This episode is the opening lecture of a weekend given by Polly Young-Eisendrath. It contains a 1-hour lecture followed by an hour of Q&A. From the seminar description:
We all sense a connection with the source that underlies our existence, whether or not we recognize it as such and we all wish to identify with something larger than ourselves. Some feel this as a spiritual yearning, while others wish for fame or celebrity or the knowledge of a larger truth. The spiritual isolation and materialism (both economic and philosophical) of our times make it difficult to find trustworthy methods from institutional religions, non-traditional approaches, psychology, or philosophy for seeking knowledge of this source. However, our desire to help others (and ourselves) and our willingness to love deeply and authentically can offer the common ground through which we can find this knowledge, but it requires a dedicated understanding of our own suffering and its transformation.
Instead of seeking such insight into our subjective lives, we Americans embrace popular myths of biological salvation and pharmaceutical soothing. It?s not just that we seek instant solutions to complex problems, rather we have lost our taste for the adventure of human life, replacing it with ideals of economic and biological ?security? and hopes for absolute control of our diet and health.
This program offers a critique of this contemporary myth of biological salvation and presents accounts from psychoanalysis (Jungian and otherwise) and Buddhism of how embracing our limitations can open the path to transformation and lasting contentment.
This episode is the first in a new series called Healing Cinema. Judith Cooper, PsyD, and Daniel Ross, PMHNP, members of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts, discuss films from an Jungian point of view. These informal discussions will be released in parallel with our other episodes (lectures from our archives and interviews by Patricia Martin) and will not be on any particular schedule.
In this episode, Judith and Dan discuss the 1944 film Gaslight (Wikipedia). They mention the fairy tale “Fitcher’s Bird”, so if you want to learn more about that, you can read about it on Wikipedia. They also touch on the following:
Alchemy
Animus/Anima
Beebe, John
Blackbeard fairytale
Hillman, James
Imposter Syndrome
Initiation
Kalsched, Donald
Numinous
Puella
Senex
Splendor Solis
Telos
Transcendent Function
Trauma
Trickster
Judith Cooper, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and diplomate Jungian Analyst in private practice in Chicago. She is a graduate and member of the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago. She was adjunct faculty at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology (1999-2000), teaching projective testing. She was clinical supervisor (1991-2002) and director of training (1998-2002) of an APA-accredited psychology internship program at a community mental health center in northwest Indiana. She has taught in the Analyst Training Program and lectured on the anima/animus, and the clinical use of film.
Daniel Ross, RN, PMHNP, MSN, MBA has been a nurse for 40 years and in hospice for over 30. As a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Jungian Analyst, he brings a medical, psychiatric, and analytical perspective to the field of end-of-life care. He first completed the two-year Clinical Training Program (now the JPP/JSP) at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago then went on to complete the Analyst Training Program. He is in private practice in the northwest suburbs working with adults seeking psychotherapy and continues to see hospice and palliative care patients at the end of life. He is Co-Director of the Jungian Psychotherapy Program and Jungian Studies Program at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago.
Thank you to everyone who has shared a little about themselves. If you’d like us to know who you are, click this link, and I’ll read your submission on the podcast!
Thank you to our 2020 donors who gave at the Contributing Member level and above: Barbara Annan, Usha and Ashok Bedi, Jackie Cabe Bryan, Eric Cooper and Judith Cooper, Kevin Davis, George J. Didier, Mary Dougherty, James Fidelibus, John Korolewski, Marty Manning, Dyane Sherwood, Deborah P. Stutsman, Debra Tobin, Alexander Wayne and Lynne Copp, Gerald Weiner, Karen West and James Taylor, and Ellen Young. If you would like to support this podcast, click here to join our community of supporters.
For this Women’s History Month, we’re sharing the seminar The Return of the Archetypal Feminine & the Dawn of the New “Third” in its entirety. It was recorded on January 4, 2019. From the seminar description:
The archetypal “Feminine” is back, and She’s…”unhappy.” From “Me Too,” to the trial of Larry Nassar, to the rising refusal of young adults to be defined as either “male” or “female,” opting instead for the more neutral pronoun “they,” evidence of profound change is all around us. Neumann and Whitmont tell us that consciousness can be conceived as having evolved through stages, beginning the archetypal Great Mother. Several thousand years ago, this feminine consciousness was repressed in the service of the development of “Masculine” ego consciousness, which has, for better and worse, been accomplished. We now have considerable “ego strength” but no connection to anything beyond it, hence, a good deal of turmoil in a world that feels untethered, without purpose or direction. Both “Feminine” and “Masculine” dominated cultures were necessarily one-sided otherwise each could not have developed. But, what is next? And, what is required of us so that the new “third” can emerge?
In this class we will dive deeply into the bigger story at play here – the deep, archetypal dynamics and the wisdom behind them. We will begin to think about, observe, and imagine, the next phase of consciousness. Rather than simply enacting each stage via identification, we can step back and consciously embrace the gifts and costs of each, for men and women. By holding both in a conscious, creative tension of opposites, we can facilitate the emergence of the Mercurial “Divine Child.”
Laraine Kurisko received her PhD in Clinical-Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2000 and Diplomate Jungian Analyst from the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago in 2016. Prior to beginning Analyst training in Chicago she attended the MN Seminar in Jungian Studies for nine years and the Philadelphia Seminar in Jungian Studies for one year. She has worked as a psychologist since 1987, and is currently in private practice in Eden Prairie. A Canadian by birth, she and her family enjoy their annual pilgrimage to their cottage near Sault Saint Marie, Canada, on the shores of Lake Superior.
PowerPoint: The slides are not available for this seminar.
Thank you to everyone who shared a little bit about themselves since the last episode. If you’d like us to know who you are, click this link, and I’ll read your submission on the podcast! No need to share any identifying information. This information will not be used for any other purpose.
Thank you to our 2020 donors who gave at the Contributing Member level and above: Barbara Annan, Usha and Ashok Bedi, Jackie Cabe Bryan, Eric Cooper and Judith Cooper, Kevin Davis, George J. Didier, James Fidelibus, John Korolewski, Marty Manning, Dyane Sherwood, Deborah P. Stutsman, Debra Tobin, Alexander Wayne and Lynne Copp, Gerald Weiner, Karen West and James Taylor, and Ellen Young. If you would like to support this podcast, click here to join our community of supporters.
This episode is the second half of “Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals”. The first half was published on November 22nd.
In the poetic tradition of Zen monk and bard, Leonard Cohen, this presentation celebrates our brokenness. Often, we hear about grieving our mistakes, failures, losses and imperfections, but rarely do we learn how to mine them for their richness. Because human beings are naturally broken – with personalities that are largely unconscious, reactive and hard to manage – we have countless opportunities in our relationships and work to see our selves in the cracks of the mirror. This presentation will draw on Carl Jung’s psychology of individuation and on the Buddha’s teachings on awakening to offer a new vision of imperfection with its inherent openings to compassion and love.
PowerPoint slides used in the talk are available HERE
This episode is the first half of “Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals”. The second half will be published later this month. NOW LIVE HERE
In the poetic tradition of Zen monk and bard, Leonard Cohen, this presentation celebrates our brokenness. Often, we hear about grieving our mistakes, failures, losses and imperfections, but rarely do we learn how to mine them for their richness. Because human beings are naturally broken – with personalities that are largely unconscious, reactive and hard to manage – we have countless opportunities in our relationships and work to see our selves in the cracks of the mirror. This presentation will draw on Carl Jung’s psychology of individuation and on the Buddha’s teachings on awakening to offer a new vision of imperfection with its inherent openings to compassion and love.
PowerPoint slides used in the talk are available HERE
A note about sound: There were microphone issues that were resolved after a few minutes.
With the current debate over the nature and content of gender, Jung’s concepts of the anima/animus are being re-examined and, in some cases, reformulated or even discarded as a means of conceptualizing psychological life. It was recorded in 1989.
This lecture is part of the set Views of the Animus, which includes the following lectures:
The four archetypal couples inherent in the Self—the King and Queen, the Warriors, the Magicians, the Lovers—create four distinct psychosocial environments within a relationship. The archetypal dynamics underlying both fulfillment and frustration in human relationships are examined in this seminar recording, with particular focus on marital dynamics and sexual dysfunction.
Robert Moore, PhD was Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Spirituality in the Graduate Center of the Chicago Theological Seminary where he was the Founding Director of the new Institute for Advanced Studies in Spirituality and Wellness. An internationally recognized psychoanalyst and consultant in private practice in Chicago, he served as a Training Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and was Director of Research for the Institute for Integrative Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and the Chicago Center for Integrative Psychotherapy. Author and editor of numerous books in psychology and spirituality, he lectured internationally on his formulation of a neo-Jungian psychoanalysis and integrative psychotherapy. His publications include THE ARCHETYPE OF INITIATION: Sacred Space, Ritual Process and Personal Transformation; THE MAGICIAN AND THE ANALYST: The Archetype of the Magus in Occult Spirituality and Jungian Psychology; and FACING THE DRAGON: Confronting Personal and Spiritual Grandiosity.
While working extensively with patients suffering from depression, Jungian analyst and psychiatrist David Rosen uncovered helpful clues to understanding this widespread malady. When people feel grief and despair or suffer from suicidal thoughts, they may feel like they are dying inside. In order to regain the will to live, Rosen believes, only a part of them – a false self – needs to die. When the false self is permitted to die symbolically (egocide) through drawing, pottery, writing, or other forms of creative expression, a kind of mourning process is set in motion. When the cycle comes to an end, the person is transformed and experiences new life, a rebirth of purpose and meaning. This workshop focuses on understanding depression and the quest for meaning, discerning the creative potential of suicide, and recognizing and treating depression and suicidal people. Crisis points such as adolescence, mid-life, divorce, and loss of a loved one are discussed. Drawing from actual case material, Dr. Rosen presents the egocide and transformation model, explains how it is applied and how it works, and explores its creative potential. It was recorded in 1994.
David Rosen, MD is a Jungian analyst and psychiatrist in College Station, Texas. He is a McMillan Professor of analytical psychology, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, and professor of humanities in medicine at Texas A&M University. He is the author of four books, including Transforming Depression: A Jungian Approach to Using the Creative Arts.
This episode is part one of the series Terror, Evil, and Loss of the Self. In this seminar, Brenda Donahue discusses how survivors of childhood deprivation or physical and sexual abuse routinely describe themselves as freaks, existing outside of normal human relations because they feel evil or bad. This is because the child victim takes the evil of the abuser into him/herself in order to preserve the primary attachment to the parents. This sense of badness or evil becomes a staple of the personality structure, and many survivors spend their lives refusing to be absolved of blame. This course presents basic concepts from analytical psychology and shows how they can be useful in the treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome. It was recorded in 1994.
Brenda Donahue, RN, LCSW is a Jungian analyst in private practice in the western suburbs of Chicago and author of C. G. Jung’s Complex Dynamics and the Clinical Relationship: One Map for Mystery.
In this lecture, Dr. Beebe explores a neglected area in analytical psychology, the influence of the father’s unconscious upon the later development of the son. Jung’s analytical psychology offers insight into the way a father’s feminine side influences the formation of the anima of the son. It was recorded on February 2nd, 1984 and includes the original introduction by Murray Stein.
John Beebe, MD a physician specializing in psychotherapy, is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a past president of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. He is the author of Integrity in Depth, editor of C. G. Jung’s Aspects of the Masculine, and co-author of The Presence of the Feminine in Film. He is the founding editor of The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal (now titled Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche), and a was the first American co-editor of the London-based Journal of Analytical Psychology. An international lecturer is widely known for his work on psychological types, the psychology of moral process, and the Jungian understanding of film. Recently he has been engaged in training the first generation of analytical psychologists in China.
Audio issue: The microphone in the original event was too sensitive, which caused loud distortions when the speaker got too close to it. We have done what we can to make those less obtrusive, but you will still hear them.
Caroline Stevens, Jungian analyst and wise woman of our Jungian community, introduces Karin Carrington, psychotherapist, author, and teacher who shares her reflections and understandings about “same sex love” and “women loving women.”
This presentation on same sex love was a groundbreaking event in February 23, 1991. Karen thanked the Jung Institute for its sponsorship of this historical event during these years of struggle to achieve legal and cultural rights for gay and lesbian people. I think it is safe to say that Karin’s presentation raised the consciousness of many in the audience concerning same sex love.
Karin situates her comments within the political struggle for lesbian and gay rights at that time. In her presentation, she calls for a restorative analytic theory based in a deep understanding of what it means to love a member of one’s own gender for our selves and for the collective.
Karen quotes an early comment by Jung that homosexuality should not be the concern of legal authority – that persons loving people of their own sex should not be outside of the law. She also examines the impact of Jung’s theory of contra-sexuality as well as the work of Robert Hopcke on the subject of same sex love and of Christine Downing on women loving women.
Finally, Karin opens the discussion to include questions about what is our true erotic nature as well as questions that explore the over-valuation of separation and the symbolic quest of the hero within current cultural values.
Karin Lofthus Carrington is a psychotherapist, consultant, writer, and teacher whose work focuses on the interrelationship of psychology, spirituality, and social conscience. She has authored and edited books on this topic including Same-Sex Love and The Path to Wholeness.
To be a crone is not a matter of age or appearance. Becoming a “crone” is a crowning inner achievement. “Crones Don’t Whine” is the first of thirteen defining qualities of the crone because whining blocks spiritual and psychological development. Crone qualities are those that can be taken to heart and cultivated throughout life; they support authenticity, integrity, soul growth and social activism. While physiology and socialization make it more difficult for most men to develop crone qualities, exceptional men can become crones. Crone development comes through connecting deeply with others and with soul qualities in ourselves. Maturity, wisdom, and compassion develop over time through love and reflection; they are the fruits of consciousness and choice.
The views and opinions expressed in the podcasts 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.