Freddie Taborda | A Symbolic Meaning of Corona Virus: An Opinion (English/Español)

April 13, 2020

(English)
What could be a psychological meaning of the corona virus?
Upon reflection, and without denying the frightening, tragic, and devastating effects that this virus is bringing to individuals, families, groups, and countries from around the world, some of the interpersonal isolating measures may help us find some value in solitude, silence, and introspection.
These three human experiences have a positive aspect in terms of connecting with our inner lives and the mystery of life. However, for some people, these experiences may be unbearable.
Now that you will be spending more time at home, consider the possibility of cultivating those three experiences. Solitude may open up the opportunity to be with your Self, with the images, feelings, and thoughts that come to your mind. A befriending of them may contribute to the processes of self-understanding and self-realization, if you chose to. Furthermore, silence may help to quiet down the racing thoughts of the civilized mind. Finally, a willing attitude towards introspection may open up the door to the hidden treasures that are within.
Let us not be surprised if, during these health-related and world-wide crisis, solitude, silence, and introspection awaken, every night, vivid dreams that seek a more meaningful and balanced life from us. Perhaps Nature may be forcing us, through this virus, to a greater connection to our inner lives and to the divine mystery of life.

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Vladislav Šolc | Ode to COVID-19

April 11, 2020

Sit Covid bonus aut malus: quaestiō

Oh, you mighty and yet invisible, you weightless and yet so powerful.
You oh came to gently remind us all that there’s no one who can control your will.
Your gentle yet deathly stroke became the mankind’s school,
Teaching us all how to feel, how to love, and also how to chill.

You slowed the time and made us be with those whom we always felt most free,
You showed us “now,” you showed us “here,” all we always craved
Unconsciously…
Gratitude, humility, what matters and how our souls are to be saved!

Perhaps by showing you know no borders, have no race nor gender,
By your mortal tap making rich and poor even,
You could take more, but you’re generous and tender…
Our pride took the Earth for granted, we asked no “what” but only “when!”

We thought the health insurance was a privilege that protects us from those who cannot have it,
We thought some of us had special right just due to a special religion,
You’ve gently shown us how silly it was to think that some of us are immune from your hit.
Now, when powerless and in your prison, we acknowledge yours is timing, the scope and region!

You teach us that nature is us indeed; no, we are not her masters, but tiny children… that all we are just dust in the wind.
Your mighty wisdom has conveyed that truth matters because there’s no talking out the losses away.
Waking up this way… remembering the lessons… seeing connections… and inevitably getting your hint.
Now we see we lost the respect for animals and waters, and plants. The power of action rather than that of prayer.

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Dennis Merritt | Covid-19: Inflection Point in the Anthropocene Era and the Paradigm Shift of Jung’s New Age

April 8, 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a unique moment in the history of our species. Something so small it takes an electron microscope to see is disrupting millions of lives and threatening the world’s economy. Frontline workers risk their lives trying to save patients who may die alone without friends or family at their sides. A virus, a strand of nucleic acid that highjacks the functioning of a cell to reproduce its unique viral form, is bringing our species to a near standstill. Despite the wonders of science, technology, and economic systems we can still be humbled by nature, indeed, by a strand of nucleic acid. It is crucial how we respond to the situation. What can we learn from it and how do we go forward?

We start with an adequate framing of the issue. This is a matter of life and death, which means it is in the most fundamental archetypal realm and requires an archetypal perspective. The fear of death from the pandemic is bringing a sense of immediacy and urgency on a planet-wide scale. Death cannot be separated from life, death makes us aware of the preciousness of life, and death confronts us with questions about the meaning of existence and our place in the bigger scheme of things. Death can bring an end to systems and beliefs that no longer support life and a healthy existence, and that could be the most important outcome of the present crisis.

The virus is demonstrating to what degree we are interconnected and how much we need each other. The forced social isolation and six-foot distancing has cut us off from intimate contacts and group experiences making us aware by absence how important we are to each other. The ghostly empty streets in otherwise bustling cities are eerie reminders that our systems are in shock at all levels. Like a nightmare that wakes us in the middle of the night, this shock is meant to shock us into a new awareness.

Our species needed to be shocked into an awareness that we have been barreling towards the edge of a cliff for many decades while showing no signs of being able to halt our “progress”. Well before Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962 and the first Earth Day in 1970, environmentalists have been warning us about overpopulation, destruction of natural habitats, loss of biodiversity, mining our lands with modern agricultural practices, collapsing ocean fisheries, etc. Greta Thunberg rallied millions of young people to demand action on climate change but powerful oil lobbies and vested political interests have been unmoved. The long term consequences of climate change will make any losses from a virus seem inconsequential, making this a moment for us to re-examine our fundamental relationships with each other and with the environment.

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Ashok Bedi & Robert BJ Jakala | In the Eye of the Storm: An Individual Response to the Crisis

April 5, 2020

The following post is the first in a series of daily reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic by Jungian Psychoanalyst Ashok Bedi, MD & Jungian Psychotherapist Robert BJ Jakala, PhD. Dr. BJ Jakala is a photographer and Dr. Bedi and Dr. Jakala jointly amplify the image. The ongoing series is available on pathtothesoul.com.

Minding Our Nest – Our Vulnerable Humanity on a Fragile Planet

Often this work is wearisome and difficult, because it cannot be accomplished by intellectual shortcuts or moral recipes, but only by careful observation of the inner and outer conditions.

– C. G. Jung, The Symbolic Life : Miscellaneous Writings (1976, p. 617)

I woke up uncertain of what condition the world would be in and how I would face it. Before finding out what the outside would want, I sat quietly to check in with my internal world. I notice I am scared and need some courage. I remember a teacher long ago who said, “Fear is the embryo of courage. Courage is not born unless fear is present.”

I decide I need to act on tasks, familiar tasks, so I will feel a sense of influence and accomplishment rather than fear. I do some work out in the yard and notice how spring is here. None of the plants, butterflies, fruits, grasses or birds know about the Covid-19 virus. I begin to align with the natural feeling of spring. The work to care for my small piece of the planet helps me be more self-assured.

When my work is done, I go for a long walk and find a few people doing the same. Today when we made eye contact and said hello, there seems to be a deeper connection; a connection of “we are all in this together.” It occurred to me how the threat of climate crises has brought some nations together to save the planet. It is during this time that nations might work together to save humanity. Perhaps the threat of a common enemy will help all of us see we are in this together.

When I came home from my walk, the memory of this photo came to mind. It demonstrates action to make things better. What do I bring home? How do I contribute to my nest? It reminds me that I can collect memories and bring them to the moment, memories that are useful to my internal and external home. I carry the smiles and acknowledgement while on my walk with me now. They are here in my house with me.

It is via Community that we will save our humanity. In the Buddhist tradition, there are three legs of the spiritual tradition: Buddha (Image of Self), Sangha (Community) and Dharma (Spiritual Purposefulness). When these three are aligned, we come into our Soul. When all of us honor our Spiritual purposefulness and support the Community effort, we become One World, UNUS Mundus. Then the effort of each one of us will collectively support ALL of us. In the Alchemic tradition, one plus one = 11. That is the Way.

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Stefano Carpani | C. G. Jung, Covid-19 & Compensation: Conversation with John Beebe

April 4, 2020

John Beebe and Stefano Carpani reflect upon the traumatic experience of the Covid-19 pandemic in the context of Jung’s conception of compensation as a psychologically disruptive process that is nonetheless a force of nature itself.

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.

Links: Stefano’s YouTube Channel | Stefano’s Website | John Beebe’s page and recorded lectures on the C. G, Jung Institute of Chicago Website | All COVID-19 related posts

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology | Free Home-Study CE Webinars: Telehealth 101 and Online Pedagogy

April 1, 2020

UPDATE: As of 10/14/2020, these courses have been removed and do not appear in Google search results.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Institute of Professional and Continuing Studies at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology is sharing two free online self-paced home-study courses: Telehealth 101 and Best Practices in Online Pedagogy.

TCSPP is an approved provider of APA CEs and BBS California CEU’s for this training and format. In order to receive credit for these courses, participants must complete the entire training and complete a course evaluation and comprehension quiz. Participants must earn a passing score of 75% or higher on the quiz to receive an APA CE Certificate.

Telehealth 101
Presented by LoriAnn Stretch, PhD, Susan Foster, PhD, Rodney Harris, PhD, Tiffany C. Rush-Wilson, PhD
6.0 APA CEs for Psychologists or 6.0 BBS California CEUs for Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Counselors

Best Practices in Online Pedagogy
Presented By LoriAnn Stretch, PhD, and Susan Foster, PhD
2.0 APA CEs for Psychologists or 2.0 BBS California CEUs for Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Counselors

Courses are hosted by GoToStage, a free source of over 100,000 professional webinars in a variety of subjects. LEARN MORE

Death Panels: Our Cultural Complex Around Death

March 31, 2020

with Dan Ross, RN, PMHNP

In recognition of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis affecting our healthcare system, we are sharing a recent seminar by Dan Ross, “Death Panels: Our Cultural Complex around Death”, in its entirety. This seminar was part of our public program series this year, and was recorded on February 28th, 2020.

The Spirit of the Times shapes our heroic attitude toward disease and death. Instead of the initiatory experience that fear of death can provide, we are paralyzed in our fear and cling to images of immortality found in modern medical institutions. The Affordable Care Act’s provision of reimbursing medical practitioners for having end-of-life discussions with patients with life-limiting illnesses constellated a collective panic. The cultural complex distorted these simple end-of-life discussions (brilliantly discussed in the best-selling book by Atul Gawande, Being Mortal) into what were called “Death Panels.” The fear was that a group of professionals would sit around and decide whether we should live or die. What was behind this cultural complex?

When we are forced to engage with the healthcare industry through illness, we are carried along a hero’s journey to treat death as the ultimate evil, and, in the process, we miss the transformative opportunities an encounter with death can provide. How did modern medicine come to carry for us the image of immortality? In this program, we will use myth, literature, and film to explore the Spirit of the Depths to better understand the archetypal underpinnings of modern medicine’s relationship to death and immortality.

PowerPoint slides used in the talk are available HERE

Dan Ross, RN, PMHNP, MSN, MBA has been a nurse for 40 years. He has worked extensively as Director of Clinical Services in the field of home health care and hospice. As a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, he brings both a medical and psychiatric experience to his work. He currently works part time in the field of Palliative Care and Hospice as a Nurse Practitioner, visiting patients in their home or nursing facility helping them in their transition to hospice. He is also a Jungian Analyst in private practice in downtown Chicago.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (74.8MB)

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Stefano Carpani | C.G. Jung, Covid-19 & Illness as Metaphor: Conversation with Paul Attinello

March 27, 2020

Paul Attinello, PhD, is a senior lecturer in music at Newcastle University. He has published in the Journal of Musicological Research, Musik-Konzepte, Musica/Realtá, the revised New Grove and a number of essay collections. Current projects include a book on music about AIDS, a book on Meredith Monk and performance art, and an edited volumes on contemporary composer Gerhard Stäbler. An edited volume on music in Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been published by Ashgate, and has received critical awards.

Links: Stefano’s YouTube Channel | Stefano’s Website | Paul’s profile at Newcastle University | All COVID-19 related posts

Stefano Carpani | C.G. Jung, Covid-19, Nature and Death: Conversation with Murray Stein

March 26, 2020

Stefano Carpani, Jungian Psychoanalyst CGJI-Z, interviews Murray Stein, PhD, about how the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing our personal, professional, and political lives. Stein is a training analyst at the International School for Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland. His most recent publications include The Principle of Individuation, Jung’s Map of the Soul and Jungian Psychoanalysis (editor).

Links: Stefano’s YouTube Channel | Stefano’s Website | Murray’s Website | Murray’s recorded lectures at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago | All COVID-19 related posts

Sean Fitzpatrick | How We Meet a Pandemic (Lecture 1)

March 23, 2020

The Jung Center, Houston, is running a series of free online programs to help us process and meet this pandemic. We’re grateful that they are doing this when it is so needed. Sean Fitzpatrick, PhD, LPC, executive director of the Jung Center, Houston, discusses COVID-19 and Albert Camus’s The Plague. This video is the first lecture in the series, which began on March 23. To register for the others in the series, CLICK HERE.

The Jung Center, Houston Links: Website | Online Learning Page | How We Meet a Pandemic Page | YouTube Channel

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