Marion Woodman, in an interview with Tina Stromsted said

I was in analysis, but my analyst was outraged at the thought of body movement. His attitude, was, ‘If you can’t transform your dreams there’s something wrong with the way you’re handling your dreams.’ I know that I could have a wonderful time with my dreams because I had been through two years of that, but it didn’t change my body. In fact, I got higher and higher into spirit, so my body became more and more exhausted. (Tina Stromsted, (2005).Cellular Resonance and the Sacred Feminine Marion Woodman’s Story. Body and Soul, Honoring Marion Woodman, Spring A Journal of Archetype and Culture, 72. New Orleans, LN’ Spring,pp.1-30. 2005,p.13)

What might it mean for dreams to change our body or our bodies to change our dreams? What stories do our bodies tell through their gestures and actions that are asyet untold ways of coming to know oneself? How might a curiosity about disease as symbol be a helpful way of encountering that which is, as yet, unconscious?

Setting out from Jung’s position that ‘I restrict myself to the observation of phenomena’(Jung, §§2, CW 11) we will explore ways in which psyche and matter are one and the same thing and the ways in which working from this premise informs our work.

Since psyche and matter are contained in one and the same world, and moreover are in continuous contact with one another and ultimately rest on irrepresentable, transcendental factors, it is not only possible but fairy probable, even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of one and the same thing. On the Nature of the Psyche, Jung, 1947, §418 CW8, Princeton Uni Press

Aims

·      understand Jung’s concepts relating to psyche and matter

·      explore, in theory and practice, working with the body and dreams

·      begin to develop a personal approach to working with psyche and matter

‍

Suggested Reading (please feel free to dip into whatever calls you rather than seeing this as a list of reading tasks to be completed):

Bacon, J. (2017). ‘Informed by the goddess: Explicating a processual methodology’, Dance, Movement &Spiritualities, 4:1, pp. 41–55, Bristol: Intellect.  doi: 10.1386/dmas.4.1.41_1 (also as a book chapter in edited collection Herstory(A. Williamson), Intellect

_________. (2017). ‘Authentic Movement as wellbeing practice’, in Dance and Movement for Wellbeing. (eds. Karkou, V., Oliver, S. and Lycouris, S.), Oxford: Oxford University Press,  pp.149-164.

_________. (2015). ‘Authentic Movement: a field of practices’ Introduction to guest edited special issue of journal of Dance and Somatic Practices, vol 7.2, pp.205-216.

_________. (2012). ‘Her body finds a voice in an imaginal world’ in Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy Journal, An International Journal for Theory, Research and Practice, Palgrave. 7:2, 115-127.

_________.(2007). ‘Psyche Moving: ‘Active Imagination’ and ‘Focusing’ in movement-based performance and psychotherapy’ in Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, London: Routledge, 2 (1), pp.17-28

Brinton Perera, S. (1981). Descent of the Goddess, A Way of Initiation for Women. Toronto: Inner City Books.

Chodorow, J. (1978/1999). Dance Therapy and the Transcendent Function. In Authentic Movement: Vol 1. London: Jessica Kingsley. pp.236-252.

Dunlea, M.(2019). Body Dreaming in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma, An Embodied Therapeutic Approach. London: Routledge.

Gendlin, E. (1978) Focusing, New York: Bantam

Holifield, B. (2024). Being with the Body in Depth Psychology, Development, Trauma, and Transformation in the Unspoken Realm. London: Routledge.

           Jung, C. G. (1947) ‘On the Nature of the Psyche’, vol. 8, p. 159-234 -236

           ________.(1958) The Transcendent Function. The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche.CW8:67-91.2^nd Edition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University. 1969.

           _______. (1966). The Tavistock Lectures: on the theory and practice of analytical psychology.CW18:5-35. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.

Kalsched,D. (2013). Trauma and the Soul, a psycho-spiritual approach to human development and its interruption. London: Routledge.

Keltner, D.(2023). Awe, The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder. London: Allen Books

McGilchrist, I. (2021) The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World. London: Perspectiva.

Morrissey B. & Sager, P.(2023). Intimacy in Emptiness, An Evolution of Embodied Consciousness, Collected Writings of Janet Adler, Vermont: Inner Traditions.

Otto, Rudolf (1923/1958). The Idea of the Holy. London: Oxford University.

Van der Kolk, Bessel (2014) The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma, New York: Allen Lane 

‍

Jane Bacon, Senior Analyst

https://www.janebacon.net/

‍

It is almost impossible to conduct research into the psyche and the psychological process because of its individual and collective nature, both conscious and unconscious. Jung sought to understand this further after his Red and Black Book experiences.

My interactive seminars will show why alchemy is so helpful, whether for psychotherapy, analysis, or individuation, as well as looking at alchemists’ (mostly unconscious) efforts to discover the ’spirit’ in matter and the effect this has on our exploration of the God image.

We will discuss the different stages and operations, examining how they can be seen in ordinary life issues and difficulties. We will also look at the process that may be needed to develop our selves, psychologically and spiritually.

We will end with an exploration of the nature of the Lapis Philosophorum and Christ parallel that Jung put so much emphasis on.

‍

Gillian Kind is a training analyst in South West London, interested in the overlap of psychotherapy, psychiatry, religion and individuation, and how we can help our clients/patients to cope with their lives, relationships, and illnesses.