Jungian psychology can make significant contributions to the developing field of ecopsychology, a new branch of psychology that examines how our attitudes, values, perceptions and behaviors affect our relationship with the environment.
Videos, Powerpoint, dreams, myths, science, and the I Ching will be used to illustrate how to turn a landscape into a “soulscape,” develop the concept of spirit animals and recognize them in our psyches, and cultivate a sense of the “seasons of the soul” through a connection with weather and the seasons in the Midwest.
Participants will be asked to come with dreams of animals, landscapes, and weather or seasons to share in the discussion groups. The more connected we are to the land, the more likely we are to protect it—a basic premise of ecopsychology.
Dennis Merritt, LCSW, PhD, grew up on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin, hence the title of his four volumes of The Dairy Farmer's Guide to the Universe: Jung, Hermes, and Ecopsychology. He discovered Jung while working on a doctorate in entomology (insects) in Berkeley in late sixties and went on to train at the Jung Institute in Zurich.
Dr. Merritt is in private practice as a Jungian psychoanalyst and sandplay therapist in Madison and Milwaukee, and is a pioneer in the developing field of ecopsychology. View his blog on The Hunger Games from a Jungian, political, and environmental perspective (JungianEcopsychology.com) and his website (ecojung.com) with several articles on sense of place from a Jungian perspective.
CEUs available.
Cost for event: $75
When: Saturday, October 11, 10am-4pm
Location: CG Jung Center, Evanston, IL
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