Dreaming for the World: A Jungian Study of Dreams During the COVID-19 Pandemic1

This project explores what dreams might reveal about the collective psyche’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in its first year, before the development of vaccines. A brief survey, distributed to Jungian colleagues and organizations, and to various social media sites, invited people to submit online a dream related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four hundred and thirty-six dreams were submitted. Forty additional Russian dreams were collected and submitted by Russian colleagues. Using qualitative research methods based on phenomenological hermeneutics, the researchers categorized and counted the range of COVID imagery. In addition, the researchers describe a range of psychic responses to the pandemic, including horror, grief, sickness, social discord, and violence, but also images of healing and transformation, increased sense of community, and spiritual renewal. Several healing nightmares are presented. Healing alchemical and anima/animus imagery is described. Twelve dreams are introduced and presented. It is concluded that the collective psyche, rooted in the Self, is a healing resource for social and cultural trauma. This project supports Beradt’s (1968) inspirational study of dreaming in Nazi Germany, as well as recent studies of COVID-related dreams and recent publications on the social nature of dreaming.     

Childhood Trauma, Adult Sexual Assault, and Adult Gender Expression among Lesbian and Bisexual Women

Several studies have demonstrated that lesbian and bisexual women are more likely than heterosexual women to report childhood abuse and adult sexual assault. It is unknown, however, which sexual minority women are most likely to experience such abuse. We recruited adult sexual minority women living in the US through electronic fliers sent to listservs and website groups inviting them to complete an online survey (N?=?1,243). We examined differences in both childhood abuse and adult sexual assault by women’s current gender identity (i.e., butch, femme, androgynous, or other) and a continuous measure of gender expression (from butch/masculine to femme/feminine), adjusting for sexual orientation identity, age, education, and income. Results indicated that a more butch/masculine current self-assessment of gender expression, but not gender identity, was associated with more overall reported childhood trauma. Although one aspect of gender expression, a more butch/masculine gender role, was associated with adult sexual assault, feminine appearance and a femme gender identity also significantly predicted adult sexual assault. These findings highlight the significance of gender identity and expression in identifying women at greater risk for various abuse experiences.     

Snake mother imagery in generalised anxiety disorder

Abstract

Symbols psychoanalysis, depth psychology, mythology and religion from a multiplicity of perspectives – there are many guidelines for their interpretation and integration in clinical practice. The present study, based on a Jungian analytic model, incorporated the snake mother as an imaginary symbol in a patient with generalised anxiety disorder and her treatment within a clinical case study. From an integrative symbolism approach, snakes are considered mysterious, with the ability to express the primary instinctual powers and psychic energy that take root beyond the ego strength and archetypal images. Here, with respect to the patient's main complaint and her underlying core conflict according to Jungian therapy and Persian mythology, it was indicated that the snake mother symbolism, an imagery object from childhood to adolescence, originated from both the personal and the collective unconsciousness. The way in which the symbolism of the snake mother came to work in the therapeutic process was similar to a that of dream and symbolism approach. The snake mother operated as an alternative animus in the shape of a caregiving mother, and supported the patient against her father's misbehavior during her early childhood. It could represent the shadow, the reconsolidation of the anima/animus for patient, and a projection of negative thoughts and actions from animal instincts.     

Jung's Erotic Phenomenology: I. A New Translation

In the introduction to The Psychology of the Transference (1946), Carl Jung sketched out a theory of “erotic phenomenology” which condenses his teaching about sexuality and romantic love into a very concise summary. But the meaning of this passage is obscured in the English translation given in the Collected Works of C. G. Jung. I propose here a new translation which makes Jung’s meaning clearer, along with a commentary which explains it in the context of Freudian drive theory and German 19^th century philosophy. Invoking the concepts of instinct, mind, and Eros (both the passion and the divine figure), Jung’s theory says that male sexual desire can be cultivated or repressed in four distinct ways, each associated with a female symbolic figure or anima image: Eve, Helen, Mary and Sophia.     

Changes in cannabis use in emerging adulthood: The influence of peer network,impulsivity, anxiety and depression

IntroductionCannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug with the highest prevalence reported among 15- to 24-year-olds. This specific period of emerging adulthood constitutes a critical age for substance use and for future consumption. Cannabis use patterns change during college or university and the post-college transition; users are at greater risk of adverse health outcomes (especially if they start or maintain a pattern of frequent use).ObjectivesThe overall aim of this study was to highlight psychological and relational factors that might be associated with changes (including cessation and fluctuation) in cannabis use during this specific period, separately for males and females.MethodsThe subjects were 682 first-year college students (69.94% of female), aged between 18 and 25 years (M = 18.59 years, SD = 1.56). Four groups were formed according to cannabis consumption: “non-users” (54.64%), “desisting users” (14.04%), “fluctuating users” (16.23%), and “persistent users” (15.07%). A self-report questionnaire was administered to evaluate prevalence, frequency and trajectory of use, number of peer cannabis users, alcohol use, impulsivity, anxiety (trait and social) and depression.ResultsFemales appear more sensitive to the romantic partner's consumption than males. For both sexes, having more friends who use cannabis appears to be a determinant. Depression and anxiety were not related to changes in cannabis use. Impulsivity is a significant factor for the maintenance of cannabis use in emerging adulthood, with higher lack of premeditation for males and higher sensation seeking for females among fluctuating and persistent users.ConclusionsResults are discussed in terms of maintenance of use and the spiral of consumption, including clinical implications for prevention and interventions.     

Response to ‘Transgender medicalization and the attempt to evade psychological distress’ (Withers 2020) and to Herdzik’s (2021) response to Withers

Psyche is non-binary and multiple and clinical work in the analytic container must be held in the fluidity of multiplicity. Analysts are called to bring Queer energy to analytical attitude. Queer energy is intrinsically non-conforming and desires to confront a priori concepts in service to the unfolding of the Self. A Queer analytic attitude seeks to blur narrative, deconstruct language and listen deeply for what is emergent in the field. Queer energy is also deeply activating and often results in polarizations of attitude and a failure to hold what is emergent. This response to Withers (2020) and to (Herdzik 2021) is an invitation for all of us to engage our activated complexes around work with transgender issues and the fluidity of the Queer experience. The multiplicity of the Self seeks to be known through analytic process. Consciously held authentic experience of what is emergent and thus unknown is at the core of this process. An analysis capable of holding Queer energy offers a theatre for the exploration of gender identity and its expression.     

Plague God Image in the Clinic1

This paper selects four dreams before and during COVID-19 which constellated the Plague God image in Chinese culture. The author argues that this shows evidence that the origins of the modern psyche, although hidden, are preserved and living within the ancient anima mundi.     

Personal assessment of intimacy in relationships: Validity and measurement invariance across gender

IntroductionIntimacy is central in close relationships and a variety of definitions and instruments exist in scientific literature, making this concept complex to investigate. Furthermore, gender differences were identified in the definition and experience of intimacy.ObjectivesThis study aims to confirm the three-factor structure of the personal assessment of intimacy in relationships (PAIR, Schaefer & Olson, 1981), commonly used in research and marital therapy, developed by Moore et al. (1998) and to examine the measurement equivalence of the scale across gender.MethodA confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the responses of 313 women and 251 men in committed relationships in a French population. Measurement equivalence of the scale across gender was then conducted with the best-fitting model.ResultsThe results of CFA and post-hoc analyses revealed that the three-factor model revised with 18 items was the best fit to the data: (1) engagement (10 items), (2) communication (5 items), (3) shared friends (3 items). PAIR-18 displayed a lack of metric and scalar invariance across gender but estimated means of latent variables is not very different between the full invariant model and the unconstraint models.ConclusionNevertheless, consideration of gender differences in the construct of intimacy is very important for theoretical research on intimacy in romantic relationships and for the interventions of marital therapists based on intimacy.     

Long-term stability of the French WISC-IV: Standard and CHC index scores

Introduction

The assumption of the stability of intelligence is the source of the predictive value of the Intelligence Quotient (e.g., Full Scale IQ). However, few studies have investigated the long-term stability of one of the most frequently used tests in the field of cognitive assessment: the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – 4th edition (WISC-IV).

God Talks to Me in My Dreams: The occurrence and significance of children's dreams about God

This paper is a summary of research into 9-11 year old's dreams about God. It is a qualitative study of three schools. The research shows that dreaming about God is not uncommon amongst this age group, and is not restricted to believers. The divine dreams are often quite different in essence to ordinary dreams and play a significant role in the spiritual and/or religious lives of the dreamer. A fear of ridicule from peers, and of dismissal from adults in many cases forces the child to keep their dreams and other spiritual experiences within, but a need to share was evident. The number of boys reporting divine dreams was significantly lower compared to girls indicating a possible gender issue which teachers need to be aware of. The subject provides a powerful key to unlock the door to children's expression of their inner world.     

Dreaming under fire: the psyche in times of continuous stress

Continuous stress and trauma are manifested in dreams, the study of which can expand our knowledge concerning unconscious reactions to trauma and efforts of coping with continuous traumatic situations. In our research we asked people living under continuous threat of rocket attacks to record their dreams and their associations to them during four consecutive weeks. We collected 609 dreams from 44 women and 18 men (age range 14-62). The dreams submitted were analysed according to the Jungian approach in the light of the information and associations presented by the subjects. Full dream series of dreamers from each group were analysed in an attempt to capture the depth-psychological experience of living and dreaming under fire. The most frequent themes found were: ‘concrete vs. symbolic', ‘togetherness', ‘active ego', ‘fear and anxiety', ‘shadow' and ‘personal issue'. The subjects were divided into three age groups. Differences between the occurrences of themes were examined. On the unconscious level our results showed that the adolescents group seemed to be the most vulnerable to the stress situation (preponderance of concrete dreams), the mature adults group was the least influenced by it (preponderance of symbolic dreams and of the ‘personal issue' theme) and the young adults group made the greatest psychological efforts for coping (preponderance of ‘active ego' theme). We noted few anima figures appearing in the men's dreams, while animus figures appeared in the women's dreams. In another study undertaken immediately after one of the recent wars in Gaza we collected dreams of Israelis living in the south of Israel who were under heavy daily rocket attacks, and dreams of Palestinians living in the West Bank. The most significant difference we found between the groups was a preponderance of symbolic dreams among the Palestinians, as opposed to a preponderance of concrete trauma dreams among the Israeli group living on the Gaza border. In both groups we found archetypal symbols of evil. In conclusion, dreams can help us detect emotional distress, even when subjects seem ‘ok'. Early detection and working with dreams can help prevent the severity of delayed PTSD.     

Reading and related skills in Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9: French normative data from EVALEC

IntroductionTo appropriately assess reading difficulties, tests designed according to an appropriate theoretical framework and based on normative data are required.ObjectiveWe used EVALEC (Sprenger-Charolles, Colé, Béchennec, & Kipffer-Piquard, 2005) to collect data on the word-level reading skills and reading-related skills (phonemic awareness, phonological short-term memory, and rapid naming) of middle school children (Grades 6 to 9, about 80 in each grade).MethodIn the tests focused on word-level reading skills, the effects of regularity (regular vs. irregular words), lexicality, and length (short vs. long irregular words and pseudowords) were examined. Accuracy and processing times were recorded for all tests.ResultsThe effects of both regularity and lexicality were significant, whatever the measure and independently of grade. Both accuracy and speed were lower for longer pseudowords, whereas length did not have a significant effect on irregular word latencies and, surprisingly, long irregular words were read more accurately than short ones. Reading level as assessed by a standardized test (Lefavrais, 2005) was not predicted by phonological short-term memory; rapid naming (color names) and phonemic awareness were both predictors but, in both cases, only response times predicted reading level.ConclusionThese results, and particularly those from the reading tasks, are discussed in relation to models of written-word recognition developed to account for the reading of multisyllabic items (Perry, Ziegler, & Zorzi, 2010) in orthographies shallower than English (Perry, Ziegler, & Zorzi, 2014).     

The divine dreams of a sample of South African children: the gateway to their spirituality

As part of a research project on religion, spirituality and education, the authors attended to the role that children's divine dreams could play in religious education (RE). They contend that such dreams can indeed be used by RE teachers as the gateway to understanding the spirituality of their learners. They defend their claim by firstly developing a conceptual‐theoretical framework with respect to religion, spirituality and children's divine dreams, and then presenting the results of an explorative quantitative‐qualitative investigation in three schools. They find their claim to have been vindicated, and suggest that although RE teachers should not necessarily teach divine dreams per se, they should, nevertheless, explore the possibility that (at least some of) the contents of children's divine dreams may be useful for the purpose of teaching them RE from religion itself, rather than teaching them only about religion.     

Looking High and Low: Modem Art's Search and Seizure of Push-up Bras,Cadillac Fins and Blow-up Bunnies

Marie-Louise von Franz's classical volume on Number and Time was a pioneering effort to explore the deep archetypal structure of the way we organize our understanding of ourselves and the world. She used dreams, myths, and ancient cultural images to illustrate how numbers provide us with important insights into the co-creative dynamics of the psyche. In this column I seek to extend von Franz's work by illustrating a new mathematical model of how psychological dynamics are manifest in a series of dreams. These are the dreams of a young woman, whom I call “Davina,” going through critical life transitions (presented in greater detail in Rossi, 1999).     

Dreams,spirituality, and root metaphors

The subject of dreams and spirituality has received a great deal of attention in recent years. It has not, however, been seriously examined by religious studies scholars; thus, our ability to explore the spiritual potentials of dreams has been left sadly undeveloped. This essay attempts to improve that understanding. The concept ofroot metaphors will be presented as a means of developing a sophisticated, critical understanding of dreams and spirituality. Three dreams in which root metaphors emerge to provide important spiritual meanings for the dreamer will be discussed. Some practical guidelines, oriented around the model ofplaying with dreams, will also be presented to help make the spiritual dimension of dreams more accessible to psychotherapists, pastoral counselors, and lay people.A member of the Board of Directors of the Association for the Study of Dreams, and Chairman of the ASD Education Committee.     

Event justice and social entity justice: A cross-lagged analysis

IntroductionThe life of organizations is punctuated by a wide range of managerial decisions (e.g., hiring and selection procedure, performance appraisal, new working methods). Facing such events, employees evaluate the fairness of the situation experienced (event justice). They can also examine the fairness demonstrated by a specific entity, such as the organization or the supervisor (social entity justice). So far, little is known about how justice judgments about events vs. entities are related to each other, especially in a context of organizational change.ObjectiveBuilding on decision-making and organizational justice literature, we investigate the directionality of the causal relationships between event justice and social entity justice within a context of organizational change in a Belgian company (a significant reorganization at the level of the organization chart resulting in different changes for employees).MethodsWe used two samples (team leaders and executives) and realized a cross-lagged panel analysis with two measurement times.ResultsThe study shows that, in both samples, employees’ fairness perceptions about their organization (social entity justice) influence their interpretation of the fairness of subsequent events involving the organization (event justice).ConclusionBuilding and fostering a climate of justice is therefore of primary importance to organizations, since global fairness perceptions about the organization may help employees to perceive a specific event, such as an organizational change, as being fair.     

Integration versus conflict between schools of dream theory and dreamwork: integrating the psychological core qualities of dreams with the contemporary knowledge of the dreaming brain

The various ways schools of psychotherapy relate to dreams have been marked by isolationism and mutual conflict rather than self-examination and then integrating the discoveries and methods of other schools. Jung’s method was in opposition to Freud’s psychoanalysis. Existential psychology was dismissive of Freud’s and Jung’s discoveries, while cognitive dream interpretation and cognitive therapy sought other roads entirely. In addition, scientific and neuropsychological dream research has been only insignificantly tied to the psychotherapeutic dream theories. These conflicts and the lack of a comprehensive dream theory has made it convenient for the current rationalist collective consciousness and treatment systems to reject the often times challenging knowledge about ourselves that dreams can provide. This paper describes how contemporary theories of complex cybernetic information networks can create an overriding, constructive framework for uncovering common traits within the above-mentioned branches of dream research and dreamwork. Within this framework, ten core qualities are delineated, supported by both therapeutic knowledge as well as scientific research: 1) Dreams deal with matters important to us; 2) Dreams symbolize; 3) Dreams personify; 4) Dreams are trial runs in a safe place; 5) Dreams are online to unconscious intelligence; 6) Dreams are pattern recognition; 7) Dreams are high level communication; 8) Dreams are condensed information; 9) Dreams are experiences of wholeness; 10) Dreams are psychological energy landscapes. For each core quality I describe short dreamwork sequences from my own practice and a schematic image of how I perceive the overriding interaction between systems in the dreaming brain. For each core quality recommendations for practical dreamwork are provided. Finally, I draw attention to dreams as a huge psychological resource for humankind.     

Cultural,contextual, and gender differences in peer talk: A comparative study

Tulviste, T., Mizera, L., De Geer, B. & Tryggvason, M.‐T. (2010). Cultural, contextual, and gender differences in peer talk: A comparative study. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. The study focused on cultural, contextual, and gender differences in children’s peer talk. Same‐sex dyads of Estonian (n = 38), Finnish (n = 38), and Swedish (n = 34) preschool age children were videotaped during unstructured and structured play settings. We found only one gender difference in children’s talkativeness and in the use of regulatory speech: during free play, Swedish boys used more imperatives per directives than Swedish girls. At the same time there were significant cultural and contextual differences. Estonian children were most directive and Swedish children were least directive. Finnish children were less directive than Estonian children but more directive than Swedish children. It was concluded that cultural and contextual factors strongly influence the likelihood, extent, and nature of gender differences in peer talk.     

Evaluating Arguments for the Sex/Gender Distinction

Many philosophers believe that our ordinary English words man and woman are “gender terms,” and gender is distinct from biological sex. That is, they believe womanhood and manhood are not defined even partly by biological sex. This sex/gender distinction is one of the most influential ideas of the twentieth century on the broader culture, both popular and academic. Less well known are the reasons to think it’s true. My interest in this paper is to show that, upon investigation, the arguments for the sex/gender distinction have feet of clay. In fact, they all fail. We will survey the literature and tour arguments in favor of the sex/gender distinction, and then we’ll critically evaluate those arguments. We’ll consider the argument from resisting biological determinism, the argument from biologically intersex people and vagueness, the argument from the normativity of gender, and some arguments from thought experiments. We’ll see that these arguments are not up to the task of supporting the sex/gender distinction; they simply don’t work. So, philosophers should either develop stronger arguments for the sex/gender distinction, or cultivate a variety of feminism that’s consistent with the traditional, biologically-based definitions of woman and man.

     

Psychotherapists' dreams about their patients

Abstract This study examines therapists’ dreams about their patients from the Jungian and the relational perspectives. Few clinical and empirical references to this subject are to be found in the literature. In the present study 31 dreams were collected from 22 therapists. Dreams were collected using anonymous self‐report inventory. The research focused on three theoretical research questions: 1. What themes appear in the manifest content of therapists’ dreams about their patients? 2. What contributions are made by Jungian interpretation of therapists’ dreams about their patients? 3. To what extent are masochistic contents present in the manifest content of therapists’ dreams about their patients? The first question was addressed using categorical content analysis of a) themes common to different dreams and b) pre‐determined themes for all dreams. The third research question was addressed using Beck's (1967) ‘Masochistic Dream’ measure. Results: Among the themes common to different dreams were: therapist‐patient role reversal; therapist and/or patient attends and remains in meeting, departs/doesn’t depart; cancellation of therapy session; sexuality between therapist and patient; aggression; presence vs. absence; non‐verbal relationship and communication; time; driving vs. stopping. With regard to pre‐determined themes it was found that in 20 of the 31 dreams, the therapist had a negative experience and was characterized as vulnerable. Likewise it was found that 26 out of 31 dreams took place in either a) a street, a road, a route, a corridor; b) en route to somewhere; c) a therapy room and/or building; d) a house. With regard to the contribution of Jungian interpretations of the dreams it was found that 17 of the dreams had diagnostic and prognostic elements, 4 of which were initial dreams, 9 of them were compensatory dreams and in 14 it was found that the patient represents the shadow of the therapist. With regard to the third question it was found that 18 of the 31 dreams met Beck's (1967) criteria for masochistic dreams. The theoretical discussion examines the findings from a Jungian perspective, with an emphasis on also understanding the dream in terms of its expression of relational aspects of the therapist‐patient relationship. The findings affirm the presence of the ‘wounded healer’ archetypes in therapists’ dreams about their patients. The results of the study indicate that therapists’ dreams about their patients can be a valuable tool for deepening understanding of the therapeutic relationship and process.