Psychic Birth and Rebirth through Analysis

“The neurosis is as a rule a pathological, one-sided development of the personality, the imperceptible beginnings of which can be traced back almost indefinitely into the earliest years of childhood. Only a very arbitrary judgment can say where the neurosis actually begins. If we were to relegate the determining cause as far back as the patient’s prenatal life, thus involving the physical and psychic disposition of the parents at the time of conception and pregnancy—a view that seems not at all improbable in certain cases—such an attitude would be more justifiable than the arbitrary selection of a definite point of neurotic origin in the individual life of the patient” (Jung, CW 16, 257-258).

“The whole life of the individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to himself; indeed, we should be fully born when we die.” Erich Fromm

Birth and rebirth are powerful themes that can shape a person’s development within analysis at any age and stage of life. They contain timeless and profound archetypal and developmental meanings that stimulate our development and relationship to the Self. This lecture will focus on ideas regarding birth and rebirth, and their expression in analysis. The ways that analysis can give birth to the self will come to life through imagery, session dialogue, and Dr. Marlo’s inner experience in her work with a patient who experienced psychic birth through analysis.