Quotes From A Lecture By Jungian Andrew Samuels On The Shadow Of The Psychotherapist / Analyst Profession

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Quotes from a lecture by Jungian Andrew Samuels on the Shadow of the psychotherapist / analyst profession:

We expect to feel helpless. We expect to feel hopeless. We expect to be constantly stumped. I don't know of any other profession that has such expectations

"I have compiled a few of the main reasons people choose to become a therapist

1. Many therapists / analysts feel abnormal, different from other people. And becoming a therapist is kind of like coming out. Many therapists feel marginalized. This feeling has both positive and negative sides, but it means that the therapist starts from a very vulnerable spot.

2. Many therapists / analysts have experienced very early deprivation. This is the loss of a father / mother, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, personality disorders in parents.

3. Many therapists or analysts are naturally extremely aggressive people. And the choice of a profession is then a reparative choice. Psychodynamically, this means that your choice of profession is a kind of defense. From depression, in fact. Because if you cannot repair the damage that you imagine you have done, you become depressed. I see several people in the audience smiling, but smiling sadly.

4. Many analysts are parental child, that is, children who performed parental function for their parents or siblings. This idea has a huge impact on porting and counter-porting, since in this case your client is your parent. You are trying to heal, fix your parent. But theory says that your client is your child. Then either the theory or your experience is wrong. I teach my students that your client, your abnormal, disturbed, immature client is actually your parenting figure. And there is a very dangerous consequence here: you want to get approval from the client. But this is not very good, because you have to work without fear. And if you are constantly worried about whether the client likes you, you cannot be a good therapist.

5. The therapist can project his shadow material onto someone else.

6. Power.

7. Sometimes we talk about the messiah complex. Freud said: “Don't try to help anyone,” and the school of Jacques Lacan continues to say this. I think this is a very sentimental idea, and Lacanians also want to help people.

8. What do customers say? About aggression, relationships, sex, sex and relationships, aggression and relationships. Aggression and sex. These are impressive things. You cannot be a therapist if they do not impress you. You secretly experience sex and violence as a gift from your client."

Several more positive reasons:

1. People are born with a desire to help each other. Not only to the family, but to everyone around. This is not a genetic moment, but a social one. I think therapists have a large quantum of this willingness to help.

2. Maybe you believe in God, maybe you don't. But many therapists see themselves as a transition between the divine and the mundane. Many of us feel that we are doing divine work. If you do not believe in God, you are a transition between some greater powers and the world.

3. Therapists are a modern version of ancient healers. They have a desire to join this tradition. "" Forget transference and countertransference. Everything is relative, everything is subjective. My favorite word is that everything is co-created."

"Depression in the therapy situation can be co-created. Key point: it is not client depression in the therapist. I criticize my colleagues who transfer all responsibility for their difficult feelings to the client."

“There are so many rules in the practice of analysis. Too many rules. And not for the benefit of the client, but for the benefit of the analyst. Too many boundaries, frames, containers, security, predictability. And this is not analysis or therapy - this is convenient conservatism. Where is the risk of therapy? You cannot drink unless you open the bottle. Freud said, "You can't make an omelet without breaking an egg." I would not want to do safe analysis. He must be a little dangerous. The analyst has to be something other than a good containment mother. What's wrong with being a little out of control? And I believe that the theory of transference and countertransference is a theory of mental control. I do not like this. I think many clients know this very deeply. They are not as interested in security as we think they are. Even traumatized clients can face risks."

“If the client is willing to take risks, then the therapy is effective. My concern is that we create obstacles along the way. We do this through our rules. Especially the rule not to reveal ourselves. I don’t think you need to tell everything about yourself. But if you see fit, you must disclose some things. And you must admit your mistakes. The old image of the silent, detached, inanimate analyst is gone."

"It seems to me that therapists and analysts have many psychosomatic illnesses. Many therapists fantasize that their work has made them sick. Sometimes the therapist knows that he has such fantasies, and sometimes he does not. And this is an old idea from Paracelsus - pharmacon. It means, that you are taking on the illness of another."

“It’s important that the therapist gets sick. As you know, traditional healers - such as shamans - are often very sick. If you want to be a healer, to get sick, it helps. be indestructible. Another reason to get sick: sick therapists make better contact with clients. The therapist's wounds open the way to more intimacy. It is important for the therapist to show that he is suffering."

"Another reason to get sick: this is contrary to idealization on the part of the client. The most anti-therapeutic thing is the client's idealization of his therapist. This is a necessary stage, but in general the client should stop idealizing the therapist."

"Another reason to get sick is to come to terms with your limitations. I talked about shadow motivation to become a therapist - about power and a savior complex. If you are sick, this can be a way to manipulate shadow content."

“Therapists often become very client dependent. And it’s not about the analyst waiting for the client to get better. It’s a real hunger or need for the analyst. And this is a big dark side. In England, it is not uncommon for a teaching analysis to last 15 years. the case is when the analysis lasts 8-9 years. I believe that this is a problem. Life must be lived, and you cannot live it in the office."

"When you think about sickness, you think about life; when you think about death, you think about love."

"The divorce rate among analysts is very high. Many have no relationships at all or they live in a dead marriage. Perhaps lawyers are still the same, but lawyers are not obliged to think about it, and we are obliged. There are interesting books written by the children of analysts - what is it like to be a child of the analyst / s. The worst problem is mom or dad makes interpretations all the time! And I am the same. as you said, I was not angry with you, but now I am angry. "And I say -" that's it!"

"It's okay to have a psychosomatic illness. Not just normal, but okay. It is necessary to get sick. Of course, you need to see a doctor, to self-examine, this is obvious. But in fact, you need to be sick to do this job. It's radical, but it is Jungian. If you are a good enough analyst, you will cure one disease and get another."

(c) Andrew Samuels