Seminar #1: Fall 2006: 14 weeks
Wednesdays, September 6 – December 13, 2006
(excluding November 22)

Wotan Lives:
An Analytical Exploration of
Norse and Teutonic Symbolism

“Wotan … is a romantic god …. He is the god of oracles, of secret knowledge, of sorcery, and he is also the equivalent of Hermes psychopompos …. He has, like Osiris, only one eye; the other eye is sacrificed to the underworld. Therefore he is an exceedingly apt symbol for our modern world in which the unconscious really comes to the foreground like a river, and forces us to turn our eye inward upon it, in order that we may be adapted to that side also; we feel now that the greatest enemy is threatening us, not from without but from within.

— C. G. Jung. Nietzsche's Zarathustra, Vol. 2, p. 869.

Sprinkled throughout Jung’s collected works are many references to Wotan and Norse and Teutonic mythology and its effects, both conscious and unconscious, upon the course of history, literature, and art. Yet, interestingly enough, too few clinicians are familiar with its pantheon, giants, creatures, setting and rationale, despite the fact that all too many of us have ancestors who originated from lands once considered Norse and/or Teutonic: those of German and Slavic descent. Those of Germanic descent today would include the Germans. Dutch, Scandinavians, Icelanders and English, while the Slavs would consist of Russians, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, Slovacs and Poles. Wotan and his fellow gods and goddesses had such a vast realm of influence and yet most of us are more familiar with the Greek pantheon!

In this course, we will familiarize ourselves with the Norse and Teutonic pantheon and its origins and rationale. Once we have acquired a solid base in this material, we will proceed to trace this mythology’s influence upon the creative works of Goethe, Wagner, and Nietzsche and their times, connecting these to current events and modern psyches. Throughout the course, we will examine clinical material, particularly dreams, for applicable Norse and Teutonic symbols and archetypes in order to better comprehend not only the trajectory of the dreamer, but transference and countertransference issues that the material may reveal.

Instructor: Carolyn Sundstrom, LPC, Psychoanalyst

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Seminar #2: Spring 2007: 14 weeks
Wednesdays, Janurary 31 – May 9, 2007 (excluding April 4)

A Jungian Perspective on
the Idea of Evil

“I have discovered that all evil comes from this, man's being unable to sit still in a room.” — Blaise Pascal

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfullly as when they do it from a religious conviction.” — Blaise Pascal

The idea of evil presents us with an eternal problem. No matter how we try to define it, its elusive nature always evades our grasp. The problem of evil does not allow for quick solutions. As clinicians we can sense its presence in the dynamics of sadism and masochism and in the fragmentation of psychotic processes.

In this course, we will try to understand how the notion of “unimaginable” evil manifests and is experienced in the human psyche. We will begin by approaching the problem of evil from a theoretical and phenomenological perspective. Then we will trace how depth psychologists, from Freud to Jung to Melanie Klein, Wilfred Bion, Thomas Ogden, Michael Eigen and Donald Kalsched have attempted to translate the metaphysical concept of evil into psychological dynamics.

Jung struggled intensely and wrote much on the problem of evil, although not in a systematic way. We will spend time exploring Jung’s personal confrontation with evil, some of which was his experience of Nazi Germany.

We will also explore several perspectives on how we may be opened to incursions from the dark side of the Self. And we will engage with the Jungian concept of “integrating the shadow” to explore how that can help us to relate to and even protect us from what we experience as evil in ourselves, in our patients and in the world at large.

To amplify the dynamics of the problem, we will use fairytales and contemporary contributions from film and literature.

Instructor: Heidi Kolb, MA, LCSW, NCPsyA

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Please choose your seminar carefully in that there will be
no refunds issued once classes have begun.

These seminars are intended both for the general public and for professionals.

This program is being co-sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP) and the C.G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology. The National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

21 continuing education credits are offered for the 14-week seminar.

Please note that credit is granted separately for each of the seminars. The program is subject to change without notice.

For further credit information and related administrative processing fee, please call the C. G. Jung Foundation offices at 212-697-6430.

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The Jungian Advanced Seminars

FACULTY

Heidi Kolb, MA, LCSW, NCPsyA, is a Jungian analyst in private practice in New York City. She is a graduate of the C.G. Jung Institute of New York, New York University, and the University of Salzburg in Austria. She has previously taught in the Jung Foundation’s Continuing Education discussion forums.

Carolyn Sundstrom, LPC, is a licensed analyst in New York and a licensed professional counselor with a practice in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of the C.G. Jung Institute of New York and holds a Master’s degree in English. She has previously taught in the Jung Foundation’s Continuing Education discussion forums.

Click Here to Register.    

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