Stories, Myth, and Depth Psychology
Everything is a story
Stories frame our identities. Stories connect us. As Dr. Christine Downing said, “Stories help us see who we are and what we might become.”
How does your individual story, and the story of your colleagues, fit into the story of your organization? Understanding this connection is rewarding both personally and professionally.
Depth Psychology uses archetypes, symbols, and myth to explore the stories that give meaning to our lives and helps us make sense of our experiences. Using these tools to understand our motivations and actions allows us to create an empowered life and modify our stories to effect positive change.
While I have spoken at numerous academic conferences on the application of Depth Psychology and myth in relation to popular topics, the following presentations are universally applicable and can be modified for businesses, spiritual communities, and general audiences alike.
The Power of Myth
According to Joseph Campbell, the scholar and teacher who recognized the monomyth that he coined “The Hero’s Journey,” there are four functions of every mythology. This workshop explores these functions, along with Carl Jung’s ideas about archetypes and the unconscious, to reveal how myth serves as allegory for our personal and collective experiences and can provide a map for the outcome we desire.
The Hero’s Journey: Accessing Your Inner Hero & Embracing Your Adventure
This workshop (half-day or full-day) explores Joseph Campbell’s idea of the hero and the hero’s journey. Illustrated through popular stories and accentuated with exercises, the magical pattern of our individual lives is revealed to provide new insights into our experiences and desires.
You are the hero of your own story.
Stories help us see who we are and what we might become.
Myth is not what happened to people in past times. Myth is what happens to people in all of the time.
Mythology is a language that prescribes meaning to the world, a lens through which the world is viewed, comprised of stories that support this view and provide answers to that which is otherwise a mystery.