Experience of the Self in a lifetime

While listening to a concert at the age of 20, I suddenly was overcome by a feeling of oneness. The music had touched deeper levels of my soul, which much later I could understand as an experience of the Self. Music may arouse opposite feelings, the source of which is the ambivalence of the Self, of God. These opposites within the Godhead are best explained by the word numinosity, a term coined by Rudolf Otto in his book The Idea of the Holy. Love and fear are opposite feelings with regard to God, to the ‘numen’. A meaningful change in my life occurred at the age of 38 when my wife and myself decided to leave Switzerland and immigrate to Israel. Several dreams pointed to the necessity of settling in the Biblical Land, the earth being a manifestation of the mother archetype. The Jungian term Self is discussed by examples from my own analysis and by quoting Edinger. The Self is the mystery of conjunction of feminine and masculine energy. This was clear to me, but what about the evil, dark side of God, of his destructive side, of Satan or the devil, of Christ and Antichrist? I experienced the dark side of God when the Nazis rose to power, unleashing WW II and killing 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Dale Mathers, An Introduction to Meaning and Purpose in Analytical Psychology
Jane Cabot Reid (ed. & narrator), Jung, My Mother, and I: The Analytic Diaries of Catharine Rush Cabot
Heather Formaini (compiler), Landmarks. Papers by Jungian Analysts from Australia and New Zealand
Neil Russack, Animal Guides in Life, Myth and Dreams: An Analyst's Notebook
Rose–Emily Rothenberg, The Jewel in the Wound
Judith Edwards (ed.), Being Alive, Building on the Work of Anne Alvarez     

Book reviews

Shamdasani, Sonu. Cult Fictions: C. G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology
Shamdasani, Sonu. Cult Fictions: C.G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology
Sandner, Donald F. & Wong, Steven H. (eds.). The Sacred Heritage: The Influence of Shamanism on Analytical Psychology
Bion, W. R. War Memoirs 1917–1919
Mitrani, Theodore, Mitrani, Judith et al. (eds.). Encounters with Autistic States
Spensley, Sheila. Frances Tustin
Symington, Neville. The Making of a Psychotherapist.
Killick, Katherine & Schaverien, Joy (eds.). Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis.     

I think,therefore I am? Examining conceptions of the self,soul, and mind

In order to delineate among conceptions of the self, soul, and mind, participants reported where they believe these entities are located in the body and provided definitions of each entity. Results indicated that most people consider the self, soul, and mind localized in specific regions in the body. In contrast to previous research, however, some participants reported that the self is not centralized in one location. Participants tended to locate the self and mind in the head and the soul in the chest. The self and mind were commonly defined in mental terms and the soul as one’s essence. These results suggest that people tend to distinguish the soul from the mind, both in how they define each entity and where they locate them in the body. Although some people locate the soul in the same region as the self, most people more closely align the mind with the self.     

Self,Sin, and the Sacred: Some Elements of a Select Psychology for the Care of Souls

Many pastors feel that their work in the secular sphere can best be described as an exploration of the meaning of life: as spiritual care. However, the idea that it is possible and easy to find such a thing as “the meaning of life,” as well as the concurrent idea that this meaning will help to make life more agreeable, should not be taken for granted but, rather, should be considered to be open for further exploration. To get a better understanding of the difference between spiritual care and the care of souls, I will discuss three central themes in any pastoral practice: sin, sense, and sorrow, together with three related constructs: soul, self, and the sacred. My exposition will result in a plea for revaluing two traditional but ever relevant modes of religious leadership: the modes of shepherd and teacher, of tutor and theologian, which are performed either in the context of the church or the secular institutional environment.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Jones, J. D. F., Storyteller. The Many Lives of Laurens van der Post.
Fonagy, Peter, Attachment Theory and Psychoanalysis.
Hedges, Lawrence E, Terrifying Transferences. Aftershocks of Childhood Trauma.
Fordham, Michael, The Making of an Analyst. A Memoir.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Kalsched, Donald, The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit.
Von Franz, Marie-Louise. The Cat: A Tale of Feminine Redemption.
Vedfelt, Ole, The Dimensions of Dreams: The Nature, Function, and Interpretation of Dreams.
Spiegelman, J. M, Psychology and Religion at the Millennium and Beyond.
Waddell, Margot, Inside Lives, Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Kirsch, Thomas B., The Jungians: A Comparative and Historical Perspective
Perera, Sylvia Brinton, Queen Maeve and Her Lovers.
Fonagy, Peter; Cooper, Arnold, Wallerstein, M. & Robert, S., (eds.) Psychoanalysis on the Move. The work of Joseph Sandler
Green, Andre, The Fabric of Affect in the Psychoanalytic Discourse,
Johnson, S. & Ruszcynski, S., (eds.) Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Independent Tradition
Vaidyanathan, T. G. & Kripal, J. J., (eds.) Vishnu on Freud's Desk – A Reader in Psychoanalysis and Hinduism.     

Book reviews

Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, and King (2008) provide a wide-ranging critique of eudaimonic theory and research. In this paper, I question whether the timing of their analysis is appropriate given that work on eudaimonic constructs has begun only recently. In an effort to increase the clarity regarding points at issue, both conceptual and operational definitions of hedonia and eudaimonia as two conceptions of happiness are analyzed along with definitions of four conceptions of well-being (subjective, hedonic, psychological, and eudaimonic), and both hedonism and eudaimonism as ethical philosophies. Responses are provided to numerous points in the Kashdan et al. (2008 Kashdan, TB, Biswas-Diener, R and King, LA. 2008. Reconsidering happiness: The costs of distinguishing between hedonics and eudaimonia. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3: 219–233. [Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) critique including their claims that work from a eudaimonic perspective (1) does not fully capture the philosophical roots of eudaimonia, (2) is overly abstract, (3) lacks clarity at the point of operationalization and measurement, (4) is overly complex thus preventing meaningful scientific inquiry, (5) provides evidence only for quantitative, not qualitative, differences, (6) is potentially elitist, and (7) misrepresents the moral standing of hedonia and eudaimonia. Evidence is presented in support of the view that hedonia and eudaimonia represent inter-related but reliably distinguishable and qualitatively distinct conceptions of happiness making independent contributions to an array of outcome variables. A set of recommendations is advanced as to how theory-building and empirical research can be strengthened in light of the multiple conceptualizations of happiness and well-being now current in the literature.     

Book reviews

Two experiments were conducted with US college students to determine whether affective states influence cross-cultural empathy. Participants read about a target who experienced distress and assumed a perspective that was consistent or inconsistent with US norms. When evaluating targets with a dissimilar (versus similar) cultural perspective, participants in neutral affect (Experiments 1 and 2) or negative affect (Experiment 2) conditions exhibited less perspective taking and emotional empathy. However, those differences were not observed for participants in a positive affect condition. Indeed, students in the positive (versus neutral or negative) affect condition exhibited greater perspective taking and feelings of compassion and sympathy for the dissimilar target. Results support (Fredrickson, B.L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2, 300–319; Fredrickson, B.L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden and build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226) broaden and build theory, suggesting positive affect promotes open-minded, flexible thinking and builds social resources.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Hauke, Christopher Jung and the Postmodern. The Interpretation of Realities.
Covitz, Joel Visions in the Night: Jungian and Ancient Dream Interpretation.
Ferro, Antonino The Bi-Personal Field. Experiences in Child Analysis.
Keve, Tom Triad: the physicists, the analysts, the kabbalists.
Segal, Robert A. (ed.). Hero Myths: A Reader.
Green, André & Stern, Daniel Clinical and Observational Psychoanalytic Research: Roots of a Controversy.
Singer, Thomas (ed.). The Vision Thing: Myth, Politics and Psyche in the World.     

Book reviews

Zinkin, Hindle, Gordon, Rosemary & Haynes, Jane (eds.). Dialogue in the Analytic Setting: Selected Papers of Louis Zinkin on Jungian and Group Analysis
Lyard, Denyse. Les Analyses d'Enfants: Une Clinique Jungienne.
Bion, W. R. Taming Wild Thoughts.
Eigen, Michael. The Psychoanalytic Mystic.
Langs, Robert. Death Anxiety and Clinical Practice.
Etkind, Alexander. The Eros of the Impossible: The History of Psychoanalysis in Russia.     

Book reviews

D. E. M. Gardner: Susan Isaacs: A First Biography. Methuen Educational Ltd., 1972. Price £1.50.

Marion Milner: On Not Being Able to Paint. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., London, 1971. Price 90p

Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins: Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children, with a foreword by Benjamin Britten. Victor Gollancz, London, 1971. Price £1.80.

The Mental Health Book Review Index: an Annual Bibliography of Books and Book Reviews in the Behavioural Sciences, Vol. 17, 1972, XXVI. Price $10.00. Published by the Council on Research in Bibliography, Inc., c/o Research Center for Mental Health, New York University, New York, N.Y. 10003. (Address orders to: Mental Health Book Review Index, c/o Paul Klapper Library, Queens College of the City University of New York, Flushing, New York 11367, U.S.A.)     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Zoja, E. P. Transl. by Henry Martin. Abortion: Loss and Renewal in the Search for Identity.
Bomford, Rodney. The Symmetry of God.
Fisher, James. The Uninvited Guest. Emerging from Narcissism towards Marriage.
Rutzky, Jacques. Coyote Speaks: Creative Strategies for Psychotherapists Treating Alcoholics and Addicts.     

Book reviews

Kast, Verena. Father-Daughter, Mother-Son: Freeing Ourselves from the Complexes that Bind Us
Edinger, Edward F. Melville's Moby-Dick: An American Nekyia
Edinger, Edward F. The New God Image: A Study of Jung's Key Letters Concerning the Evolution of the Western God Image
Dreifuss, Gustav & Riemer, Judith. Abraham, The Man and the Symbol
Storr, Anthony. Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus
Taylor, Eugene. William James on Consciousness Beyond the Margin
Shulman, Helene. Living at the Edge of Chaos: Complex Systems in Culture and Psyche     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Hauke, Christopher and Alister, Ian (eds.) Jung and Film: Post-Jungian Takes on the Moving Image
Meador, Betty de Shong Inanna Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna
Barnes, Fiona Palmer and Murdin, Lesley (eds.) Values and Ethics in the Practice of Psychotherapy and Counselling
Mitrani, Judith L. A Framework for the Imaginary: Clinical Explorations in Primitive States of Being
Mitrani, Judith L. Ordinary People and Extra-Ordinary Protections: A Post-Kleinian Approach to the Treatment of Primitive Mental States
Aulagnier, Piera The Violence of Interpretation: From Pictogram to Statement     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Gaillard, Christian. Le Musée Imaginaire de Carl Gustav Jung.
Young-Eisendrath, Polly & Dawson, Terence (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Jung.
Stevens, Anthony. Ariadne's Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind.
Stein, Murray. Transformation: Emergence of the Self.
Stein, Murray. Jung's Map of the Soul: An Introduction.
Christopher, Shelley (ed.). Contemporary Perspectives on Psychotherapy and Homosexualities.
Marlan, Stanton (ed.). Fire in the Stone: The Alchemy of Desire.     

Book reviews

This paper begins with a critical evaluation of British counselling psychology's aspirations for a scientific basis and considers some of the consequences in terms of theoretical assumptions and research practice. Through identifying certain empirical, theoretical and ideological problems inherent in the dominant tradition of quantifying inferred cognitive constructs (using the example of trainee self-talk), an alternative framework of discursive psychology is simultaneously introduced. the argument is made for a discursive study of storied meanings by trainee counselling psychologists about themselves and their work. This would potentially address two pivotal research areas. First, it affords both a personal and yet socially embedded framework for an increased understanding and more sensitive evaluation of the training process (with its acquisition of skills, knowledge, experience, competencies, etc.). Second, it offers an alternative approach to the problematic area of understanding unique and generic interactions between practitioners and their preferred psychological model(s) of therapy, thus challenging the theoretical and research cul-de-sac of competing modernist visions of purism, eclecticism and integration. Extending from these observations two research possibilities are suggested.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Christopher, E. & Solomon, H. M. (eds.), Jungian Thought in the Modern World.
Goldstein, R. (ed.), Images, Meanings and Connections: Essays in Memory of Susan R. Bach.
Dieckmann, Hans, Complexes: Diagnosis and Therapy in Analytical Psychology.