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Jungian/Depth psychology provides a wonderful framework for exploring questions related to meaning and the self that can at time fall outside of boundaries of what is typically explored in cognitive behavioural therapy.  However, each perspective can offer tools and insights which may enrich the application of the other.  Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick, psychotherapist, author and executive director of The Jung Center in Houston, Texas joins us for a conversation in which we explore:  

• the origin story of Dr. Fitzpatrick's foray into Jungian/Depthy psychology as well as his experience/training with CBT during his graduate studies
• a brief overview of core principles of Jungian/Depth Psychology, including the pivotal role of the self vs. ego, meaning as well as unconscious psychological processes
• the role that imagery, fantasy and dreams may play with respect to helping to verbalize emergent ideas about the self
• how CBT clinicians can effectively leverage the use of imagery and fantasy in psychotherapy to explore the emergent self
• the definition of the "shadow" within the Jungian framework
• working with the "shadow" within psychotherapy to promote actualization of the self
• exploration Jung's notion of the midlife passage as a critical developmental process to the actualization of the self
• helping clients to develop flexibility in tolerating aspects of the self which are incongruent with that of the ego
• the role of symbolism within fantasy/imagery and how to operationalize within the reality of one's own life

Comments or feedback?  Email the show: oicbctpodcast@gmail.com

Sean Fitzpatrick is a psychotherapist in private practice and the executive director of The Jung Center in Houston, Texas. His book The Ethical Imagination: Exploring Fantasy and Desire in Analytical Psychology was published by Routledge in August 2019. Sean holds masters degrees in religious studies from Rice University and in clinical psychology from the University of Houston — Clear Lake. He received his PhD in psychology, with a specialization in Jungian studies, from Saybrook University. He is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum. Sean serves on the board of the Network of Behavioral Health Providers in Houston. He teaches at The Jung Center in Houston and has presented lectures and workshops with a wide range of organizations.