Archetypal
Pattern Analyst Training Program A
Two-Year Interdisciplinary Program
"Matter
is psyche moving slowly enough to be seen." Teilhard de Chardin
C.G.
Jung emphasized the centrality of the Self and its archetypes in
shaping human experience. Their profound meaning and rich texture
draw us into a domain that, since the beginning of time, has been
the purview of mystics, saints, and "wise ones." This interior world
of the psyche and its wisdom is manifested through the patterns
it creates, and an awareness of these archetypal patterns can help
to enrich our personal and professional lives.
The
Assisi Institute's innovative Training Program is committed to advancing
the understanding and practice of this emerging field of archetypal
pattern analysis. Our trans-disciplinary curriculum is informed
by the work of C.G. Jung, M.L. von Franz, discoveries in the new
sciences, and the eternal truths of the world's wisdom traditions.
Each of these domains speaks of an overarching intelligent psyche
that guides the unfolding of life on all levels. These different
streams have contributed greatly to our appreciation and understanding
of what Jung termed the objective psyche, and their in-depth study
serves as the theoretical underpinning of our work.
Exploration
of these foundational concepts is complemented by extensive practice
in the methodology and application of archetypal pattern analysis.
Indeed, any meaningful assessments must draw on the capacity to
read patterns. This is true in psychotherapy and medicine, as well
as in organizational consulting, education, law, and other professional
fields. Without an awareness of the archetypal foundation of patterns,
our interventions are limited because they tend simply to address
the manifest, temporal expression of a given situation, and not
the forward-moving, meaning-making dimension of the archetype.
Our internationally recognized faculty from highly diverse fields
are specialists in reading the archetypal nature of patterns. Weekend
class sessions and telseminar case colloquia help foster
students' ability to discern the presence of archetypes through
study of mythology, psychotherapy, the cinema, dreams, and their
formation in the outer world.
Successful
completion of the program leads to certification as an Archetypal
Pattern Analyst. We are pleased that our graduates are continually
broadening the reach of this cutting-edge discipline in fields as
diverse as psychotherapy, medicine, government, education, and the
arts.
Curriculum Overview
We have identified several key concepts that are essential to the Assisi Institute's Training Program. Familiarity with these carefully defined, broadly observed, and powerfully inter-related areas serves as a foundation for each student's understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and methodology of Archetypal Pattern Analysis.
These Key Concepts draw heavily from Jungian psychology and the new sciences. Each concept builds upon an understanding of the confluence of spirit, psyche and matter, and the various expressions found of these dynamics across disciplines.
The Key Concepts include:
THE ARCHETYPES AND THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS
The archetypes of the collective unconscious are held to be responsible for the organization and propagation of forms and meaning in the human psyche and the natural world. We will examine in depth the nature of the archetype and the collective unconscious, and the relationship between these. This will allow us to draw parallels between the work of C.G. Jung and recent discoveries in the new sciences, including the work of David Bohm, Fritjof Capra, Mae-wan Ho, Ervin Laszlo, F. David Peat, Beverly Rubik and Rupert Sheldrake, as well as Platonic ideals and other "potentializing" fields operative within the human psyche and natural world.
MORPHOGENETIC AND ARCHETYPAL FIELDS
Our early exploration into the nature of fields was inspired by an interest in understanding what guides and shapes the life process. So too in the therapeutic and consulting relationship, we note the presence of some "influence" guiding the interactions and developments within it. We have come to understand that life is lived in response to the actions and unfolding of fields in the inner and outer world, such as archetypal, gravitational, and electromagnetic fields.
What is the nature of those generative fields from which archetypes emerge and become configured in matter and symbols? What properties of matter permit or mediate the emergence of an archetypal image or energy? What gives rise to the actuality of form? We will investigate the vast domain of morphogenetic (i.e. form-generating) and archetypal fields by drawing from a variety of sources, including Jungian psychology, dynamical systems, biology, and quantum physics.
Our goal is to understand the role and existence of these fields in order to better comprehend that domain which is neither purely psychic nor purely material. Rather, we will be investigating the realm of the psychoid, which Jung described as an intermixture in which matter and psyche are so entangled you cannot pull them apart. The writings of David Bohm, C. G. Jung, Ervin Laszlo, F. David Peat, Adolf Pormann, Rupert Sheldrake, and C.H. Waddington will help shape our inquiry in this area.
PATTERN FORMATION
We come to know the world through the patterns created within and around us. Patterns represent the coalescing of archetypal potentialities and dynamics into recognizable forms, shapes, and designs. For instance, the archetypes of young adulthood, mid-life, and our later years have certain behaviors, tendencies, and images in common, which provide even further evidence of Jung's work on the archetype as an expression of universal, innate patterns.
From the morphogenetic and archetypal field inevitably arises a pattern which carries the expression of the field it seeks to convey. This series of seminars is designed to help students gain a deeper appreciation and awareness of the presence of these universal patterns, and the ability to interact with these fields in a meaningful way.
We will explore the relationship between archetypes and the specific patterns they generate. The work of Michael Conforti will be central to our understanding of these concepts.
REPLICATION AND CHANGE
In the eternal dance of creation, replication and change are complementary partners. Replication serves to stabilize and conserve inherent individual and archetypal form. And yet each system also carries within it the capacity and innate need to change and evolve into a higher order of development.
Our curriculum examines the mystery of change operative in all living systems including the human psyche, and the mandates of archetypal design. Areas to be studied include replication theory, bifurcation, perturbation theory, and the dynamics of change. We will draw from a variety of disciplines including Jungian psychology, organizational development, and general and dynamical systems theory, and ancient wisdom traditions.
THE ARCHETYPAL DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH
Each stage of life is governed by highly specific, inherent archetypal mandates. Unique dynamics, tendencies, and rites of passage are found in each stage. These archetypal mandates and regularities need to be understood and integrated if we are to forge a meaningful life, one that is supported by the great wisdom traditions, and echoed by the Self.
Perhaps there is no greater presentation and extension of Jung's archetypal developmental model than that found in Erich Neumann's seminal work, The Origins and History of Consciousness, where he presents a provocative, clinically brilliant, and utterly applicable presentation of the ways archetypes shape life and influence our behavior.
Course Modules
SYMBOLS, ARCHEYPTES, AND THE OBJECTIVE PSYCHE
Perhaps Jung's greatest insights concern the presence and workings of the objective psyche, which functions much like the ancient wisdom traditions to orient and guide individuals throughout life. We will compare subjective and objective interpretations of situations and images, with special emphasis on discerning their archetypal underpinnings. This discipline will be illustrated through the presentation of dreams, art, and other manifestations of unconscious material.
ARCHETYPAL PATTERNS
Through a study of myth, fairy tales, art, literature, and sacred texts, this course will explore the universal patterns underlying individual behavior and organizational dynamics, and their reflection in processes of the outer natural world. We will also examine somatic patterns and bodily expression as manifestations of archetypal influences. Participants will learn to identify and articulate the nature of particular archetypal patterns, and determine the specific dyanmics and needs related to these configurations.
ARCHETYPAL FIELD THEORY AND THE NEW SCIENCES
The new sciences of dynamical systems, chaos theory, and field theory represent important extensions and validation of Jung's work on the nature of the objective psyche, and the influence of archetypal fields. As Jung found a meaningful correlation between the workings of this objective psyche and ancient alchemical processes, so too do the new sciences describe the inherent interconnection of matter and psyche, helping us to better understand that domain which Jung described as the "psychoid".
This seminar will explore the development of an archetypal field theory, from Maxwell's early work on electromagnetic fields, to the theories of biologists Portmann, Waddington, and Thompson, the recent discoveries of Sheldrake, Laszlo, Ho, and Rubik's work on the "biofield".
INITIAL CONDITIONS: THEORY AND PRACTICE
The inception of a therapeutic relationship, a first encounter with a potential partner, and an interview with a prospective employee all involve an interchange of conscious and unconscious dynamics and responses. These dynamics are embedded in a process Jung described as the "Marriage Quaternity", an apt description of these operations. In each of these situations, participants are brought under the influence of a field, and together, tend to enact a drama that is seemingly preformed and configured.
This course will take an in depth look at the initial conditions of small and large-scale systems. Drawing from the findings of dynamical systems theory and the works of Fred Abraham, Ralph Abraham, Vilmos Csanyi, Robert Langs, Adolph Portmann, and Michael Conforti, we will examine a system's sensitivity and insensitivity to initial conditions, and explore the concepts of hysteresis, theories of replication, and the idea of pre-formed fields.
THE ARCHETYPAL DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH TO THE PSYCHE
Erich Neumann's seminal work, The Origins and History of Consciousness, outlines an archetypal developmental model of individual and collective life. He explains that as development proceeds from infancy to old age, we transit through distinct thresholds with unique archetypal challenges and rites of passage. These stages of human consciousness include the Uroborus, the Great Mother, the Hero, Parent/Child, and the Treasure Hard to Attain. Using the lens of Neumann's model and studies on female psychological development, we will examine the ways behavior is indicative of an individual's or organization's archetypal development. Students will also develop the skills needed to make meaningful interventions that assist in the integration of and transition between stages.
COMMUNICATION FROM THE SELF: UNCONCIOUS COMMUNICATION, UNCONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE
Communication always occurs on multiple levels. Although we typically tend to focus on manifest, consciously derived content, wisdom and objective truth are present in communications emerging from the deep unconscious. Dreams, fantasies, and other unconscious communications provide an objectively valid commentary about our lives.
This course explores the work of Robert Langs, who for more than thirty years has investigated issues of unconscious communication and experience. We will discuss the dynamics of the listening and communicative processes, including the workings of derivative communication. Langs, perhaps more than any other clinician, has discovered that therapy occurs within a bi-personal field, and the communications emerging from both parties within this dyad represent their objectively valid perceptions of the relationship through unconscious derivative communication. In addition, participants will learn to apply the workings of unconscious communications in the fields of psychotherapy, organizational consultation, cinema, and other interactions.
Contact Information
For
additional information and application procedure, please contact
the Assisi Institute at:
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