To complement our 2022 public forum on “Motherhood,” we return to the psychological wellspring of the foundational archetypes to address the other primary element of parenthood, Fatherhood.
In “The Significance of the Father in the Destiny of the Individual,” Jung writes,
The child possesses an inherited system that anticipates the existence of parents and their influence upon him. In other words behind the father stands the archetype of the father and in the pre-existent archetype lies the secret of the father’s power, just as the power which forces the bird to migrate is not produced by the bird itself but derives from its ancestors. CW 4: par. 739
The experience of Fatherhood constellates the archetype of the father and with it all the powers, patterns and pitfalls that enrich and challenge our roles as fathers. In this panel, four OAJA Jungian analyst-fathers— Dan Hansen, Tim Pilgrim, Mitchell Smolkin, and Chris Wilkes —will explore their experiences in their roles as both analysts and fathers.
