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Retirement. In our 50s, 60s, and 70s we stop the activities generating the income that shaped the life we enjoyed and occupied the days and weeks of adult life. The purpose that arranged how time was spent is gone. Towards the end of a career some look forward to stopping work while others struggle to stop. When we retire we can experience relief, even elation: the constraints of a schedule imposed by outside demands are gone. But after a few months, sometimes a year or so, feelings of purposelessness, anxiety, or depression emerge though we may have a busy schedule of volunteering and activities we had not had time to accomplish during our career life.
Though 'retiring' can be difficult, it also becomes an opportunity. Maybe it is difficult because it is not what we expected. The freedom of not being constrained and the busyness of a self-motivated schedule do not satisfy. We experience changes in physical energy and ability or we slow down. The question "what next?" emerges and refuses to be framed by previously held expectations or collective standards. In the course of therapy or consultation, together, we hold one eye open to the outside world and what is suggested by current research on self-care and resources in retirement. However, we close the other eye as in the Alaskan Inuit carving of a face with one eye open and one eye closed. The closed eye suggests we turn towards the inner life and trust that we can be guided by the values and meaning that emerge from a deeper ground of knowledge. 'In each of us there is another, whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves. When, therefore, we find ourselves in a difficult situation to which there is no solution, he can sometimes kindle a light that radically alters our attitude.' Jung in The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man
In fairy tales, says Jung, the psyche tells its own story as it does in dreams. Fairy tales give us joy in listening, surprise in their turn of events and provide answers to problems. They portray collective psychic principles and speak to our personal experience and problems in images and symbols. Fairy tales can be used therapeutically: they speak to the depth of the imagination and inspire new ways to address issues.
In the Fall of 2016, I lead a seminar and group discussion of fairy tales for psychotherapists. We meet once a month on Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm near I5/217 and PCC Syvania exit. The group is small. I ask that you please commit and come to three consecutive meetings. I will collect a small fee of $60 for the three sessions prior to the first meeting to reserve your space. Please check this blog for a starting date. Therapists in training can waive a portion of the fee if necessary. Feel free to give me a call: 503 699 1664. We finish reading and discussing Madness and Creativity on May 11, 2016 at 11:00 am.
Please keep on checking this blog for future times and the book chosen for reading and discussion. Our next meeting is on April 13th, 2016 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. Please read the remainder of the reading of Madness and Creativity by Ann Ulanov.
"Consciousness, no matter how extensive it may be, must always remain the smaller circle within the greater circle of the unconscious, an island surrounded by the sea; and like the sea itself, the unconscious yields an endless and self-replenishing abundance of creatures, a wealth beyond our fathoming." Jung
In our reading group, we begin reading Madness and Creativity (p.1-32) where, as Joseph Cambray says, we are "brought to the necessity of guidance from within". Our next meeting date is Wednesday March 16, 2016 11:00 am-12:30 pm.We meet three times to read this book. Our discussion stays close to the text. If you are a practicing or retired therapist and would like to join us, call me at 503 699 1664.Though at no charge, the group asks for a commitment of typically 3 meetings and no late cancellations as space is limited.
Next meeting date: Wednesday February 10th. 11:00 am-12:30 pm
Beginning in March, we read and discuss: Madness and Creativity, by Ann Belford Ulanov. Date to be announced.
If you are a practicing psychotherapist and interested in a small reading group (though at no charge, the group asks for a commitment of typically 3 meetings and no late cancellations as space is limited), please contact Dr. Marguerite at: 503 699 1664. We meet monthly in SW Portland, near I5-217/Kruse and PCC Sylvania In a Youtube video John Cornelius, MD addresses the scientific evidence-based data for psychodynamic psychotherapy and its long term benefits over psychotropic medications or cognitive behavioral therapy.
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Dominique MARGUERITE
Jungian Analyst Analyste Jungienne AuthorI am a Jungian analyst in the Southwest of the USA, in Marana, Arizona north of Tucson and on the West coast in Lake Oswego near Portland, Oregon Archives
October 2020
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