Tag: therapy-works
The descent of Inanna: A mythical model for life transformation
in JungianThe descent of Inanna is a mythical story of breakdown to breakthrough. It is common for our lives to break down at certain times, particularly at midlife. This often comes from the combination of a major life setback (a divorce, bereavement, injury, a redundancy or any other loss) with the spiritual emptiness we experience when…
Truth is what is helpful
William James is considered the father of Psychology and of Pragmatic Philosophy. In his essay “What pragmatism means” he suggests a provocative but well-rounded argument that truth is what is helpful. The main argument goes like this. Truthness is a type of goodness, rather than a separate entity to it. He says “truth in our…
The Apollonian and the Dionysian
The Apollonian and the Dionysian are two competing but complementary impulses that Nietzsche proposed and developed throughout his lifetime. In this article, I want to explore these two impulses in both their contradictory and complementary roles, how they may be appearing in our lives and how we could reflect on them as tools of self-knowledge…
A map of mental wellbeing theories
Last year I set out to draw a visual map of ideas in therapy. Over time, I realised the wide range of historical influences that have contributed to the development of current therapeutic models and approaches. And the map became larger and larger. I had to “finish it” one day, and by that I mean…
Ethics of ambiguity: de Beauvoir’s ways of being
Simone de Beauvoir’s Ethics of Ambiguity is a pretty intense book. I found it equal parts exhilarating, terrifying and confusing. I couldn’t put it down, but I also had to go back to read over it in frustration. I loved it and I hated it for being so mind-expanding and disarming. I think it has…
Authenticity in existentialism: the four authentic actions
In this article I explore authentic living grounded in existential and other humanistic philosophies. It is anchored in four actions (becoming, choosing, connecting, unknowing) that challenge many of the popular ideas of what it means to be an authentic person. What is it to be an authentic person? Our popular understanding of being an authentic…
Existential concerns: Death, Aloneness, Freedom and Meaning
Existential concerns are deeply significant areas of human enquiry. They relate to the core of human existence and they can form the basis of much avoidance, fear and anxiety. They can also be important catalysts for growth, as they make us face repressed anxiety and facilitate our living with renewed enthusiasm and meaning. Irvin Yalom…
Overview of Jung’s psychology
in JungianCarl Jung was a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychologist who studied with Freud until their theoretical differences brought them apart. Jung went on to develop a unique school within psychoanalysis based on his model of the self and the methodology to work within it: a framework of symbols, dreamwork, dialogue, active imagination, and inner exploration. To…
Exploring the central humanistic ideas
The humanist tradition spans philosophy, literature, ethics, psychology and many other areas of human endeavour across the centuries. This makes it hard to define and delimit, but Sarah Bakewell does just that brilliantly in her book “Humanly possible”. — In this article, I wanted to lean on Sarah’s attempt to name the core ideas in…
Hegel’s Master/Slave Dialectic: collective healing in our complex world
in HumanisticHegel proposed the Master/Slave thought experiment to understand human’s need for self-consciousness through the genuine recognition of (and by) others. Hegel argues that self-consciousness is not just being alive or thinking, but about knowing yourself as a subject. Unlike Descartes, for whom thinking alone proves existence (‘I think, therefore I am’), Hegel argues that existence…
