Posts related to the psyche.
Synchronicity is a concept developed by the Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung. It refers to a meaningful connection between events that are not causally related. More exactly, it describes a meaningful co-occurrence between an inner psychological state or process, and an outer event which parallels or reflects it. For example, if I am experiencing an inner…
A man dreamed: “I see a soft bluish light emitted from wounds and sores on someone’s body. I’m to understand that there is a luminescent component to all wounds and to the organs of the inner body. Fascinated, I show this to my children.” One of the things that make this dream so interesting is…
Death is a place on the other side of a dream. It is just outside the window, just across a threshold. It is nearer than you think. It is your constant companion. There are not two worlds, the living and the dead. There are not two lives, this and the one that follows. It is…
Betty is 82 years-old and developing dementia. The clock that hangs on the wall of her room kept dropping its minute hand so I fixed it for her. Now the hands stay on but the time is off, sometimes by hours. Helen is 85 and lives down the hall from Betty. Her battery-operated clock is…
My last article in this series introduced readers to the work of Arnold Mindell, A Jungian-trained psychologist who has developed ways of working with body symptoms for personality growth. This article discusses two of Dr. Mindell’s techniques that may help you utilize your body symptoms/illnesses for personal transformation. The first technique involves approaching the symptom(s) as…
A young blue jay clung to the branch of the oak tree outside my window, wrestling a still-green acorn from its stem. The stem eventually relented and he took his prize to some nearby rocks where he laid it in a crevice and tried, with much determination but little success, to crack it open. I…
Speaking on the subject of recurring psychological struggles, Carl Jung once noted that, “we don’t solve our problems, we outgrow them.” If this is true, then therapy is really about helping people to grow and, eventually, to outgrow certain issues or unhelpful life patterns. But what, exactly, does it mean to outgrow something? Growth is…
“A terrifying symptom is usually your greatest dream trying to come through.” Arnold Mindell, PhD When people draw a connection between their wounds/illnesses and God, it is often by viewing their physical ailments as a form of punishment for real or imagined sins and failings. Much more rarely are wounds and illnesses seen as constructive…
For plants and animals summer is a time of quickened growth and development. The flowers of spring become the seeds, fruits, and vegetables of fall’s harvest. Likewise, most animal young achieve their greatest growth during this time of abundance and warmth. Your personal psychology also has its seasons. The summers of your life are times…
“Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.” Carl Jung The developmental goal of youth and early adulthood is the maturation of the ego and its adaptation to the demands of outer life. During the “first half” of life family, peers, and society play a significant role in the molding of…
