Nature and Soul: Musings of a Jungian Psychologist
Becoming Yourself; Becoming Someone Else
In fact it seems to me as if that alienation which so long separated me from the world has become transferred into my own inner world, and has revealed to me an unexpected unfamiliarity with myself. (Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 359) What should...
Work
You are defined not by the work that you do, but by how you do the work that you do. The exact work that you do, of course, is important. But not as important as the focus, integrity and soulfulness, that you bring to your work. Not long ago, I watched boats bringing...
Dreams, Truth Serums and Anti-truth Serums
Just the other day I walked by two men who appeared to be homeless and whose conversation caught my attention. One man said, “You know they have truth serums and anti-truth serums.” I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, but I heard enough to make me wonder. If...
The Red Ribbon (A Short Story of Trauma, Dreams and Healing)
I could not breathe. Hot, tired and afraid, I was. Trapped in the middle of a crowd of strangers in an airport—people looking at one another more from suspicion than from wonder. Me—held in my mother’s arms while being touched and bumped by bags and elbows. There,...
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Through a Jungian Lens: Colin McNeil of Metro News Canada Interviews Dr. Howlin
I read recently that when Jungian analyst, Dr. Lionel Corbett, was asked to name films with a Jungian theme, he replied, "all movies have a Jungian theme." So right he was. I was asked last month by Colin McNeil of Metro News Canada whether or not I would be...
Learning to See in the Dark
There is a fish that lives deep in the ocean dark The fish has evolved over time To "see" in the deep With a lantern as a light Just in front of its eyes A young man Who knew about this strange fish Had a big dream In the dream He was riding his motorcycle On a...
Dead Wood
If your life was like a tree, you would learn to be a master gardener. You would take the time to prune away all of your dead wood. Like the life of a tree, your process of growth and change can be hindered by the dead wood that is left behind. And like a tree that...
Transformation and Image in Adolescent Jungian Psychotherapy
Society needs to be shaken by the aspirations of those who are not responsible. Donald Winnicott The image is to Jungian psychotherapy as thinking is to cognitive therapy. But there is a difference. In cognitive therapy, it is assumed that one of the events that leads...
The Psychology of the Unconscious (A Love Poem)
the psychology of the unconscious is the psychology of the other the one that we seek whether it be a lover or another hidden down under under our bellies and boils and foibles lies the other waiting to be discovered discovered or not the other plots to...
Welcome to Your Process
“Called or not called, the God will be there,” says the inscription above the door to Carl Jung’s home and on his tombstone. The same can be said for your own psychological process. Name it what you may, choose to accept or deny it, but there is a deep, potent, and...
Dr. Howlin Interviewed on Dreams, Jungian Psychology and Mental Health Awareness Month
Last month for May 2014 Mental Health Awareness Month, I was interviewed by the International Association of Healthcare Professionals and FindaTopDocRadio on BlogTalkRadio. In the interview and podcast below, I answer questions related to dreams, Jungian psychology...
The Runt
The underdog, the oppressed, the scapegoated, the last-picked for the game, the runt—these characters and the means by which they scrap themselves onward in life, weave themselves into some of our favorite stories and myths. The Biblical story of David and Goliath is...
Perseverance and the Extra Mile
When you reach the top of North America’s highest chairlift in Breckenridge, Colorado, you will sometimes see a string of people behind and above the lift, carrying skis and poles, climbing even higher. Aside from the joyful pursuit of even fresher powder above the...
The Blue Door
Not yet day But not night As I go out Into the white Stepping so light Pac boots on Snowshoes, not in sight The crust Of the deep snow Does not bow One step, two steps Now four Five steps and just one more Another step and down I go Waist deep into The wet snow One...
The Quiet Therapist
I went for a walk in the woods quiet and stillness of the forest I smiled I meandered along a gentle stream of flowing water gurgling I relaxed I ran my fingers over long prairie grasses falling back to the sway of the wind I breathed deep I swam in a granite-bottomed...
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