The archetype of the Dark or Dead Mother often presents clinically as someone who might consciously or unconsciously want her children dead or, in a less extreme form, feel ambivalent or indifferent towards their existence and want a part of them dead. Examples of this “Death Mother” include the vampire mother, the depressed/addicted mother, the puella aeterna mother, the Aphrodite mother, the Munchausen by proxy mother, the devouring mother, and the too-good mother. Drawing from archetypal images of the Dark Mother as well as current clinical examples we will examine some of the ways in which to transmute and integrate these often split-off and devalued aspects of the mother archetype.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the symbolic and archetypal meaning of the Dark Mother.
- Describe two different complexes of the Dark Mother from a clinical perspective.