The Journal of Analytical Psychology‘s latest issue, Volume 71, Issue 1, presents diverse scholarship spanning literary analysis, religious phenomenology, clinical innovation, and theoretical development. Editors Ann Addison and Arthur Niesser introduce a collection that demonstrates analytical psychology’s capacity to illuminate subjects from Shakespearean drama to pregnancy’s archetypal dimensions, with two articles available as open access.
Open Access Articles
Sofie Qwarnström’s “One-Sidedness and the Inferior Function in Coriolanus and Timon of Athens” (open access) offers literary analysis examining how Shakespeare’s tragic heroes embody Jung’s concepts of psychological one-sidedness and the inferior function. Qwarnström demonstrates how these characters’ rigid adherence to dominant psychological attitudes while neglecting their inferior functions leads to their downfalls.
Daniel Françoli Yago contributes the second open access piece, The Hour that Never Comes and the Time that Remains, exploring temporal dimensions of psychological experience and how the psyche relates to futurity and incompletion. Yago’s work addresses how analytical psychology understands time beyond linear chronology, examining moments of kairos—qualitative rather than quantitative time—within the therapeutic process.
Religious and Mythological Explorations
Max Phillips presents “Beyond Easy Tolerance or the Greater Jihād,” examining Islamic mystical concepts through analytical psychology. Phillips explores the Sufi understanding of the “greater jihād”—the inner struggle against ego—and its resonances with Jungian individuation. Francesco Bisagni offers “Dreaming Abraxas: Four-Eyed Babies and Unexpected Birth,” investigating the Gnostic deity Abraxas as it appears in contemporary dream material. Bisagni examines how this ancient symbol of totality emerges spontaneously in modern psyches.
Theoretical Developments
Wes Wallace continues his examination of Jung’s phenomenology with “Jung’s Erotic Phenomenology: II. The Anima-Images,” the second installment exploring how Jung understood anima not as fixed archetype but as phenomenologically experienced erotic image. Dragana Favre breaks new ground with “The Placenta as Threshold: Psychic Transparency, Archetypal Debt, and Individuation in Pregnancy,” examining the placenta’s psychological significance as boundary organ connecting mother and child. Favre explores pregnancy as initiatory process involving archetypal debt and psychic transparency, challenging analytical psychology to address embodied maternal experience with greater sophistication.
Interview and Clinical Commentary
Christopher Jerome Carter conducts an extensive interview with Andrew Samuels. The conversation addresses Samuels’s long career bridging clinical practice, political engagement, and theoretical innovation, offering insights into how analytical psychology intersects with social justice and political activism.
The clinical commentary section, introduced by editors Michelle Cooper, Constance Romero, and Laura Tuley, presents case material labeled “Bianca” followed by four distinct analytical responses. Catriona Wrottesley, Lourdes Hernandez, Randi Nathenson, and John White each offer different perspectives on the clinical material, demonstrating the plurality of approaches within contemporary Jungian practice.
Remembering Coline Covington
Rupert Tower provides a comprehensive obituary honoring Dr. Coline Covington, whose contributions to analytical psychology spanned clinical practice, theoretical writing, and institutional leadership. Tower’s tribute contextualizes Covington’s legacy within the field’s development, ensuring her work remains visible to future generations.
Book Reviews
Stefano Carpani reviews Andrew Samuels’s “Reflecting Critically on the Political Psyche: Therapy, Testament and Trouble in Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis,” examining Samuels’s latest contribution to political psychoanalysis. Katerina Sarafidou engages with Ann Casement’s “Integrating Shadow: Authentic Being in the World,” exploring Casement’s approach to shadow work and authentic existence. Ildiko Gabor reviews Riccardo Bernardini’s “The Art of the Self: The Blue Book of Eranos Founder Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn,” which illuminates the inner life and creative process of the woman who established the legendary Eranos conferences.
Stephen Garratt concludes with a list of books received, pointing readers toward emerging scholarship in the field. The issue closes with a complete list of contributors, providing biographical information about all authors. You can view the full list of articles here.