If a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely.
C.G. Jung
Do you fear the Mothers? Strange it is, Goddesses to men unknown, whom we are loathe to name or own. Deep must you dig to reach their dwelling ever, you are to blame that now we need their favor.
Mephistopheles in Goethe’s Faust
We live in a world of constant connection to technology and a virtual reality. Sophisticated algorithms and AI powered devices promise to provide answers and solutions for every situation in daily life. Yet this state of perpetual interconnection has led to a pandemic of loneliness and isolation and by extension to a mental health crisis of epic proportions.
In this seminar we will engage the individual experience of loneliness from a variety of theoretical angles, including attachment theory, a dissociative response to trauma, and societal pressure to adhere to an over the top extroverted culture.
We will trace Jung’s own, often paradoxical, relationship to loneliness and how the solitary path of bearing one’s own uniqueness is part and parcel of the Jungian notion of individuation. We will include examples from clinical practice and literature in our reflections. We will also look at the role of the body, the long neglected stepchild in psychoanalysis as a a starting point of actively engaging the subjective suffering of alienation and disconnect.
This workshop is both didactic and experiential. It is intended for anyone who wishes to develop a better understanding of how to make sense of this grand ailment of our times, including psychotherapists and other practitioners who encounter some of the many lonely people in their consultation rooms.
Learning Objectives:
The course is designed so that participants will be able to:
- Identify and differentiate at least four different psychological disturbances presenting as Loneliness.
- Identify at least four different theoretical models of how to understand and work with these psychological imbalances.
- Describe Jung’s own relationship to Loneliness and its influence on his theory of Analytical Psychology.
