Please note: At this time Chris is taking no new clients for analysis or dream groups.
Services
Individual Jungian Analysis
I work primarily with individuals in psychoanalysis, in accordance with the ideas of C. G. Jung. We consider aspects of the client's outer life, as well as dreams and other material from the unconscious. The "treatment" consists of the client bringing up what s/he wants to discuss and our working through issues that arise. These may include personal, relational, marital, religious/spiritual, career, creative or dream matters. The aim of analysis is to further one's individuation, i.e., to make conscious the unconscious aspects of one's life and to help one better understand oneself. Analysis can take many forms, depending on the client's personality and needs.
Dream Groups
I work with two groups, each having five members. We meet in the evening for two hours, once every two or three weeks, typically considering one dream per session as we try to help the dreamer to discern its meaning.
Psychological Type In Depth
After completing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, individuals meet with me for two hours to learn about their psychological type in Myers-Briggs and Jungian terms, and to better understand how their type may impact their career, work, relationships, and even dreams.
Previously Offered Courses
Spring of 2023
Introduction to Dream Work
We spend a third of our lives asleep, much of that time dreaming. We look to our dreams for meaning and guidance, following the ways of our ancestors, and of such historical figures as Abraham Lincoln, Black Elk, Marie Louise von Franz, C. G. Jung, and Sigmund Freud.
In this course we will consider and practice different approaches that we can take toward understanding our dreams. We will refer to some of Jung's essays on this subject in the paperback, Dreams (Princeton Univ. Press, 1974), and to the ideas of other experts.
Our main activity, however, will be working as a group to try to grasp dreams that the instructor presents - as he plays the dreamer in each case - while participants practice helping to discern possible meanings within the dream. In the latter third of the course, to the extent that it is appropriate and safe to do so, we may consider a few dreams of those in the class who are willing to discuss them.
In this course we will consider and practice different approaches that we can take toward understanding our dreams. We will refer to some of Jung's essays on this subject in the paperback, Dreams (Princeton Univ. Press, 1974), and to the ideas of other experts.
Our main activity, however, will be working as a group to try to grasp dreams that the instructor presents - as he plays the dreamer in each case - while participants practice helping to discern possible meanings within the dream. In the latter third of the course, to the extent that it is appropriate and safe to do so, we may consider a few dreams of those in the class who are willing to discuss them.
Spring of 2022
Introduction to Psychological Type from a Jungian Perspective
Previously offered at the Maine Jung Center in Brunswick, ME
Jung's Psychological Type (1921) has profoundly influenced the field of psychology. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is, for example, one of the most widely administered psychological instruments in the United States. Its results are used to help individuals with their relationships, social environments, and careers. Yet, psychological type is too rarely linked to individuation and archetypal psychology in the way that Jung, Marie Louise von Franz, and Dr. John Beebe have envisioned.
This six-evening, twelve-hour seminar introduces the student to psychological type from a personal and depth perspective. It is designed to help one better understand one's own type and how it impacts one's life, as well as to better know and appreciate other psychological types. We will take examples from everyday life, dreams, and literature to see the many ways that types affect our lives.
This six-evening, twelve-hour seminar introduces the student to psychological type from a personal and depth perspective. It is designed to help one better understand one's own type and how it impacts one's life, as well as to better know and appreciate other psychological types. We will take examples from everyday life, dreams, and literature to see the many ways that types affect our lives.
Spring of 2021
Big Dreams, Visions, and Active Imagination
Previously offered at the Maine Jung Center in Brunswick, ME and at the Portland Friends Meeting House
Life offers moments of what Rudolf Otto called the “numinous” — extraordinary encounters with the Holy Other. Invoking awe and dread, fascination and calling, these moments can prompt us to find new meaning and affect how we live life forward. Twelve-step programs’ reliance upon a Higher Power is but one indication of the significance of the numinous in healing.
We will examine three kinds of numinous experiences that are inner in nature: big dreams (of great importance individually or collectively), visions (as if we are dreaming while awake), and active imagination (C. G. Jung’s method of engaging the unconscious in order to learn from it). Striking examples will be given during the lecture, and others gone over in detail during the seminar. We will examine experiences from the lives of historical figures, such as Jung, Hildegard von Bingen, and Black Elk, as well as from our own lives and from the lives of our contemporaries.
We will examine three kinds of numinous experiences that are inner in nature: big dreams (of great importance individually or collectively), visions (as if we are dreaming while awake), and active imagination (C. G. Jung’s method of engaging the unconscious in order to learn from it). Striking examples will be given during the lecture, and others gone over in detail during the seminar. We will examine experiences from the lives of historical figures, such as Jung, Hildegard von Bingen, and Black Elk, as well as from our own lives and from the lives of our contemporaries.
2019
Dream Work from a Practical Perspective
Previously offered at the Portland Friends Meeting House
We spend a third of our lives asleep, much of that time dreaming. In turn, we look to our dreams for meaning and guidance in our lives, following the ways of our ancestors and such historical figures as Lincoln, Black Elk, C. G. Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Marie-Louise von Franz.
In this workshop, we will learn different approaches to dream work in a hands-on and practical way. While several techniques and ways will be described, we will also practice them as a group. The instructor will present a series of dreams; in each case he will play the dreamer who had the dream. Participants will then help the "dreamer" try to grasp the meaning of the dream by trying out the different techniques and approaches that have been described. In this way, everyone will have a chance to experience ways that their own dreams can be approached to divine their meaning(s).
In this workshop, we will learn different approaches to dream work in a hands-on and practical way. While several techniques and ways will be described, we will also practice them as a group. The instructor will present a series of dreams; in each case he will play the dreamer who had the dream. Participants will then help the "dreamer" try to grasp the meaning of the dream by trying out the different techniques and approaches that have been described. In this way, everyone will have a chance to experience ways that their own dreams can be approached to divine their meaning(s).
Winter of 2015:
Further Explorations in Psychological Type
Previously offered at the Maine Jung Center in Brunswick, ME
This course builds upon the basic course "Knowing Yourself: Psychological Type from a Jungian Perspective."* Anyone who has taken that course or otherwise learned the material therein is encouraged to take this course, with its focus on one's Shadow.
We will start by revisiting Sensation, Thinking, Feeling and Intuition in their Introverted and Extraverted forms, as well as the Heroic (Superior) and Parenting (Auxiliary) functions of the Basic Personality. We will then study the Shadow Personality by taking one of its four functions each week, covering the Opposing Personality, the Witch/Troll, the Trickster, and the Demonic/Daimonic functions. In the final class we cover the Child (Tertiary) and Soul (Inferior) functions of the Basic Personality.
The primary goal is to comprehend our own experiences with more insight and wisdom through the lens of psychological type. We will look to dreams, film clips, and examples from outer life. The type model is drawn from the writings of C. G. Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz, John Beebe, and various "Myers-Briggs" authors.
*(The manual for the introductory course is also used in this course. Please, bring your manual, or, if need be, purchase one from the instructor at cost [$25].)
We will start by revisiting Sensation, Thinking, Feeling and Intuition in their Introverted and Extraverted forms, as well as the Heroic (Superior) and Parenting (Auxiliary) functions of the Basic Personality. We will then study the Shadow Personality by taking one of its four functions each week, covering the Opposing Personality, the Witch/Troll, the Trickster, and the Demonic/Daimonic functions. In the final class we cover the Child (Tertiary) and Soul (Inferior) functions of the Basic Personality.
The primary goal is to comprehend our own experiences with more insight and wisdom through the lens of psychological type. We will look to dreams, film clips, and examples from outer life. The type model is drawn from the writings of C. G. Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz, John Beebe, and various "Myers-Briggs" authors.
*(The manual for the introductory course is also used in this course. Please, bring your manual, or, if need be, purchase one from the instructor at cost [$25].)
Winter of 2014:
Introduction to C. G. Jung's Life & Ideas
Previously offered at the Maine Jung Center in Brunswick, ME
Students are asked to read Jung's Memories, Dreams, Reflections and Anthony Stevens' On Jung over the six weeks of the course. During our two-hour classes, we will discuss key passages in both books that highlight critical aspects of Jung's life and ideas - including his concepts of complex, archetype, Ego and Self, Shadow, Anima and Animus, psychological type, and the transcendent function. If there is enough time we will also watch one or two films that cover aspects of the same material.
A Quotation From Jung
"I always find it cheering when businesslike physicians and fashionable consultants aver that they treat patients along the lines of "Adler," ... or of "Freud," or even of "Jung." There simply is not and cannot be any such treatment, and even if there could be, one would be on the surest road to failure. When I treat Mr. X, I have of necessity to use method X, just as with Mrs. Z I have to use method Z. This means that the method of treatment is determined primarily by the nature of the case."
C. G. Jung, "Analytical Psychology and Education." CW, Vol. 17.