Unconscious | Brian Collinson

Entries Tagged as 'unconscious'

The Not-So-Simple Task of Simply Being Honest, Part 1

August 25th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Identity, Individuation, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, Shadow, depth psychology, inner life, persona, psychotherapist, truth, unconscious

We all like to feel that we know ourselves, and that we are fundamentally honest with ourselves, but is it so? Sometimes deliberate not-wanting-to-know keeps us from being conscious of things that we really need to understand for our own individuation process. To set yourself on the course of being fundamentally honest with yourself is to set yourself on the path of encounter with the unconscious.

Sarah Palin, “Mama Grizzlies” and the Mother Archetype

August 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Carl Jung, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, archetypal experience, archetypes, collective consciousness, depth psychology, mother archetype, parent-child interactions, popular culture, symbolism, unconscious

Andrea Huffington commented recently in the Huffington Post on Sarah Palin’s use of archetypal imagery in the political ads that she has recently run with incredible success online. Huffington seeks to use the concepts of Jungian psychology to analyze Palin’s message. In my opinion, it’s a fruitful approach.

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.

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 [...]

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

July 21st, 2010 · 5 Comments · Carl Jung, Identity, Individuation, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, Shadow, The Self, archetypal experience, archetypes, collective consciousness, collective unconscious, 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.

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 [...]

Anxiety Behind the Mask, Part III: Heart Trouble

July 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Carl Jung, Current Affairs, Identity, Individuation, Jungian psychology, Lifestyle, Meaning, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, collective consciousness, collective unconscious, depth psychology, inner life, persona, popular culture, 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 Biano, Chief of the Pueblo Indians and [...]

Depth Psychotherapy Heals

June 14th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, Science, Wellness, complexes, depth psychology, unconscious, wholeness

The research paper that I have linked to below is both striking and very important. It provides strong empirical evidence of the effectiveness of “psychodynamic psychotherapy”. That’s a technical term for those forms of psychotherapy, like the Jungian approach, which:

take the unconscious dimension of individuals seriously;

seek to relate to the unconscious in the therapy process;

focus on affect and expression [...]

Anxiety, Stress and Decisions

May 11th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Anxiety, Individuation, Mississauga, Oakville, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, decision, midlife, soul, unconscious, wholeness

A great deal of stress and anxiety in peoples’ lives is associated with making major decisions that deeply effect personal life. Very often, people come into therapy because they are hung on the horns of a major dilemma, with a decision to be made between two or more possible decisions or paths to take.
As we [...]

When You Hit a Brick Wall

July 9th, 2009 · No Comments · Carl Jung, Jungian analysis, Jungian psychology, Psychology and Suburban Life, Psychotherapy, The Self, depression, depth psychology, life passages, midlife, psychological crisis, soul, stress, unconscious, wholeness

Often people get to the point in life where they reach an impasse, and they don’t know how to solve a particular situation in their lives.

There doesn’t seem to be a way forward and there doesn’t seem to be a solution. Although this can happen at any point in life, it seems particularly prevalent at mid-life.
Often, the way one becomes aware of [...]

Brian Collinson

Journeying Toward Wholeness