Brian Collinson

Journeying Toward Wholeness

Entries Tagged as 'therapy'

Escaping the Grip of Regret, Part 3: Through Phoenix Gate

August 11th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Individuation, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Shadow, complexes, depression, depth psychology, guilt, inner life, regret, soul, therapy, unconscious, unlived life, wholeness

Hopefully I have succeeded in making one very central thing clear: regret is not some peripheral thing in our lives that is going to be cleared away by simply improving our thinking. It strikes deeper. It is much more fundamental. How then are we to deal with the presence of regret in our lives? To answer this question in our own personal way, we have to meet this question for ourselves head on.

[Read more →]

Tags:·····················

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

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

[Read more →]

Tags:············

Escaping the Grip of Regret, Part 1

July 26th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, complexes, compulsion, depth psychology, guilt, life passages, midlife, regret, soul, therapy, unlived life, wholeness

Regret can be a potent emotion, and a great many of us have experienced its power. In my next few postings, I will be examining the phenomenon of regret, and the way it impacts us. It can have a huge grip on us. It can even imprison us, and embitter us beyond words. But, let me ask a question that might seem strange: Is there health in regret?

[Read more →]

Tags:········

CG Jung’s Approach: Not for Everyone, but Essential for Some

July 16th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Carl Jung, Individuation, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, The Self, Wellness, inner life, soul, therapy, unconscious, wholeness

Let’s face it: there are a lot of different forms of therapy / counselling out there.  So, why would someone choose to work on themselves with a Jungian therapist, as opposed to another type of therapist?  Well, here’s a list of 6 prominent factors, which certainly led me to do Jungian analysis, and which ultimately convinced me [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:··········

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

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

[Read more →]

Tags:···············

Trust and Betrayal, Part 2: 4 Simple, Difficult Truths

June 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Hope, Meaning, Psychotherapy, Relationships, The Self, depth psychology, parent-child interactions, psychological crisis, therapy, trust

Following on from my last blog post on trust and betrayal, the following are four truths about the experience of betrayal of trust.  They are surprisingly easy to state.  However, really taking in what they mean for our lives is likely a much bigger psychological task.
1. An Experience of Betrayal Can Deeply Impact A Person’s Ability to [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:·······

Here in the Middle Years of Life: Is That All There Is?

February 28th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Anxiety, Hope, Identity, Meaning, Mississauga, Oakville, Psychotherapy, The Self, depression, depth psychology, inner life, life passages, midlife, soul, stress, suburbia / exurbia, therapy

The great jazz artist Peggy Lee performed the following beautiful, highly disturbing yet haunting song in 1969, at midlife, in her 50th year: 
 

I doubt that questions get much more real than those in this song.  And the question that Peggy Lee sings about here is of the type, that, for many people, can become achingly urgent at [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:·················

Beyond Cookie-Cutter Psychotherapy

February 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Identity, Jungian psychology, Psychology, Psychotherapy, depth psychology, inner life, therapy, wholeness

In recent years, there have been certain strong and notable trends emerging in the field of psychotherapy.  Some have been very valuable, but some, unfortunately, have not been for the better.
In many cases what's on offer doesn't seem to be anything that really helps people deal with their own personal uniqueness, or the individuality of their lives.  Nothing [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:·················

Between Childrens' and Parents' Needs: the Generational Anxiety Sandwich

February 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Current Affairs, Jungian analysis, Psychotherapy, The Self, complexes, compulsion, depth psychology, parent-child interactions, parental complex, therapy, unlived life, wholeness

In this post, I would like to write about something that may have a sense of "taboo" about it.
 For many of us in the present day world, a powerful struggle goes on in our middle years.  There are greater and greater demands on our personal reserves of compassion, empathy, time, energy and money.  These resources are [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:·················

Does February Bring Any GIfts?

January 31st, 2010 · 2 Comments · Hope, Identity, Individuation, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, The Self, depth psychology, inner life, soul, therapy

Does February bring us any gifts? How could it?… Here are some things that might be helpful to think about at this time. They’ve proved valuable to me, so I leave them with you for your consideration

[Read more →]

Tags:·················