Category Archives: Psychotherapy

The Best of Jungian Psychology: May 2014

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Jungian Psychology Blogs There are a lot of excellent blogs being written in the world of Jungian Psychology and I want to use this space to bring attention to some of what is out there. This is just a sampling of some of the posts that have caught my attention this month. My hope is […]

How to Answer the Question “Am I Depressed?”

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First of all, let me acknowledge that this is a complicated topic that does not allow for a simple answer. This post is not intended to be a comprehensive view of depression. Rather, I want to suggest a few things to consider if you find yourself grappling with the question, “Am I depressed?” In particular, […]

The Path of Therapy

The Goal of Analysis

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On The Path I saw a post on the PsychCentral website this morning titled: Is There a Goal to the Psychoanalytic Process? In it the author, Leigh Pretnar Cousins, describes her original image of Psychoanaylsis as the endless “rehashing of every real or imagined detail of childhood, in a fruitless internal quest for The Answer to one’s […]

More on Depth Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

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I'm following up my post about Jonathan Shedler's work on psychodynamic psychotherapy with a promotional video that he made for Pacifica Graduate Institute. In it he discusses his research and the value of this therapeutic approach.

One of the points Shedler makes in the video is that therapeutic success is, in large part, due to the quality of the therapeutic relationship. He suggests that this relational factor is central to a psychodynamic approach. And while there are certainly high quality relationships that form in other treatment modalities, it is psychodynamic therapy which makes the understanding of transference and countertransference dynamics a primary focus of treatment. 

Shedler makes other interesting points about learning to think psychologically and about the distinction between two kinds of practitioners--the clinicians and the technicians. He says:

"I think in the future there will be two kinds of therapists. There will be technicians who follow instruction manuals and there will be real clinicians who are able to understand their patients deeply and help them live more authentically."

Here is the video:

Psychotherapy

The Evidence For Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

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The therapeutic approach of Depth Psychology is psychodynamic in its nature. That is, it takes into account the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors in human experience. In many circles, psychodynamic approaches are seen as relics of the past. They have been replaced by quicker, cheaper, and presumably more effective “evidence based treatments,” such […]

Approaching The Numinous

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One aspect that differentiates Jungian Depth Psychology from other forms of therapy, is the importance that is placed on religious or numinous experiences.


For Jung, the experience of the numinous is the essential element of psychotherapy. In one of his letters he wrote: 

"You are quite right, the main interest of my work is not concerned with the treatment of neurosis but rather with the approach to the numinous. But the fact is that the approach to the numinous is the real therapy and inasmuch as you attain to the numinous experiences you are released from the curse of pathology. Even the very disease takes on a numinous character." 

Here is a video of Jungian Analyst Lionel Corbett, discussing the importance of such numinous experiences:

What is Depth Psychology?

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I am planning a series of posts about Depth Psychology, exploring what it is, the people who practice it and write about it, and how a depth-oriented psychotherapy understands and seeks to effect healing. 

I'm kicking off this series with this video in which Stephen Aizenstat, the founding president of Pacifica Graduate Institute, offers his attempt at a definition of Depth Psychology:

 

Stories & Psychotherapy

Stories and the Soul

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“From my perspective as a depth psychologist, I see that those who have a connection with story are in better shape  and have a better prognosis than those to whom story must be introduced. …to have ‘story-awareness’ is per se psychologically therapeutic. It is good for soul.” ~ James HillmanOne of the fundamental ideas of Jungian Psychology […]