Carl Jung wrote about individuation, the process of taking one’s predispositions and life experiences and integrating them into a mature personality. While something like this happens for each therapist on the road to maturity, there appear to be some common dimensions of this process experienced by us all.
My Colleague and friend Matthew May and I recently spoke together about these dimensions. Matt is a psychiatrist in private practice in California, and Adjunct Clinical Faculty Member at Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. For some years Matt and I have been co-leading weekly training groups for our colleagues at the Feeling Good Institute. Between us we’ve trained hundreds of therapists and also learned much from them about the dynamics of our personal and professional development. Matt and I invite you to sit in on our conversation.
Hi, Daniel!
Thanks for sharing the great conversation with Matt. I found it particularly helpful to be reminded of how our own falling out of enlightenment to previous ways of thinking and operating with our patients interferes with the therapy while providing a way to overcome that barrier if we are willing to acknowledge our own process.
Thanks Carol: So glad you found our chat helpful. Onward!