Archetypal Psychology

A development of Jung’s analytic psychology, defined by James Hillman in the 1970’s, archetypal psychology suggests that we are an imaginal activity. Instead of viewing the human psyche through a biochemical, sociohistorical or behaviourist lens, it develops a consciousness that attempts the uncovering of meaning through engagement with soul and the imaginal world. Archetypes and mythic figures model the poetic characteristics of thought and feeling that underlie our relationships, our moods, events in personal and cultural history, expressive possibilities, and what these mean for us. Therapy explores which archetypal figures are organizing this experience, and our relationship to them. Psychological disturbances are seen as messages from the unconscious, and the work of therapy is to provide soul with an account of itself, to enact a mythic engagement with this material, rather than cure pathology. In this way, experiences of weakness and mortification are seen as modes by which soul relativizes conscious intentionality and draws us into a deeper relationship with our being and destiny. As the ego’s intentionality is deconstructed, we find the ground of being and feel a support that does not emanate from effort. We learn to live interrelated with the mystery, pierced by joy and sorrow, and each other. Caroline Mardon