Lecture: The Conspiracy of Silence: Secrets, Confidentiality and Trust
The idea of silence is rarely addressed in Jungian or Freudian psychoanalytic literature. There is almost a silence about silence, and yet that phenomenon plays a crucial role in the dialogue and dialectic of therapy and analysis. The sacred trust in the confessional or doctor-patient relationship is being lost in the present computer age and in third-party treatment in health care. The story of “secrets” and honoring and betrayal of trust is at the heart of human relationship. The meaning of silence beyond words and images is the basis of this presentation.
Workshop: Silence: Art and the Art of Healing
The dream world is an ultimate creative art, as is the interperetation of dream on a symbolic and archetypal basis. The dream world of images is largely silence and represents that “emptiness” which transcends words and images. It is the wholeness which is sought in meditation and the ultimate silence as “expressed” in poetry, music, and the visual arts. Select parts of some great motion pictures and of dreams will be presented. The ultimate silence has been said to be the voice of God. It is associated with noise, pandemonium, space between “things” and the healing force of life itself. Silence is not an archetype, but for some “reason” is taboo in modern civilization.
Harry Wilmer, M.D., Ph.D., is a senior Jungian analyst in private practice in Salado, Texas. He is also president, director and founder of the Institute for the Humanities at Salado. He is the author of Practical Jung: Nuts and Bolts of Jungian Psychotherapy, and Understanding Jung: The Personal Side of Jungian Psychology. He has published 12 other books and over 200 articles, has authored a play, several PBS TV documentaries and a film. He and Jane have just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.