crisis - Blogs - Depth Psychology Alliance2024-03-28T20:31:56Zhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/crisisThe Importance of Witnessing and Feeling in the Face of Tragedyhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/the-importance-of-witnessing-and-feeling-in-the-face-of-tragedy2012-12-16T18:41:53.000Z2012-12-16T18:41:53.000ZBonnie Brighthttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/members/BonnieBright<div><p><span>More than ever, many of us are looking for meaning in a culture where we are moving faster and connecting with each other less and less. The more things feel out of our control, the more we tend to tamp down emotions and not allow ourselves to witness or feel the devastating effects of our environments and the things going on around us.</span></p><p></p><p><span>After all, feeling the impact of the horrors of genocide, war, disaster, famine, or senseless acts of violence such as the mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and Clackamas, Oregon this week would be virtually impossible for us to humanly bear if we really allowed the reality to sink in. (In fact, the shooting in Connecticut was the eighth mass shooting in the U.S. in 2012 alone as outlined on <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/14/1337221/a-timeline-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us-since-columbine/?mobile=nc" target="_blank">ThinkProgress</a>, which posted a<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/14/1337221/a-timeline-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us-since-columbine/?mobile=nc" target="_blank"> timeline of shootings that have occurred since the infamous incident at Columbine,</a> stating: “</span><span>The rate of people killed by guns in the US is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20571454"><span>19.5 times higher</span></a></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span> </span></span><span>than similar high-income countries in the world. In the last 30 years since 1982, America has mourned<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map?page=2"><span>at least 61 mass murders</span></a></span><span>.<span class="apple-converted-space">”)</span></span></p><p></p><p><span>In his book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Constructing-Self-America-Cultural-Psychotherapy/dp/0201441926">Constructing the Self, Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy</a>, </i>historian and psychologist Philip Cushman</span> <span>(<a href="http://www.depthpsychologylist.com/Depth-Psychology-Practitioners-Blog?mode=0&css=0&ver=4.4.12aurora_horizontal_steel_blue8414c64f6348965771000000000#_ENREF_1" title="Cushman, 1995 #395"><span>1995</span></a>)</span> <span>perceives that the individual in modern culture is an “empty self” that is driven by its felt sense of hollowness to fill itself up through increasing consumption of goods, services, technology, peak experiences, entertainment, celebrity and even psychotherapy. To alleviate the anxiety, depression, isolation, and suffering, psychosomatic disorders, or addiction, as a general rule, we turn to consumerism. We distract ourselves, stuffing ourselves into individual silos no longer linked to a larger web of creation, and we connect less and less authentically with the world around us in order to mitigate the devastating consequences of truly seeing and feeling the pain.</span></p><p><span><img src="http://www.depthpsychologylist.com/Resources/Pictures/griveing-Sad-Man-324562-pd.jpg" title="" alt="" width="900" height="600" border="0" />In western capitalist/consumer-based cultures, we have trained ourselves to disregard people, nature, and events as a mechanism to protect ourselves. We may stop to exclaim in horror, to empathize with the victims, or even to shed a tear--but for most of us, in the end, all we can really do is go back to our own isolation with an added layer of defense against the anxiety and despair that is so natural to feel in the face of such horror.</span></p><p><span>In their groundbreaking work,</span> <i><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Psychologies-Liberation-Critical-Practice-Psychology/dp/0230537693/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355628976&sr=1-1&keywords=toward+psychologies+of+liberation">Toward Psychologies of Liberation</a></span></i><span>, Mary Watkins and Helene Shulman</span> <span>(<a href="http://www.depthpsychologylist.com/Depth-Psychology-Practitioners-Blog?mode=0&css=0&ver=4.4.12aurora_horizontal_steel_blue8414c64f6348965771000000000#_ENREF_3" title="Watkins, 2008 #125"><span>2008</span></a>)</span> <span>suggest it is impossible to be connected to a world we continually fail to see. This separation or loss of connection manifests in <i>dissociation</i>, the distancing or splitting off of affect<i>,</i> a sort of psychic numbing, and in <i>objectification</i>, establishing ourselves at the top of a hierarchical structure where we become the “doers” and all else around us, the objects of our manipulations and our doing. Both <i>dissociation</i> and <i>objectification</i> serve to effectively turn us to stone, either by self-inflicted paralysis or by the immobilizing of others.</span></p><p><span>Dissociating enables us to feel safe by becoming numb. It cuts off emotion so we can tolerate certain behaviors, acts, or mandates without being overly affected, and it makes us capable of inflicting judgment or pain without suffering evident consequences. Watkins and Shulman that this kind of psychological disenfranchisement extorts a heavy toll as <i>passive</i> <i>bystanding</i>, <i>watching </i>without <i>seeing</i>, and <i>observing</i> without <i>engagement</i>, is a sort of self-mutilation, an amputation of our own sense of sight, a “severing of the self” (p. 66). This tendency has been called <i>percepticide</i>by trauma scholar Diana Taylor an act of <i>self-blinding</i> because to <i>see</i> and <i>acknowledge</i> the atrocities that exist would endanger <i>ourselves</i>.</span></p><p><span>The late archetypal psychologist James Hillman</span> <span>(<a href="http://www.depthpsychologylist.com/Depth-Psychology-Practitioners-Blog?mode=0&css=0&ver=4.4.12aurora_horizontal_steel_blue8414c64f6348965771000000000#_ENREF_2" title="Hillman, 1975 #65"><span>Re-Visioning Pychology, 1975</span></a>)</span> <span>might agree, suggesting, “The eye and wound are the same” (p. 107): in other words, the <i>thing</i> we refuse to see and the <i>denial</i> of that thing by the eye that does <i>not</i> see are <i>both</i> violent acts which result in trauma to the psyche--ours and others. It is almost as if, through dissociation, we turn ourselves to stone (as Medusa of myth did to others) in order <i>not</i> to see. Watkins and Shulman suggest that when the practice of percepticide pervades a culture, “watching-without-seeing becomes ‘the most dehumanizing of acts’" (p. 5).</span></p><p><span>Like many others, I’ve been more or less glued to media coverage of the shooting in Connecticut these past days, unable to imagine how horrible it is for those living through it. I have to remind myself...<a href="http://www.depthpsychologylist.com/Depth-Psychology-Practitioners-Blog?mode=PostView&bmi=1160781" target="_blank">(Continue reading here)</a></span></p></div>Releasing Light in Dark Times through Storytellinghttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/releasing-light-in-dark-times2011-03-17T10:30:00.000Z2011-03-17T10:30:00.000ZJuliet Bruce, Ph.D.https://depthpsychologyalliance.com/members/JulietBrucePhD<div><p>I've posted a new article which includes a story exercise on my blog. It may interest you. <a href="http://livingstory-ny.blogspot.com/">http://livingstory-ny.blogspot.com</a>.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Releasing Light in Dark Times through Storytelling</strong></p><p>"I saw an angel in the stone and I carved until I set him free."<br /><br />No one since Michelangelo has more aptly or succinctly told the story of creative process. In one sentence, the sculptor describes its stages: encounter with raw material, receptive attention to the point of love, trusting that inner presence through the not-knowing-for-sure time, illumination, patient and committed toil, and finally manifestation in the concrete world.<br /><br />So too with life. Whether we are trying to nourish the inherent strengths of a troubled young person, find deeper love in a conflicted relationship, rebuild our life after loss, create common ground between adversaries, or express ourselves in a fresh way, there is no system, structure, or formula more powerful than creative process.<br /><br />In his book <em>Narrative Medicine: The Use of History and Story in the Healing Process</em>, Dr. Lewis Mehl-Medrona shares a Pasqua Yaqui native American tale from the southwest about an old man who owned light, but kept it hidden in a box within a box deeply buried inside his house. He was afraid that if it was released, he would discover that his daughter, who lived with him, was ugly. Writes Mehl-Madrona, "You've probably seen the same thing I have, where people are so afraid of what could happen that they hide their gifts and capabilities from themselves and each other." (p. 59)<br /><br />Through a messy series of mishaps instigated by the trickster Raven, the light is eventually freed from the box, only to be dropped by Raven in his escape, shattering into millions of tiny fragments. The pieces of light hit the ground and bounce back into the sky, where they appear as the moon and stars. Raven gathers together the remaining fragments, shapes them into a ball, and carries the throbbing orb high into the sky. It shines every day as the sun, making life possible on earth.<br /><br />Once the world becomes visible, the old man...<a target="_blank" href="http://livingstory-ny.blogspot.com">Read more</a></p><p>Best wishes,</p><p>Juliet Bruce</p></div>Interview: Jungian Analyst Carol McRae on Her Drumming and Ally Workhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/interview-jungian-analyst-carol-mcrae-on-her-drumming-and-ally2014-02-02T00:34:07.000Z2014-02-02T00:34:07.000ZPatricia Dameryhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/members/PatriciaDamery<div><p><span style="font-family:Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>On February 22, 2014, the <b>C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco</b> will offer the first of a series of eco-psychology seminars and workshops on the environment crisis. These workshops will be from differing perspectives but of one piece: the necessary crisis of consciousness in earth changes and what we can/must do. In this first workshop, <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/e/indwelling-our-human-participation-in-the-dream-of-the-earth-registration-7406756809">Indwelling: Our Human Participation in the Dream of the Earth</a>, analysts Carol McRae and Barbara Holifield will lead participants into active imagination states through drumming and authentic movement. Following is an interview with one of the seminar leaders, analyst Carol McRae, PhD. </i></span><br /> <br /> <b>Carol, You approach the psyche in a particular way, using drumming and ally work. Could you say how you came to these practices? </b><br /> <br /> My shamanic emphasis with drumming and ally work began in 1979 with a dream of a snake jumping at my heart. I tried to deflect the snake, caught it behind its head. The next day I was to be diagnosed with breast cancer and I was afraid. I tried to find someone to help me understand what to do. I looked for help in an academic setting (through thinking) but found no help there. Further work with the dream in active imagination led me to direct conversation with the snake, who called herself Rosie. I have been guided by Rosie ever since. Drumming comes from work I did with a Lakota woman teacher at Rosie's urging. Ally work comes from the work of another Jungian Analyst, Jeff Raff, who has written <i>The Practice of Ally Work</i>.<br /> <br /> <b>Could you explain what you mean by ally work? </b><br /> <br /> Ally work is an extension of Jung's active imagination, which invites the unconscious to come forward to consciousness in whatever form it chooses. To find an ally, one develops this capacity of receptivity with a particular focus, that of finding an inner guide, a wisdom figure and connection to the Divine. Rosie is that figure for me.<br /> <br /> <b>How do you use drumming in this work?</b><br /> <br /> I drum as the Lakota drum, at the rate of double the human heartbeat. This constant sound creates an altered state over time. From the state achieved, images, feelings, whole stories can emerge. A traditional shaman uses drumming to help her/him in journeying to the underworld, which bears a striking similarity to Jung's active imagination. The shaman goes deeply into this state FOR the healing of the patient she/he is helping. I go deeply into this state WITH the person(s) I am helping.<br /> <br /> <b>Who have been some of your important mentors along the way?</b><br /> <br /> Rosie, of course, is a mentor, a teacher of the highest order. As with Jung's relationship with Philemon, his Ally, I discovered quickly that Rosie is not me. She knows more than I know and can teach me from her wisdom. Other mentors include Don Sandner, who I consider my spiritual father; Steve Wong, who taught me a combination of psychotherapy and shamanic practice; and Pansy Hawkwing, my Lakota spiritual guide.<br /> <br /> <b>What happens in ally work that is potent? How is it different from other ways of approaching the unconscious?</b><br /> <br /> Ally work is particularly powerful because It calls up one figure to dialog with again and again. This figure may first appear in a dream as she did with me. The ally may also come forward in active imagination itself. By setting an intention or focus before opening to the unconscious, one can ask for an ally. Jeff Raff has outlined a helpful approach to this process in his book on ally work, which I use in my classes for helping people to find their own allies. As Jeff says, "An ally is a divine being, a face of God that is unique to each human being. Every one of us has an ally with whom we could live, but of course most people are unaware of this fact, largely because they have been cut off from the imagination." (<i>The Practice of Ally Work</i>, p. 3) Active imagination is a broader form of contacting the unconscious which is receptive to whatever emerges from the unconscious. Dreams offer invitations from the unconscious to become conscious of particular material which it conveys. Art and dance offer ways to express unconscious material without words and may lead to greater understanding of particular personal material if approached as active imagination, an invitation to unconscious material to come into consciousness.<br /> <br /> <b>Do you have stories that you would like to share about your own work?</b><br /> <br /> My work with Rosie has had its dramatic moments, although much of it concerns my everyday learning. During my first vision quest, in this case a 24 hour time by myself in a forest, I had a particularly powerful experience with a woodpecker. For six hours he pecked on trees surrounding where I sat, moving in a clockwise direction beginning in front of me and ending six hours later in the same location at which point he was joined by a female woodpecker and flew away. I considered him a spirit guide (not an Ally, because he was a member of a species, not an individual like Rosie). Ten years later at a new home shaded by live oak trees, a woodpecker flew into a window in a direct line to where I was sitting and died. When I asked him why he had come (in active imagination), he said he had been sent to tell me to take this work seriously. I was to get up each night when I heard a bird song which imitated a woodpecker's pecking and go outside and speak with Rosie. I did this practice for about an hour each night around 3AM for three years. The woodpecker as a spiritual helper specializes in helping me get through difficult places. He opens a new space with his pecking.<br /> <br /> <b>Why do you think these approaches can help us in the crisis of the earth changes? </b><br /> <br /> This question is very important to me. I am very concerned about the crisis of climate change. It offers us both a horrifying possibility, the loss of much of the human race because we are destroying the earth system that sustains us, and an opportunity to develop a deep connection to the earth and a sustainable relationship to all that is in it. I feel ally work offers a way for everyone to feel a deep connection within themselves and to recognize all of earth and the beings on earth as related to them in a giant pattern of allies, our connection with the Divine. One of the major maladies of Western Civilization is loneliness, a break in connection with anything beyond oneself. Ally work offers a constant connection and a deep ongoing relationship. One is never alone again. Furthermore, the Ally, often an animal, connects one more deeply with the earth. Earth connection is what is lacking in our culture. We have thought of the earth as something to harness for our own purposes rather than a being to respect and relate to, to cherish even. All kinds of attention to the unconscious: dreamwork, art, dance, Jungian Analysis help to heal the split we feel between and within ourselves. For me, ally work, in particular, offers a way to heal and to dialog about what we can do to make this planet a sustainable environment again.<br /> <br /> <b>What advice do you have for those who would like to begin these kinds of work? </b><br /> I recommend reading Jeff Raff's book and doing the exercises he describes. This can lead you to a sense of deep connectedness. The process is not always easy. He describes the resistances that may come up at each stage. It helps to join— or form— a group of people committed to exploring in this way. You can share difficulties and discoveries together. I encourage you to keep at the process; it may take time to access the ally and to stay connected to Her/Him. It's worth the effort. Don't forget how connected we all are to each other and to the earth and all its beings.<br /> <br /></p></div>