A remarkable synchronistic event between analyst and analysand precipitated the enquiry ‘Why has this occurred?’ The nature of the synchronicity seemed to demand that the transformation being sought by the analysand, take place first in the analyst, seemed to require that the analyst was

“as much “in the analysis” as the patient, (..) equally exposed to the transforming influences. (…) [and] must change himself if he is to be capable of changing his patient. (…) What is demanded is his own transformation, (…) in other words, what has happened to the patient must now happen to the doctor. (Jung 1931 §§166-172)

What follows is this journey; the analyst’s own descent, an imaginal writing process journey to the ancestors in order to discover what needs to be known and re-united for transformation to occur. We can then ask, what might remain undone and thus seeking redemption within our own lineage, and how this may be pertinent those we work with.

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Mimi Potworowska is an artist and IGAP analyst with a private practice in South East London. Originally trained as an Art Psychotherapist, she has worked extensively with both adults and children. In the public sector she initiated art therapy departments for excluded children in PRU settings across the borough for Southwark Children’s Service, provided art therapy groups for adults on acute inpatient wards and day service settings for NHS mental health trusts, and held the post of Senior Art Therapist for The Royal Marsden NHS Trust.

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You are more than welcome to attend the seminar without having read anything listed below. In fact, listening with heart and body rather than academic mind will be emphasised. But should you feel pulled to anchor things for yourself by reading, here are a few key texts.

Jung, C.G. CW15. Psychology and Literature: ‘The Artist’ §§155-162.

Giegerich, W. Soul-Violence. Routledge (2020). Chapter 3: The Animus as Negation and the Soul’s Own Other.

Hillman, J. Senex And Puer. Uniform Editions Vol 3. Spring Publications. (2013). Chapter 1: Senex and Puer: An Aspect of the Historical and Psychological Present.

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