Jungian Art Therapy and Tarot: Drawing out the Shadow Through the Creative Process

The hidden ordering principle of the Self will be considered through spontaneous images from the tarot and the use of spontaneous and associative drawings, all of which will liberate the psychic energy from dreams, visions, clinical material or personal situations that beg for greater consciousness and fresh meaning. In this workshop participants will use their tarot deck to draw on the unknown and the invisible, to ignite the creative instinct and unearth the healing symbols. This workshop will be primarily exploratory and experiential, so participants are invited to bring a journal, a tarot deck, and any art materials that they might like to work with. Some materials will be provided. You do not need to be an artist or an expert in the tarot. This workshop is about creative play, deepening the relationship to the unconscious, and welcoming the synchronicities that surface so as to honor the lived experiences that are supported by Jung’s analytical psychology.

Learning objectives:

• Describe spontaneous and associative drawing and how it can be used in clinical work;
• Describe what Jung meant by the creative instinct and its role in the development of the psyche;
• Describe what is meant by the transcendent function and how it is connected to the creative process;
• Describe what is meant by Jung’s concept of the shadow;
• Describe how the ego’s capacity to contain the tension of the opposites can support psychological growth and integration.