Since 1879, psychology has been recognised as a formal field of study, yet throughout the history of humankind, we have pondered the mysteries of thought, and behaviour, consciousness. We have many schools of thought and of practice, including clinical, analytical, industrial, humanistic and Jungian.
Archetypal therapy evolved from Jungian psychology. As defined by its foremost founder James Hillman, archetypal psychology belongs to culture (rather than science), encompasses human activity, and does not restrict itself to defined static characteristics. For example, instead of labelling a person narcissistic, this view asks: what is at the root of the behaviour that appears to be self serving? Archetypal psychology also reduces the importance of the ego – seeing it as one of multiple archetypes that characterise human behaviour – and focuses instead on the soul.
The focus on soul stems directly from the word Psyche in psychology, soul in Greek. Thomas Moore, a champion of archetypal psychology, says of soul that it “… is not a thing, but a quality or dimension of experiencing life and ourselves. It has to do with depth, value, relatedness, heart and personal substance.”
“The word ‘archetypal’ rather than pointing at something… points to something, and this is its value… by archetypal psychology we mean a psychology of value.” James Hillman
Along with soul, image, and myth as psychological expressions, the idea of the archetype or universal patterns that influence human behaviour is key. But it must be remembered that archetypal psychology doesn’t classify archetypes and behaviours in a fixed way, herding symptoms into diagnoses. Rather it looks at them as a means to understand the potential cause of or reason for the behaviour. Archetypes can also be traced back to mythological expression, as originated in psychology through Freud (Oedipus) to Jung. Myths are stories of experiences of the collective soul, including its crazy distortions, betrayal and battles,, loves and grotesqueness. By tracing stories of gods, fairies and legends, we can understand global patterns of human behaviour and open our imaginative eyes to see our realities in different ways.
Reimagining the corporate world experience, it will be replete with stories of epic successes, grandiose failures, great boardroom battles, corridor skirmishes, political intrigue, dragons, demons and heroes. Yet in modern terms these are usually described as service, performance management, negotiations, hierarchy, cost control and leadership.
What a shame to be unable to see soul where we spend so much of our lives. What an opportunity to bring meaning back into the events of our lives.
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