Facing the Other:
Women and the Search for Soul

Presented by Pamela Freundl Kirst, Ph.D.

The “Other” is said to be a bridge to the unconscious, a pathway to the deepest core of the self.  Jungian Psychology traditionally uses the term animus—identified as the inner masculine—to identify the “Other” within a woman’s psyche. Do such traditionally gendered ideas remain useful in our current age? How do we help our clients create a vital connection to the “Other” given the shifts and splits alive within today’s culture? Most importantly, how do we understand and facilitate our clients’—particularly, but not only, our women clients’—relationship to a deeply felt, individual sense of self so that each may live a more authentic, meaningful life?  This lecture will explore these questions and their implications for individuation, with particular attention to working with women clients.

Learning Objectives: 

• Identify and describe what is meant by the “Internal Other” as it is used in Jungian Psychology;
• Explain how traditional, gendered ideas have hampered our psychological understanding of women and their development, and identify a way these concepts may be modified to bring them into line with current cultural understanding;
• Identify a way to facilitate the relationship between a client and the internal “Other”, and explain how building this relationship may enable a client to strengthen their connection to a core sense of self, expanding psychological development.

Pamela Freundl Kirst, Ph.D., is a certified Jungian analyst and clinical psychologist who practices in Santa Monica. She is a writer and photographer and is particularly interested in the creative process and issues connected to the archetypal mother.