Jungian Analyst, Author, Lecturer
Teaching and Lecturing
One of my passions and interests is doing public programs for various groups. I've given frequent lectures and workshops over the years on the local level at the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles as well as at Jungian Analyst Conferences in both Northern and Southern California. I've also spoken at Jungian Conferences on the National and International level.
Various Jung groups such as the Orange County Jung Club and the Friends of Jung in San Diego have invited me to speak, as well as the Phoenix Friends of Jung and the Jung group in Sante Fe, New Mexico.
Below are descriptions of lectures and workshops I will be offering or have offered in the past.
I've Got a Bad Feeling About This
Sponsored by the CG Jung Institute of Los Angeles
November 19 @ 10:00 am - 1:00 pm via Zoom
Prepaid Cost: $60.00 – $75.00. Register HERE
In the original Star Wars trilogy when faced with a challenging situation, several characters are moved to say: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this!” In our own age the same can be said for many of us as we are confronted with the deadly horrible realities of our times, from the pandemic now in its third year, the life-threatening consequences of climate change, the senseless brutal killing of Ukrainians, the mass shootings in our own country, and the new threats to women’s rights, to name just a few. How do we face such issues, especially as Jung has pointed out that the feeling function is the least developed psychological function in our culture? How do we honor feelings and the feeling function in such troubled times?
Learning Objectives:
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Describe events that are disturbing the psychological equilibrium of people in our culture.
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Describe the dilemmas individuals endure facing ongoing cultural trauma.
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Describe the evolution in the understanding and development of the feeling function in Jungian psychology.
Moby Dick: How an American Myth Speaks to Our Times
Sponsored by the CG Jung Institute of Los Angeles
Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is a uniquely American description of the encounter with our unconscious depths. In this seminar we will examine some of the ways in which this extraordinary product of the American imagination speaks to our modern circumstances with striking relevance. Some of the issues to be covered include the destructive and creative aspects of heroic attitudes, defensive structures which lead to splitting and work against integration, as well as the cultural attitudes which inform and influence the ways we take in and make meaning of what often feels like an increasingly chaotic world including other creatures of our world like the whale.
Fairy Tales and the Psyche
Sponsored by the C. G. Jung Club of Orange County
“Fairy Tales are the purest and simplest expression of collective unconscious psychic processes.” (Marie Louise von Franz) In this presentation we will look at two Grimm’s fairytales, Iron Hans and The Girl Without Hands, to explore how they express critical elements of the struggles of the modern psyche. We will look in depth at the Wildman archetype and our lost connection to nature, as well as the unwitting betrayal of the feminine principle in life that is an ominous byproduct of so called modern civilization.
The Evolving Myth of Luke Skywalker
The Gilgamesh Epic: How an Ancient Myth Reflects Splits in our Culture
Sponsored by the CG Jung Institute of Los Angeles
The Gilgamesh Epic is the oldest story in the world but for over two thousand years all traces of it were lost. As various fragments have been uncovered since 1850, scholars and poets have been drawn to understand and elucidate this tale. Using some more recent translations we will look at this tale in light of our current cultural splits, especially our disassociation from nature, to reflect on the archetypal underpinnings of our time and where they may be leading us.
The Ford/Kavanaugh Complex:
Trauma and Soul in American Culture
Sponsored by the CG Jung Institute of Los Angeles
The Christine Ford testimony to the Senate and Brett Kavanaugh’s response gives us a close look at a critical cultural complex in our country. This complex limits the ability to hear the pain and suffering of people, be it women, Native Americans, African Americans, and other marginalized individuals and groups. This ignorance and lack of empathy then gives “privilege” to those who might nor really deserve it. A review of the testimony of these two people will serve as a starting point to look at his complex in a broader sense, including gun violence, corporate abuse, and other regularly repeating cultural events that cause significant trauma.
Jung’s Typology
Sponsored by the CG Jung Institute of Los Angeles
Jung's interest and evaluation of human typology first emerged during his association with Freud and developed further through his profound inner experiences as reported in The Red Book. His first major work after this time in his life was Psychological Types. We will examine the development of Jung’s theory of typology throughout Jung's life and later by several Jungians. We will explore clinical application of psychological types as well as the cultural implications of typology in our current age.
This presentation was one in a year long Certificate Program in Jungian Studies. Each month from September to June features an offering concerning Jungian theory and practice by other analysts at the Los Angeles Institute.