Psychotherapy
"We’ll take refuge in bells, in the swinging bells,
-Adam Zagajewski "The Bells"
in the peal, the air, the heart of ringing.
We’ll take refuge in bells and we’ll float
over the earth in their heavy casings.”
"Dialegesthai" is an ancient Greek word which was first coined by Plato. The ancient philosopher used this word in his works to denote a way of reasoning which he defined as the talking of the soul with itself. Socrates, the main character of most of Plato’s dialogues, his teacher and friend used to engage his interlocutors with the task of utmost importance, namely searching for the Truth. When the soul talks with itself one too can, like the ancient sages, find a truth: the highest truth, one’s truth, the truth about oneself. However, the road to truth is long and perilous and it is best to not undertake it alone. It is best to find a companion in whom one can find support both in difficulties and in good fortune. Such a person used to be called therapeutes, a “one who waits upon another”, attendant or therapist.
What is psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is a method for treating mental suffering by means of communication (“the talking cure”). The ancient Greek word psyche meant “spirit”, “soul”, “ghost” and therapeia meant to “cure”, “heal” or “restore”. Hence, psychotherapy means healing of the soul and psychotherapist is someone who attends to it, brings help in its suffering and distress.
There are many types of psychotherapy taught in different schools of thought. From a historical perspective one could say that psychoanalysis is the mother of psychotherapy and Sigmund Freud its father. However, if we look closely at this, we will see that various forms of “soul healing” can be found throughout ages in almost every place and culture in the World. Carl Gustav Jung was a person who appreciated those deep roots of psychotherapy and drew from them in his theory and practice. This Swiss psychiatrist, psychologist and scientist changed the way we understood psychotherapy and extended it to cover more than just clinical cases of neurosis. Jung claimed that the main goal of psychotherapy is one’s development towards becoming truly and wholy oneself. He called this process individuation.
C. G. Jung, who was at the beginning of his career closely related to the psychoanalytic movement, worked out his own approach based on unique ideas which laid the foundations for his analytical psychology both in terms of theory and practice. This psychology paints a complex picture of the human psyche which consists of multiple determinants: consciousness and unconscious, phantasies, instincts and archetypes; dynamic, both individual and collective forces which shape our lives.
To find out and name what is within, to understand oneself in Jungian psychotherapy and analysis we reach for and work with various products of psychic life: memories, dreams and reflections, phantasies and fantasy, visions, emotions, premonitions and fears. In psychotherapeutic practice we take closer look together at what appears in patient’s consciousness and try to understand where does that come from, what does it mean and where is it leading. We analyse images, interpret symbols, seek for emotion and wisdom both in the mind and the body.
During the psychotherapeutic process we meet at least once a week for 50 minute sessions.
If you are interested in seeing me for therapy or if you wonder if Jungian psychotherapy would be fit for you I invite you to contact me.