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Jung and the Split Feminine: A Psychohistorical Exploration of the Building of a Theory
January 16, 1998 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm PST
In Memories, Dreams and Reflections, Jung describes his own early life as a gravely troubled period in his individuation. Nowhere is this disturbance more profound than in his relationship with his mother, which Jung himself describes as deeply split, highly conflicted, and fraught with anxiety. The consequences of this most primary of Jung’s relationships shaped not only his character and pattern of interpersonal relations, but they left deep and lasting imprints on the theory and concepts of analytical psychology as well.
This presentation will trace and explore these intimate and problematic connections between Jung’s early life struggles and core Jungian concepts such as the anima/animus syzygy and notions of the masculine and feminine. By illuminating these hidden influences in the building of theory, the talk will outline ways in which these central tenets of analytical psychology, once viewed as liberating, now tend to imprison men and women in restrictive gender identifications and negatively impact their individuation potentials.
Peter Mudd L.C.S.W.,NCPsyA, is the Executive Director of the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and the former Director of Studies of the Institute’s Analyst Training Program. Peter is the editor of the two volumes of the International Abstracts in Analytical Psychology, and the former associate editor of the Journal of Analytical Psychology. He conducts a private practice of Jungian analysis, clinical supervision and organizational consultation in Evanston, Illinois. He has special interests in the history and development of analytical psychology, the personality of C.G. Jung, corporate/organizational dynamics, and the relationship between death and individuation.