The International Association for Jungian Studies (IAJS) invites scholars, clinicians, artists, and thinkers worldwide to its 2025 Online Conference, “Jung & Vital Force,” running from December 5th to 7th. This major international event will take its mandate directly from Jung’s assertion that “The dynamism of the psyche expresses itself in the flow of life energy, and this energy is never lost but is constantly transformed” (CW 8). Participants will explore how this energy moves between psyche and matter, destruction and creation, and shadow and light, manifesting in contemporary challenges such as ecological change, identity transformations, and digital life.
The program is structured across three days, mirroring the cycle of psychic energy. Friday focuses on Thanatos (Decline · Shadow · Crisis), confronting the forces of contraction and destruction. The day opens with remarks from Conference Co-Chairs Dr. Dragana Favre and Dr. Marybeth Carter, and a Plenary Session by Stefano Carpani on “The Age of Hypocrisy and War as Reset.” Parallel panel sessions will address themes like “Archetypes Under Stress,” “Psyche in Pieces: Vitality in the Post-Industrial Soul,” and “Disembodied Presence: Psyche, Machine, and Imaginal Loss.” The day also includes an important session on “Nature Archetype and Vital Force” by Lin Ye & Shu-Chiung Lin, followed by panels on “Burnout & Rebirth,” “Entropy, Collapse, and the Pulse of Renewal,” and “Shadow Economies.”
Saturday moves into Liminality (Threshold · Transformation), centering on the transitional space of change. A key highlight is the C.G. Jung Award Lecture, featuring John Beebe interviewing Jean Shinoda Bolen. The parallel panels in the morning will explore themes such as “Love as Fire: Eros and Initiation Across Thresholds,” “Fields of Transmutation: Psyche, Container, and World,” and “Becoming Other: Gender, Art, and the Mutable Self.” The afternoon continues with panels addressing “Descent & Return: Soul-Making Through Loss,” “Flame & Forge: Feminine Archetypes in Transformation,” and “Creative Currents: Art, Matter, and the Flow of Psyche.” The day concludes with a Plenary Session by Sarah Norton addressing “Vital Force in the Liminal: Climate, Body and Psychic Reconciliation.”
Sunday closes the conference under the sign of Eros (Renewal · Connection · Creative Force), celebrating creation and integration. The day begins with the IAJS Annual Meeting of Members, followed by a Plenary Dialogue between Luigi Zoja and Tom Singer on “Civilization and the Vital Soul: Between Myth and History.” Parallel panel sessions will explore “Imagination & Resurrection: The Creative Unconscious in Motion,” “The Fire Between Us: Relationship, Ethics, and Vitality in Analysis,” and “Breath of the Earth: Soul, Ecology, and the More-Than-Human World.” The conference culminates with a final Plenary by José María Jiménez Orvañanos on “Vital Force and the Creative Ethics of Encounter,” followed by final conference reflections and farewell remarks.
There is still time to register, you can do so by clicking here.