By George A. Boyd @2002
The mythic and symbolic realm of archetypes underlies
the experiential layers of life experience as a rich, evocative substratum.
These archetypes may be seen as containers of meaning.
The schools of psychology listed in the table below
have tapped these archetypal layers and gathered much clinical and phenomenal
information about them. Interested students and clinicians can consult
these sources for further information on what these thinkers and scholars
believed were relevant archetypes or myths to use for study and therapeutic
purposes.
Encountering archetypes may shed light on the patient's
issues and stages in personal and transpersonal growth. When we examine
the changes that occur over a lifetime in the human personality, we find
the following perspectives that may incorporate interaction either with
archetypes that signify an important life issue, or a stage in growthor
both:
Center |
Perspective (Exponents) |
School of Psychology |
Transpersonal
Archetypes |
Transcerebral |
Evocative myths and archetypes in the collective
unconscious (Jung) (Assagioli) |
Analytical Psychology
Psychosynthesis |
Personal Archetypes |
Crown |
Changes in interpersonal relationships over time
(Sullivan) |
Interpersonal Psychology Family
Systems |
Brow |
Changes in objects incorporated in the psyche
over time |
Object Relations |
Throat |
Changes in adaptation of the Self (Kohut) |
Self Psychology |
Heart |
Life challenges and masteries of each developmental
stage (Erikson) |
Ego Psychology |
Solar |
Maturation of mental functioning (Piaget) |
Child Psychology |
Sacral |
Psychosexual stages (Freud) |
Psychoanalytic Psychology |
Root |
Physical development changes with age observed
in the organism |
Physiological Psychology |
Anatomy of
an Archetype
Each archetype may be seen to be comprised of the following
eight components:
- Visual appearance component: form of the archetype
- Feeling component: emotional quality expressed by
the archetype, explicit or implicit
- Kinesthetic component: expression as movement
- Verbal component: expression as speech
- Cognitive component: beliefs or concepts communicated
by the archetype
- Volitional component: what powers or abilities to
manifest are expressed by the archetype, actively or potentially
- Identity component: the I AM statement enunciated
from the essence of the archetype
- Essence of the archetype: the archetype as mystery
Understanding the components by which it is possible
to encounter and work with an archetype allows the clinician to design
evocative methods to guide the patient to interact with the archetype
to resolve a poignant life issue, or to resolve the challenges of a stage
of growth. One method for interfacing with an archetype is the Dialog
Method.
The Dialog Method for Working with
Archetypes
These components may be elicited in therapeutic dialogue
or self-exploration by a series of evocative questions or suggestions.
For example:
Show me your form. What do you look like? |
What do you feel about
? Tell me what
you feel. |
Feel the tendency towards posture or movement
inherent in the archetype. How might you move? What actions would
you take? ("Move this body" will evoke a possession-like
state where the archetype will initiate movement.) |
Tell me what you wish to say to me. What do
you have to say to me? ("Speak through me utter through
my lips," will evoke a possession-like "medium" or channeling
experience where the archetype will speak through you.) |
Teach me about your world or experience. What
lesson do you have to teach me? What warning do you have to show
me? What do I need to understand about you? What am I not seeing
in myself? |
What gifts do you have to share or express?
Show me your powers. |
Declare to me who you are. Who are you really?
Who are you? |
Show me your essence. What is you essence?
Show it to me. |
Dialog with this deep intrapsychic layer can bring
insight into the meanings inherent in these archetypes. Once integrated
into consciousness, they may bring new gifts of understanding and release
latent abilities (e.g., a creative gift of drawing, storytelling, painting,
music, etc.).
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