People suffering PTSD or cPTSD symptoms have unprocessed and unresolved trauma stored in their bodies from overwhelming events. Loud noises, sudden movements from other people, and flashes of light can trigger the stress response in the body. A person suffering from (c)PTSD may dissociate, have trouble breathing, feel their heart racing, feel jumpy or anxious, have nightmares or trouble sleeping, and suffer symptoms indistinguishable from  ADHD.

Self-care: It involves more than you may think!

Self-care is not all about frou-frou moments, retail therapy, and bubble baths, though sometimes that feels like exactly what we need!

An important and often missed part of Self-care practices comes from the Jungian Psychology. Self-care starts with the Self.

All paths in Jungian Therapy ultimately lead to childhood patterns unconsciously repeating themselves in your adult life. Though the patterns have outgrown their usefulness of protecting an innocent child, trapped in the unconscious they continue working undetected in the background, sabotaging adult relationships and blocking access to the higher Self you were always meant to be!

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a well-known and popular personality test that you can take for free on the Internet. This personality test is known for its accuracy in predicting the specific preferences of 16 different universally-established personality types, including frequent mannerisms, love interests, and satisfaction and skill in various occupations. Relatively few people are aware that Carl G. Jung first published his theory of Personality Types in 1913 from which the MBTI was formed. When you participate in psychoanalysis with a therapist specially-trained in Jungian psychology, you can get to know yourself better on an archetypal level for a more grounded, mindful attentiveness to your higher Self’s desires and fears. You can get to know the archetypes that resonate with your sense of wellbeing, and the archetypes that can trigger you into a panic!

Everyday life events of even witnessing trauma: illness, death, divorce, substance abuse, hunger, a car accident, along with “othering” experiences of neurodivergence, learning disabilities, racial, gender and LGBTQIA inequities, etc., affect developmental changes in the child’s brain. Even with caregivers actively safeguarding children from affects of adverse childhood experiences (ACES), unanticipated events can cause lasting structural changes in the brain leading to emotional dysregulation, emergence of a judgmental Inner Critic, and expression of physical symptoms into adulthood. A negative narrative emerges…an unconscious story we tell ourselves based upon a perceived need for protection from failure.

The Shadow is that part of ourselves that we hide away so nobody else can see. Sometimes we’re so good at it that we even forget it exists, in which case it is called psychological repression (Freud) or splitting (Jung). Although we all have different parts of the Self that may even be at odds with each other sometimes, in severe forms alter personalities can form splinter psyches that have amnesiac barriers between them, such as in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (previously called Multiple Personality Disorder).

Mythopoesis is a term frequently used in Jungian psychology, but the what exactly does it mean? Here is a definition that I will abridge as I continue feeling into its nuances: above all else, mythopoesis is ineffable, shifting, changing.

Mythopoesis is an intrapsychic matrix—a nest if you will, between the world of reality and the world of fantasy. The mythopoetic matrix is where the capitol “S” Self, resides (Carl Jung), variously known as the Soul, the libidinal ego (Fairbairn), and the lost heart of the self (Guntrip). The similar term, mythopoetics, are the symbols formed to bridge those two worlds, formed by our Poetry, Art, Images, Visions, and Dreams.

This summer, having completed a 2-year internship at the C. G. Jung Institute in Los Angeles, including a pro bono weekly commitment with Clinic patients, I began envisioning my next steps. I am excited to announce that after visiting Switzerland for 3-weeks this Autumn and engaging in 6 hours of interviews in 3 different cities, I was invited to join the Analyst Training Program in Küsnacht, Switzerland! Already a fully licensed therapist, this additional level of professional development will continue expanding my lens of how human Souls are connected to the Cosmos through Archetypes, Mythologies, Spiritualities, Folklore, and the Arts. Carl Jung, as one of the Founders of psychoanalysis, embedded awareness of these cosmic connections in his theories of pathology, healing and growth. I am honored by this opportunity to study in the traditions of this great Master, and through this work provide even more specialized care to my patients at Reflections Therapy Studio.

Dreams communicate to the Jungian-trained therapist vital material that the patient is struggling with, parts of which are held in the unconscious. Jungian Therapists are uniquely trained in the symbolic language of dreams—which sets us apart from therapists trained exclusively in the popular Cognitive Behavioral (CBT) realm. If you’re not exploring your dreams in therapy, you are missing out on important communications that can help guide the healing process and future growth.

Splitting is considered a primary defense process, originating “before the infant can appreciate that [their] caretakers have good and bad qualities and are associated with good and bad experiences (McWilliams, N. 2011. Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, 2nd Ed., p. 116). In other words, the infant splits their image of a single caretaker into two individuals: a good mom/dad,  and a correspondingly bad mom/dad, who are different people depending upon whether they are, in any given moment, behaving either good or bad.

Within Jungian circles, the human body is observed as a “living symbol.” Our visual appearance communicates to others our feelings about politics, social constructs, statements about gender and sexuality. Tattoos, piercings, scarification, and styles of dress hone our nonverbal communications to those we come into contact with. Words are not always enough, or even necessary…

The goal for including creative images while journaling is to draw, paint, doodle, and create—as a child again. As soon as we wonder, “How will this look?” or “I hope this turns out okay…” or even “I hope I don’t sound too crazy…,” we have lost the nonjudgmental attitude and are once again in service of the Ego. Now, our Ego is vital for making some important professional decisions and keeping us on schedule, but when we’re journaling, the point is to lose the Ego in service to letting images and words arise out of the unconscious depths. This is where true creativity is birthed!