Time and Trauma in Analytical Psychology and Psychotherapy: The Wisdom of Andean Shamanism

In this presentation, Jungian analyst and psychologist, Deborah Bryon, PhD, offers Andean shamanic wisdom as it intersects with concepts from depth psychology and Jungian analysis.

Unlike those of us raised in Western culture, who want to understand everything through our logical mind, the Andean shamans believe that thinking about something brings separation while a heart-centered focus brings connection. The feelings of the heart lead the individual to the truth.

Besides being an approach that uses the heart instead of the head, there are other ways that the Andean approach is different from what we learn in the West. Because Andean medicine people come from a heart-focused culture, they begin by serving the collective spirit energy of all living things, and through working with the collective, they heal the individual person.

After being adopted and inducted by Peruvian paqos (spiritual healers and medicine people from the Q’ero indigenous community), Deborah seamlessly combines her personal experience with theoretical concepts to highlight practices of connection and compassion.

Her personal descent to deep layers of unconscious phenomena is shown to bring an enhanced awareness of reality with profound healing effects, providing a wide-ranging perspective on experiences central to contemporary depth psychology. Deborah utilises the conceptual framework of quantum theory to reveal underlying links between mystical and clinical experience.

This presentation will weave together interpersonal and Jungian analytic perspectives, informed by indigenous Andean shamanism, and contemporary scientific understanding of time in an exploration of a more expansive vision of the world. It will provide different perspectives on experiences central to contemporary depth psychology – i.e., the subjective experience of time and trauma.