depth psychotherapy - Blogs - Depth Psychology Alliance2024-03-29T10:34:57Zhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/depth+psychotherapyAn Archetypal Perspective on Clinical Practice: A Summary of an Introductory Teleseminar Lecture by Jungian Analyst Michael Confortihttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/an-archetypal-perspective-on-clinical-practice-a-summary-of-an-in2012-11-09T02:30:00.000Z2012-11-09T02:30:00.000ZBonnie Brighthttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/members/BonnieBright<div><p align="center"><b>An Archetypal Perspective on Clinical Practice</b></p><p align="center"><b>A Summary of an Introductory Teleseminar Lecture by Jungian Analyst Michael Conforti</b></p><p align="center"> </p><p>A few days ago I attended a teleseminar wich I found valuable and provocative and which inspired me to summarize it here. Please note that that this synopsis is based on my own understanding and interpretation of what was said on the call, and has not been reviewed by the presenter, Dr. Michael Conforti. Also, the teleseminar was offered to the general public free of charge, so the content has been generously made available in the public domain, and the audio file has been archived for later listening at the link provided later in this blog if you are interested.</p><p align="center">###</p><p>Whether you are a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist, or simply an individual who had experienced therapy, the capacity to use an archetypal perspective is critical and greatly enriches the treatment, stated Dr. Michael Conforti in his introductory teleseminar in the Master Lecture series, “An Archetypal Perspective on Clinical Practice” on November 5, (2012).</p><p>Dr. Conforti, a Jungian analyst himself of some thirty years, began the session reminding us that Jung was once a Freudian, a fact we may tend to forget. The infamous break between Jung and Freud occurred because Jung no longer found himself able to boil human instincts down to the singularity Freud seemed determined to make them. Jung perceived things on a broader level. Take sex, for example: Freud is widely known for his theory that many psychological issues could be reduced to issues around the sex drive. Jung, by contrast, observed a bigger picture in which sex is a physical act on one end of a spectrum, but on the other (archetypal) end, it is a spiritual <i>coniunctio</i>, a desire for union with the divine.</p><p>Generally speaking, psychotherapy—regardless of the approach—often looks at “what’s wrong with a life.” Jung realized the archetypal forces at work are inclusive of the history of humanity. The voices of our own past and humanity’s past are what shape our lives. As a clinician, Conforti says, you can hear it from your clients. These threads make a tapestry that is transpersonal.</p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9142442484,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9142442484,original{{/staticFileLink}}" style="padding:12px;" class="align-center" alt="9142442484?profile=original" /></a></p><p>Post-Jungian James Hillman wrote in <i>The Soul’s Code</i> about the shaping of a life, a concept referred to as acorn theory. The oak tree is not physically in the acorn, but somehow the blueprint is. There is a teleological aspect in which the future oak tree seems to be <i>pulling the acorn forward</i><i> </i>to its destiny. In the book, Hillman relates a number of stories which some of the most successful individuals in their fields had to overcome the very thing that they later mastered, pointing to how our greatness lies in the root. For example, someone who became a master orator struggled with a severe speech impediment as a child. Similarly, Conforti reminds us, Jungian Edward Whitmont wondered if our traumas and issues reveal the destiny of a life, what each of our individual journeys is about.</p><p>Using an archetypal lens gives us a broader lens, Conforti said, allowing us to look at the field an individual is brought into when they experience a significant event. For example, if someone is orphaned, they don’t simply change status: they are ushered into a field of “orphan” which has a correlating set of data and rules that all provide context and meaning to what it means to be an orphan. Looking at the broad archetypal picture when working with clients reveals a teleological pull, allowing us to ask archetypal questions. If someone is orphaned, how can someone with that kind of trauma have a dramatic experience of the deep unconscious, like when powerful synchronicities occur in their life? <a href="http://www.depthinsights.com/blog/an-archetypal-perspective-on-clinical-practice-a-summary-of-an-introductory-teleseminar-lecture-by-jungian-analyst-michael-conforti/" target="_blank">Continue reading here...</a></p><p style="text-align:center;">###</p><p> </p><p><b>Part Two of the four part Master Lecture Teleseminar Series will be Monday, November 12, 2012</b><b> </b>(with Parts Three and Four on the ensuing Monday eves)<b>,</b><b> </b>and will cover interactive dynamics in structuring psychotherapy. How the client/therapist relationship begins to be configured in therapy is an expression of the archetypal constellations at work in an individual’s life, Conforti says.</p><p><a href="http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=34831407" target="_blank">To listen to the archived teleseminar via Assisi Institute, click here.</a></p><p>To register for the next session, you can call the Assisi Institute at (802) 254-6220 or email Assisi@together.net. Cost is $30 per session or $75 for the remaining three sessions.</p><p> </p></div>Illness, Identity, and the Archetype of the Exile: Finding Meaning and Vitality through Depth Psychotherapyhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/illness-identity-and-the-archetype-of-the-exile-finding-meaning2018-03-20T14:00:00.000Z2018-03-20T14:00:00.000ZBonnie Brighthttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/members/BonnieBright<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9142474867,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="300" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9142474867,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-right" alt="9142474867?profile=original" /></a>C. G. Jung viewed mid-life, the time midway between entering adulthood and the end of life, as a critical time of transition. Dr. Brad Chabin, a depth psychotherapist with a practice in West Hollywood, California, had his own experience of a spontaneous and powerful mid-life transition. It involved a devastating diagnosis and challenging times, during which, Chabin now recognizes, much of his social identity slipped away. </p><p>After going back to school and getting licensed in Counseling, as well as a Ph.D. in depth psychology—even while battling a deadly disease—somehow Chabin pulled through.</p><p>Chabin now believes he survived in great part because his studies led him to engage his psychological life in a direct way, restoring a sense of vitality and joy as he began to understand the reality and importance the deep psyche plays in his life. The process of awareness included an important dream that revealed to Chabin the power of depth psychology and the “symbolic life,” which Jung believed was so critical to our well-being. When people view the world through a depth psychological lens, it changes everything, Chabin insists. That powerful perspective is one he wanted to share with clients.</p><p>Early in his career, Chabin witnessed a number of youth who experienced isolation and depression because they questioned their sexuality and orientation<em>.</em> One thing Chabin identified in his work is that such individuals may often carry the archetype of the exile. </p><p>Chabin’s book, <em>Adolescent Males and Homosexuality: The Search for Self</em>, emerged, in part, as a way to tell the stories of such young people, and to honor their courage.</p><p>The one who notices he or she is not wanted, or who has been actively told they are not welcome somewhere, ultimately has to begin again, Chabin points out. The similarity to Chabin’s own initiatory process when he lost his ego identity after being diagnosed with cancer is deeply and symbolically connected. The deep wounds of the exile require tending in ways that bring compassion, consciousness, and meaning. The gift of depth psychotherapy is that it provides a powerful mechanism to shine a light on the darkness, awakening vitality, creativity, and passion….</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.pacificapost.com/illness-identity-exile-finding-meaning" target="_blank">Listen to my audio interview with Dr. Brad Chabin, or read the full summary article here</a></strong></p></div>