My most recent assignment for my Holistic Coaching Course. I really find this a fascinating subject although I don’t claim to fully understand it. Jung believed in the transformational power of imagery, imagination and art and his ideas remain influential today.
JUNG’S APPROACH TO IMAGERY
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist; the exploration of imagery was central to his work in the development of psychotherapy. Jung believed that images and symbols emerged from the unconscious to be understood by and integrated into the conscious mind. Images emerge in dreams, in imagination, through art processes and through the method of Active Imagination. Jung developed his ideas working with patients and through self investigation. Jung’s approach to imagery and symbolism significantly influenced the development of the practices of Art Therapy and Psychotherapy. Key aspects of Jung’s work were the concepts of Individuation, Self-Realisation, Active Imagination, dream interpretation, Art, symbolism, archetypes and the Collective Unconscious.
Read MoreI believe creativity can be an important part of any healing process but apart from that it is something that can bring joy into and enhance anyone’s life. Having my own experience of chronic illness and knowing how much I’ve personally got out of being creative, I wanted to share some of my more practical tips that I hope will be helpful if you’d like to include more creativity in your life.You don’t have to have an illness to find these tips helpful, but I created them with that in mind.
Read MoreIn 2015 I got the shingles virus, initially I didn't feel that ill, I was on summer holiday from work as I worked term time in education. Feeling a bit wobbly I returned to work in September thinking I’d be OK as signs of the infection had healed. Over the following months up to Christmas my health and physical energy became worse, but I kept on pushing myself and trying to ignore how I was feeling until my health completely crashed. I had no physical energy, brain fog, I couldn’t think, it took massive energy to talk, I had dizziness, I could hardly stand or walk for any length of time, I appeared extremely withdrawn. It was like my life or at least my health had come to a big full stop.
Read MoreWhy am I asking? Well because I know it does for me. Do you feel stuck with a project, course assignment or making progress on a bigger life goal? Do you find yourself not doing anything at all, procrastinating despite all those ‘shoulds’ in your head? Do you withdraw into yourself and push those goals and desires somewhere deep inside? Are you always looking for distractions, small or large, to avoid getting on with that thing? All the time with a sort of sad unfulfilled and maybe frustrated with yourself feeling that keeps popping back up?
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