Judith Herman is widely known as a defining voice in trauma psychiatry for more than fifty years. Her work bridges the personal and the political, framing trauma as not only an individual experience, but a public health and human rights issue. In this interview with host Patricia Martin, Judith Herman tells the story of how her work evolved, what remains to be done for CPTSD victims, and what all of us can do to create conditions survivors need to heal.
The first of a grim pair of episodes depicting filicide within Greek myths. We piece together the story of Agamemnon’s sacrificing Iphigenia for favorable winds – and the fallout of such action after the war. All this with an eye for how the choices parents make either support or harm the parents’ individuation.
Psychotherapist Daniel Shaw survived a decade in a cult — then spent 30 years helping victims of traumatic narcissism heal. He talks with host Patricia Martin about the mechanics of subjugation, why “no contact” isn’t always the answer, and how reclaiming dignity supports recovery.
While our last episode discussed Orpheus through the lens of archetypal creativity, this episode focuses on the grief elements of the story as depicted in Ovid’s version of the story. We share our own grief stories and explore the hazards experienced when people do not allow themselves to grieve.
What if the harms of living an increasingly digital life go beyond undercutting our attention spans or blunting our social skills? What if it cuts deeper, to the core of who we are and who we know ourselves to be?
Patricia Martin, author, researcher, and host of the Jung in the World podcast, explores the challenges that tech and the internet impose on the human psyche. In Will the Future Like You? Reflections on the Age of Hyper-Reinvention, she argues that 24/7 online connectivity reshapes not only our sense of self, but erodes our very ability to form our identities.
Weaving together memoir, depth psychology, cultural criticism, and reportage, Martin guides readers through the hidden processes that form identity — and reveals how digital life is quietly dismantling them. At once a rigorous inquiry and a deeply human one, Will the Future Like You? asks what it means to hold onto a coherent self in an era designed to keep us endlessly reinventing. Releases March 5, 2026; Karnac Books UK. Available for pre-order on Amazon.
“Courageous, urgent, and deeply necessary.”
–James Hollis, Jungian analyst, author of Swamplands of the Soul and Living with Borrowed Dust, and 22 other books.
About the author:
Patricia Martin writes about the intersection of culture, psychology, and technology. A graduate of the JSP and a professional affiliate at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, where she hosts the popular podcast Jung in the World. She spent the last decade researching digital culture’s impact on the psyche. The author of four books, her work has been featured in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review,Huffington Post and Psyche Magazine. Learn more: www.patricia-martin.com
Three Psychodynamic Approaches to Psychotherapy What does psychodynamic therapy actually look like in the room? Inspired by the APA’s Three Approaches to Psychotherapy, this video offers a public-facing demonstration of three psychodynamic traditions in action:
Rather than explaining these approaches in theory, this video shows how each therapist listens, responds, and works with meaning, relationship, and inner life as it unfolds in real time. This project was created with accessibility in mind. Too often, psychodynamic therapy and psychoanalysis are hidden behind paywalls, dense language, or misconceptions about being outdated or inaccessible. My goal is to make these approaches visible, understandable, and freely available to students, clinicians, and anyone curious about depth-oriented therapy. In a field where this kind of material is often locked behind expensive trainings or subscriptions, it’s genuinely exciting to be able to offer nearly five hours of high quality content completely free. Psychodynamic therapy has shaped the foundations of psychotherapy as we know it. This video is a small effort to give it its rightful due, while showing that it remains alive, relational, and deeply human. Whether you’re new to therapy, considering training, or simply curious about how different therapists think and work, I hope this offers a clear window into psychodynamic practice.
Note: Information contained in this video is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment or consultation with a mental health professional or business consultant.
“In every chaos there is a cosmos; in every disorder there is a secret order.” (C.G. Jung)
The unceasing interest in techno scene naturally raises the question of what it is about this “technoculture,” as it likes to call itself, that is so attractive and fascinates young people practically all over the world.² The name techno—i.e., Electronic Dance Music (EDM)³—already indicates that it is the result of the modern computerization of music. This music emerged in the second half of the 1980s in the United States, particularly in Detroit, Michigan, and Chicago. The original sound of techno developed from synthesized music shaped by strong African American influences, including Chicago house, funk, electro, and electric jazz. These elements blended with rhythms reminiscent of African tribal drumming, as well as futuristic and science-fiction motifs reflecting the social imagination and lived realities of late-twentieth-century America.
Individuation isn’t about becoming better. It’s about becoming whole. At 75, neurologist Oliver Sacks finally integrated the parts of himself he’d kept hidden—his sexuality, his need for love, his domestic life (who knew he kept a library of Jung’s work). Bill Hayes talks intimately about Sacks’s late-life transformation which exemplifies Jung’s crucial insight: growth isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about integrating what you’ve exiled.
This interview by Zuzana Vitková with Vlado Šolc originally appeared in dennikn.sk.
Do American psychologists or psychiatrists currently comment on Trump’s behavior in the public sphere?
Yes, quite often. Beyond Steven Buser’s book Real and Present Danger, American psychologists and psychiatrists have addressed Trump’s behavior in several other works. For example, psychologist Dan P. McAdams offers a detailed psychological portrait in The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump: A Psychological Reckoning. Another example is Dangerous Charisma: The Political Psychology of Donald Trump, which combines psychoanalytic perspectives with political psychology to explore what drives Trump’s behavior and his appeal. These books are part of a broader body of psychological commentary that regularly appears in both academic and public discourse.
In recent weeks, Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire for annexing Greenland, established a “Peace Council” to which he invited Vladimir Putin and several other totalitarian countries, and accepted a framed Nobel Peace Prize from its current laureate. As a Jungian Analyst, what is your reaction when you observe the statements and actions of the American president?
Psychologists and Jungians who study Trump have long pointed out that he exhibits pronounced narcissistic traits. In such a personality structure, the central life aim is the gratification of one’s own needs, and experience, relationships, and reality itself are organized around propping the ego. Because he has reached this kind of “inflated position” as president of the United States, he is constantly confirming to himself what he can get away with and what his power allows him to do. And the more he tests it, the more distorted his sense of self becomes. The attempt to annex Greenland is, in my view, just another example of the enactment of the grandiose fantasy.
In this conversation with Vladislav Šolc, we explore the intersection of Jungian psychology and religion, discussing personal journeys through faith, the concept of dark religion, the importance of self-knowledge, how unconscious beliefs shape our understanding of reality, the role of symbolism in religion, the psychological implications of conspiracies, the quest for consciousness, confronting our inner darkness to achieve personal growth.
Our Blog shares essays, articles, video, audio, and other resources by members of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts and other groups that support the education and development of our community.
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.
