The Schizophrenia Complex: Feeling Our Way to a New Attitude

This shared experience of lecture and workshop will be based upon material from Dr. Maram’s most recently released book on this topic (Chiron, 2022).

Jungian analyst Eve Maram’s The Schizophrenia Complex focuses on the thoughts and feelings constellated by encounters with what we call schizophrenia, for those who experience symptoms, and for those others impacted by them. To do so, Dr. Maram had to face her own fear, denial, resistance, and ultimate not knowing. The events inspiring her were beyond her control and rearranged her life without her permission.

The unique complex she identifies results from our relationship with the unconscious, and our corresponding personal and collective attitudes toward schizophrenia—how its meaning manifests and the intense emotional responses it arouses. Dr. Maram also addresses how our reactions to schizophrenia affect those we label as suffering it, potentially arousing their own complexes about their state. And she addresses how encounters with schizophrenia inevitably raise the question of how we relate to our own schizophrenic propensities—or at least our dreaded potential thereof—which in itself can become a complex.

Bridging from personal story to the collective and archetypal, here is a ground-breaking account of the feelings and emotions generated by what we call schizophrenia. Also, here is a story about the quintessential power of Eros to constellate hope, even when we are faced with the chaos of the unconscious.

Learning Objectives:

The program is designed so that participants will be able to:

1.  Discuss how ‘schizophrenia’ can manifest in a wide range of presentations.

2. Identify how our thoughts and feelings about what we call schizophrenia impact our encounters with it, for ourselves and others.

3. Describe how our feelings about schizophrenia reflect our relationship with the unconscious.

4. Demonstrate how the power of Eros potentially transforms our attitudes about schizophrenia toward healing.