Dreams contain images and thought associations which we do not create with conscious intent. They arise spontaneously without our assistance and are representatives of a psychic activity withdrawn from our arbitrary will. Therefore the dream is, properly speaking, a highly objective, natural product of the…
It's essential to acknowledge the existence of depression, and to face it head on. Very often, people try to avoid the reality of their depression, or to talk themselves out of it. However, the only way to truly be able to come to terms with…
Sometimes, major life transitions are just overwhelming. We can have a certain image, idea or feeling of ourselves and our life situation, and then find out that it gets completely undone by some development or crisis in our lives.
“If the human soul is anything, it must be of unimaginable complexity and diversity, so that it cannot be approached through a mere psychology of instinct. I can only gaze with wonder at the heights and depths of our psychic nature.” ~ C.G. Jung.”
Freedom is a word often heard in counselling for anxiety; it's also a key concept in /a-midlife-transition. People who are really gripped by anxiety want nothing more than to be free of it. We all deeply yearn for freedom; but can we really tolerate having…
Does anyone really know what helps depression during major life transitions? The surprising answer is yes. It has a lot to do with giving attention to what the particular depression may be trying to tell us. It may come as a surprise to many to…
In “Individual therapy, Individuation & Masks, 2“, I dealt with the “overly thick” persona or social mask — but can the mask also be overly thin? A number of my readers have pointed out in responses to that earlier post that it most certainly can — and that’s an individuation issue! Not…
A well is something made by humans, but it penetrates into the dark reality of the earth, and miraculously fills with water, the liquid so essential for life. And that's a powerful image for what we as individuals are seeking.
The persona (Latin for "mask"), or social self that the individual shows to the world can become so artificial and entrenched that no one -- including the person wearing the mask -- knows who the individual really is.
Jung saw that we all conceal our true nature to at least some extent , and identified it with a particular structure in the personality: the persona, which means "mask" in Latin. Mask is an deep thing in all of us.