Persona | Brian Collinson

Entries Tagged as 'persona'

The Self as Hidden Treasure in Jungian Psychotherapy

January 27th, 2011 · No Comments · alchemy, art, C. G. Jung, collective consciousness, depth psychology, False self, Identity, parent-child interactions, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, Relationships, religious symbolism, Self, self-knowledge, symbolism

Jungian psychotherapy and Jungian analysis put a high value on the uniqueness of the individual, and on the treasure that is the inmost Self. Jungians see symbollic reflection of the value of the Self as hidden treasure in many texts from the world’s artistic, religious, spiritual and philosophical traditions. At the base of all this symbolization there lies a profound and precious truth about human existence. It is a truth about the nature of the human self. At the core of each of us, there is that element in us, an awareness, that is unique and precious, that defines what we most fundamentally are. Sometimes that is represented symbollically as a hidden treasure, sometimes as a gemstone, sometimes in a variety of other ways.

Anxiety, Regret and Persona in “Death of a Salesman”

November 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Anxiety, Father, Marriage, persona, psychological crisis, Psychology and Suburban Life, regret, Self, soul, symbolism, unlived life

I was fortunate enough last Saturday to see Soulpepper Theatre’s production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Lots of people know the story of Willy Loman, the disintegrating salesman at the centre of the play, and the drama of his decline and eventual death. What’s worth emphasizing, though, is the profoundly psychological nature of this play, and the ways in which it deals with anxiety, regret and “persona”, or the false self. Clearly Willy is retreating more and more from reality and from life — but what pushes him into this?

Anxiety Behind the Mask, Part III: Heart Trouble

July 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Carl Jung, collective consciousness, collective unconscious, Current Affairs, depth psychology, Identity, Individuation, inner life, Jungian psychology, Lifestyle, Meaning, persona, popular culture, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, soul, symbolism, unconscious, wholeness

Anxiety Behind the Mask, Part III, Heart Trouble …I asked him why he thought the whites were all mad. “They say that they think with their heads,” he replied. “Why of course. What do you think with?” I asked him in surprise. “We think here,” he said, indicating his heart. [Italics mine] Conversation between Ochway [...]

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 [...]

Anxiety Behind the Mask, Part 1

June 22nd, 2010 · 2 Comments · Film, Identity, Individuation, inner life, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, mythology, persona, popular culture, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, soul, unlived life, wholeness

When I was 9 or 10 years old, I was an insatiable Iron Man fan. I used to race to the local drug store every day to see if a new issue of my hero’s adventures had hit the stands yet. I still admire Stan Lee and those who developed the Iron Man character: he [...]

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Journeying Toward Wholeness