Carl Jung | Brian Collinson

Entries Tagged as 'Carl Jung'

Life Crisis, Meaning and Psychotherapy

December 9th, 2010 · 1 Comment · analytical psychology, crisis, depression, depth psychology, Existential crisis, Individuation, Meaning, wholeness

When a psychotherapist, and especially a Jungian analyst uses the expression “life crisis” today, he or she means something specific. It’s something different from a “major crisis”, which might be some major change and disruption in a person’s life due to changes in external events or relationships. A life crisis is a crisis about the roots of a person’s life.

A Jungian Psychotherapist’s Symbol Book

November 11th, 2010 · No Comments · analytical psychology, Carl Jung, dreams, Jungian, Psychology and Suburban Life, symbol

Symbols can have tremendous emotional power. When they resonate with us, they can affect us right down to our very core. And sometimes, after we really encounter them, they can even change us, right down at the center of who we are.

A Video Portrait of Jung

October 1st, 2010 · 2 Comments · archetypal experience, Carl Jung, consciousness, Identity, Individuation, inner life, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, personal story, Psychology and Suburban Life, psychotherapist, Psychotherapy, soul, therapy

Here is a video which I re-tweeted recently on Twitter. I decided to post it on my blog because I think that it gives a particularly revealing portrait of the psychiatrist CG Jung in his latter years. The video is taken from “Face to Face”, an excellent interview program hosted by John Freeman of the [...]

“They Want Google to Tell Them What They Should be Doing”

September 6th, 2010 · 8 Comments · Carl Jung, decision, freedom, Individuation, Psychology and Suburban Life, Self

Eric Schmidt, the Chairman of Google said recently, “I actually think most people don’t want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next.” But is he correct? Do we actually want Google to tell us what to do?

Escaping the Grip of Regret, Part 2: The Power of Regret

July 29th, 2010 · 2 Comments · complexes, compulsion, decision, depression, depth psychology, guilt, Hope, Individuation, inner life, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, life passages, midlife, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, regret, soul, The Self, therapy, unconscious, wholeness

In my last posting, I tried to open up the whole subject of regret, and the powerful and sometimes crippling place that it can occupy in our lives, and how we can be held in slavery to regret of all the choices we could have made differently, or courses of events that could have turned out differently. In this posting, I’d [...]

Let’s Keep Jung’s Red Book Away from Spiritual Hucksterism

July 21st, 2010 · 4 Comments · archetypal experience, archetypes, Carl Jung, collective consciousness, collective unconscious, Identity, Individuation, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, Shadow, The Self, unconscious, wholeness

Jung’s Red Book, which I wrote about in an earlier post, has created quite a stir in certain circles, and has been very well popularized. It has had quite an impact in cultural and literary circles, and has gained a lot of attention in the media. The Red Book documents Jung’s own profound psychological struggle in a manner so eloquent and deep that it is difficult if not impossible to describe. However, those of us who love Jung need to be careful not to portray it as some kind of divine revelation composed by a semi-divinity which answers all questions. Jung was very human, and he continually invites us to fully enter our own humanity.

Anxiety Behind the Mask, Part II

July 2nd, 2010 · 2 Comments · creativity, Film, Identity, Individuation, inner life, popular culture, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, soul, spontaneity, The Self, wholeness

Anxiety Behind the Mask, Part II, The Armoured Self, My Prison In the course of thousands of years of mechanical development, the mechanistic concept, from generation to generation, has anchored itself deeply in man’s biological system. In so doing, it actually has altered human functioning in the direction of the machine-like…. Man has become biologically [...]

The Creative Fire and the Burden of Guilt

June 20th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Carl Jung, creativity, depth psychology, guilt, inner life, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, soul, visual arts

We may seek to avoid the experience of guilt, but we will never really succeed. As Jung frequently pointed out, the feeling of guilt is the unavoidable accompaniment in any situation when we cross any of the taboos inherent in social structures and actively, creatively express ourselves and live our lives. And while guilt feelings will occur, [...]

The Symbolic Power of Home, Part 2: Where is Home?

June 10th, 2010 · 5 Comments · Carl Jung, depth psychology, Halton Region, Home, inner life, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Meaning, Mississauga, Oakville, Peel Region, Psychology and Suburban Life, Relationships, The Self, therapy, wholeness

In the first part of this series, I wrote about how the experience of connection to a specific place that is home can be powerful and profound. However, there are also many people for whom there is no connection to a sense of home. And, for any of us, there can be many times–perhaps long periods–when [...]

Trust and Betrayal

May 24th, 2010 · 1 Comment · betrayal, depth psychology, Individuation, psychological crisis, trust, wholeness

In my recent blog post on “Crisis“, I indicated that one of the gravest things that can happen to people is the experience of betrayal in those close relationships with others whom they trust deeply, and upon whom they depend. I feel strongly that this is an area worth exploring further, and some of my readers have [...]

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