Displacement trauma: complex states of personal,collective and intergenerational fragmentation and their intergenerational transmission

Originally presented at the Journal’s one day conference entitled ‘Displacement: Contemporary Traumatic Experience’ held in London in November 2019, this paper expands on the author’s theory of the implicit psychological organizing gestalt, an associated pattern of psychic functions which operate in an integrated way to simultaneously structure and organize our experience of self-cohesion and self-continuity. The gestalt, which implicitly links the formation of psychic skin, body image, cultural skin and both personal and cultural identity with place, functions as an emergent non-conscious permanent presence or background ‘constant’. It develops over time and emerges out of embodied emotional experiencing with the total environment – both human and non-human. The author argues that it is the rupture of this gestalt and the disorganizing consequences of its loss which underlies the experience of displacement trauma. If disruptions in the formation of the gestalt and/or its later rupture remain unrecognized and unrepresented then the absence creates a void which can be intergenerationally transmitted. Case material is presented which describes this and which highlights the ways in which the gestalt can contribute to our understanding of collective displacement anxiety, cultural trauma and cultural complexes.     

Cultural identity in Siberia and in analytical practice

This paper discusses the main features of Siberian identity formed throughout the historical development of Siberia under the influence of social, economic, geographical, climatic, and other factors. Siberian cultural identity is closely connected with the mythology and ancient religion of the indigenous peoples of Siberia – shamanism, whose rituals, images, symbols, and motifs are often manifested in the clients’ dreams. Following an in‐depth study of Siberian history and culture, I formulate a complex of homelessness rooted in a deep collective trauma that left its imprint on people’s psyche. Three clinical cases presented in the paper reveal a deep relationship between cultural complexes and collective traumas on the one hand, and individual complexes and traumas, on the other. My psychotherapeutic practice shows that a client’s awareness of their history and culture brings them closer to the meaning and source of their suffering, which, in turn, helps them find their own way of individuation, rather than relive the transgenerational trauma of their ancestors.     

The Transformation of Chinese Cultural Images of the Plague through Chinese Characters,Legends and Folkways1

The human experience of survival from a plague is about distinguishing the sick from the healthy as quickly as possible, establishing a barrier to stop the infection, and protecting healthy people. Nevertheless, the various quarantine rules and the acceptance and compliance of the population are a kind of battle between policy implementers and the public. This paper tries to understand how Chinese cultural attitudes (Henderson, 1984) unconsciously influence the Chinese people to be most cooperative with the strict containment and quarantine measures to confront the COVID-19 pandemic. This article begins with the Chinese characters, exemplified by the four characters of disease and plague, to discuss how the pictograph nature and spatial structural way profoundly shaped the cultural mind. Then, through plague-related Chinese legends, stories and folklore, the paper sets out the Chinese cultural attitudes which are also manifested in the analogical associations between disease, plague and seasons, the balance of the five elements of the universe and ghosts, gods and the government bureaucrats in the Kingdom of the Heaven. All of these approaches are well in line with Jung’s method of associative amplification as a way to locate the archetypal wisdom that assures survival.     

Parent engagement in an original and culturally adapted evidence-based parenting program,Legacy for Children™

Legacy for Children™ (Legacy) is an evidence-based program focused on promoting sensitive, responsive parenting for socioeconomically disadvantaged families. Legacy has recently been culturally and linguistically adapted for Spanish-monolingual Latino families and is being piloted in partnership with an early childhood education program. We conducted a mixed methods study to identify barriers and facilitators to engagement, using program monitoring data sources from both participant and group leader perspectives. We conducted qualitative analyses of open-ended data to identify distinct barriers (e.g., employment challenges, health-related challenges and appointments) and facilitators (e.g., other mothers in group, interest in program topics) to engagement that emerged across English and Spanish language curriculum versions; curriculum-specific barriers and facilitators were also documented. We interpret these findings in light of quantitative data on measures of engagement, showing that participants in the Spanish curriculum evidenced comparable levels of parent–group leader relationship quality relative to the English group, and higher levels of parent's group support/connectedness and overall satisfaction. These results offer promising considerations for optimizing families’ engagement in parenting programs in the context of early care and education settings.     

Représentations de la société et pratiques éducatives en contexte de disparité culturelle : les choix de scolarisation de l'enfant chez des parents sénégalais

The purpose of this study, including the socio-cultural context of Senegal, is to show how society and social change's representations affect the choice to attend school or not. Representations of the society and of the social change have been apprehended during half directive talks, accomplished with twenty subjects (parents of Senegalese children) and put in evidence by statistical analyses, both lexical and morphosyntactical. It emerges from the results that important changes concerning representations of the society and of the social change - especially according to school attendance's modes - can be observed. Parent's positions on the social change - sometimes ambivalents - underline incoherence of link between society and social change's representations and school attendance's methods in a cross-cultural context.     

Chasing the Numinous: Hungry Ghosts in the Shadow of the Psychedelic Renaissance

In recent years a renewed scientific, public and commercial interest in psychedelic medicines can be observed across the globe. As research findings have been generally promising, there is hope for new treatment possibilities for a number of difficult-to-treat mental health concerns. While honouring positive developments and therapeutic promise in relation to the medical use of psychedelics, this paper aims to shine a light on some underlying psycho-cultural shadow dynamics in the unfolding psychedelic renaissance. This paper explores whether and how the multi-layered collective fascination with psychedelics may yet be another symptom pointing towards a deeper psychological and spiritual malaise in the modern Western psyche as diagnosed by C. G. Jung. The question is posed whether the West’s feverish pursuit of psychedelic medicines—from individual consumption to entheogenic tourism, from capitalist commodification of medicines and treatments to the increasing number of ethical scandals and abuse through clinicians and self-proclaimed shamans—is related to a Western cultural complex. As part of the discussion, the archetypal image of the Hungry Ghost, known across Asian cultural and religious traditions, is explored to better understand the aforementioned shadow phenomena and point towards mitigating possibilities.     

A response to William Meredith-Owen’s ‘Alchemical dragons: Winnicott’s reaching towards the objective psyche’

This paper was presented as a response to Meredith-Owen’s paper at the inaugural joint conference of The Society of Analytical Psychology and the West Midlands Institute of Psychotherapy in autumn 2020. The author considers the constraints on the personal mother’s capacity to facilitate the integration of both the shadow and the unrepressed unconscious. Such a difficult task requires the involvement of an enabling cultural matrix mediated by socio-political systems and structures. The improvement of this cultural matrix relies on alchemical-like processes which would help understanding develop beyond one’s own point of view.     

Jungian Analysis of the Chinese Mythological Image of Sun Wukong

This paper examines the symbolism of the cultural image Sun Wukong (the Monkey King), a Chinese legendary hero, and how it influenced an eight-year-old boy’s psychic development. Through an analysis of Sun Wukong’s life from his birth to attaining Buddhahood, a three-phase healing process is identified in Sun Wukong’s tale and the psychotherapeutic process: “naming and initiating,” “nurturing and taming,” and “transforming and transcending,” proposed by Dr. Heyong Shen. Sandplay visually highlighted these key clinical changes in conscious awareness and developmental behaviour influencing the boy’s individuation process. Images found either in cultural traditions or spontaneously emerging from the unconscious in individuals are of significance in human life, offering pathways to psychic healing and development. Further, myths and cultural resources used in clinical work demonstrate that having cultural competency is invaluable in Jungian analysis. Pathogenic and health-maintenance factors of culture can be explored in future clinical practice and research.     

Facteur d’impact et mondialisation culturelle

In the present article, we recall the principle of articles consummation as defined by the ISI creator (Institute for Scientific Information). That principle justifies the impact factor (IF) used as a measure of a journal scientific value, of a researcher or of a researcher group… We expose some assumptions that support the IF validity. Further we demonstrate that, on the one hand, these assumptions are not very well established and, on the other hand, that principle and the IF success bias the scientific activity. We consider next two shapes that this bias could take: at best a phenomenon of fashions, at worst, an ideological war having as purpose the American way of thinking domination.