a powerful and transformative role in his life. Since common understandings of the life of Jesus are embedded within a biblical and historical framework, Honig wanted to explore the meaning of Christianity within the framework of our current world. An Interfaith Christian Theology is for fellow seekers who are drawn to the being and message of Jesus but can no longer relate to the dissonance between reality and belief that so many churches require. Honig’s approach differs from traditional Christian theology in two ways: first, it does not stem from the framework of a specific denomination, and second, it presents itself as a way of thinking about Christianity rather than the only way. After several years as a minister, Honig began Jungian analytic training and earned a PhD in psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Jung gave Honig the tools he needed to continue his personal search for a life-affirming view of Christianity and to assist others in their search for inner truth and healing.
Dear Friends of the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago,
The Institute’s 2nd Annual Spring Fundraising Drive is here and I am inviting you to join with others in financially supporting the Institute. Your donation will help ensure that our educational mission of training future analysts and educating psychology professionals and the general public continues.
I’d like to share a personal story about why what the Institute does matters. While attending psychological gatherings over the years, I have invariably heard in response to my saying that I am a Jungian psychoanalyst, “Really, does anyone do that anymore?” Imagine my surprise. Yes, I do, the analyst-members of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts do, and Jungian analysts worldwide do.
This anecdote highlights the misperception that exists within the psychological field in this country about analytical psychology. Your donation in support of our educational mission is tangible proof that the symbolic-depth approach of analytical psychology is relevant and is valued in today’s world.
Analytical psychology was birthed out of the cataclysm of the Great War as Carl Jung sought to understand the promptings of psyche and make meaning of how such carnage and inhumanity could happen in the modern age.
Jung embarked on a journey within himself and the discoveries he made about psyche and psychic processes took him on outer world travels to gather the myths and symbol systems of other cultures. These collective materials helped give shape to his psychology of the unconscious, one rooted in an archetypal collective unconscious.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,” Jung writes, “but by making the darkness conscious…a disagreeable and unpopular process.” Addressing the darkness of the outer world requires that we each do our own inner shadow work so that our darkness is not projected onto others. Analytical psychology provides a way to understand and work with this reality of psyche and make meaning of what is discovered to more consciously navigate the inner and outer worlds. Now more than ever, as the existential crises of the 21st century mount, there is a need for the education that the Institute provides.
As a small non-profit, we do a lot with limited resources. Your tax-deductible financial contribution adds needed income to revenue from tuition, the sale of our audio-lectures, and grants. Equity donations are welcome. The Institute has a Gold rating for financial transparency from GuideStar and is listed on Charity Navigator. The Analytical Psychology Foundation of Chicago is a supporting organization.
The views and opinions expressed in the podcast and blog posts are those of the respected speakers or authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago.
