A Clinical Conference on the Racial Complex

Presented by Fanny Brewster, Ph.D.
Brockton Hill, J.D., M.A.
Cydny Rothe, L.C.S.W.

For Clinicians Only

The Racial Complex:
Dissociation and the Search for Unification with the Self
Fanny Brewster, Ph.D.
Drawing from Jung’s Complex Theory, we will discuss its applicability to deepening our understanding of personal as well as collective cultural complexes in terms of ethnicity. The tension between the ego’s sense of fragmentation and dissociation that often accompanies this complex, and the psyche’s desire for unification will be examined from a clinical perspective. There will be time for discussion of the archetypal factors which animate this powerful complex.

On the Racist Nature of the Psyche
Brockton Hill, J.D., M.A.
The psyche, as imagined by Jung in his final and most mature theoretical writings, exists between two internal poles that generate the energy that constitute its substance. These poles Jung termed instinct and spirit, with instinct rooted in the body and matter and spirit lodged in the heavenly realm of what Jung termed the archetypes. This talk will explore how collective western consciousness produced racism in response to the psychic conflict between the drive to power of instinct and the demands of morality rooted in spirit.

Reflections on Racism from a Mixed heritage Analyst
Cydny Rothe, L.C.S.W.
Opening up our hearts and minds to the influence of racism in our personal, professional and political lives is hard and important work. For some, the discussion has always been on the table and comes out of years of personal and cultural trauma.

For others, the discussion has been a choice and in some cases, has been hidden by dissociation. Taking up the personal experiences and ancestral resonances of a mixed heritage Jungian analyst, this talk will unpack some of the issues that keep consciousness and conversations about race sequestered in faraway corners of the psyche.

Dreaming in Black and White:
Race and the Unconscious
Fanny Brewster, Ph.D.
This Dream Workshop invites participants to share dream material that is related to racial or ethnic issues previously un-examined within a group setting. The purpose of the group is to allow material from the unconscious that can support the dreamer and dream group members in deepening their understanding of themselves, complexes, etc. through dreams. Please bring a dream.

Panel Discussion

Course Objectives:

• Identify three Jungian Psychology theories: Shadow, Opposites and Complexes and their relationship to the Jungian concept of Other in terms of ethnicity.
• Describe what is meant by a personal, self-identified racial complex.
• List and give an example of three American cultural complexes that have led to inter-generational collective societal problems.
• Describe the instinctual pole of the psyche as understood by Jung.
• Describe the spiritual pole of the psyche as understood by Jung.
• List three racial informed theoretical dream features of the shadow from a Jungian perspective.
• Describe the main characteristics of Jung’s theory of opposites and their applicability to racial issues in the clinical setting
• Give an example of how the ego, shadow and an archeytpe can manifest within a dream state experience, and include any relevant ethnic contextual references.

Fanny Brewster, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst and author of poetry and nonfiction. Her book African Americans and Jungian Psychology: Leaving the Shadows has recently been published by Routledge (2017). Her poems from Journey: The Middle Passage have appeared in the Psychological Perspectives Journal (2016) in which she was Featured Poet. Dr. Brewster is a Core Faculty member at Pacifica Graduate Institute and the Philadelphia Association of Jungian Analysts. She is a lecturer and workshop presenter on Jungian Psychology related topics and will be the keynote speaker in Portland, Oregon at the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies (JSSS) Conference, June 27, 2018.

Brockton Hill, J.D., M.A., is a Jungian analyst in private practice is Pasadena and West Los Angeles. He is the Immediate Past President of the C.G. Jung Institute of LA. He has lectured on Jung in both the public and training programs at the LA Institute, as well as served as faculty at the Newport Psychoanalytic Institute’s Pasadena campus in their psychoanalytic training program.

Cydny Rothe, L.C.S.W.is a Jungian analyst in Pasadena, California where she works with adults and couples and also supervises.  Her practice spans over 40 years. She is on the faculty of the C.G. Jung Institute of LA where she facilitates the group process training. She has also served on the Institute Board of Directors and has supervised analysts-in-training and chaired the Certifying Board. She has given talks on the body, aging and death, film, dreams and writing.