Description
Presented by Janie Ingalls, M.A., M.F.T. on October 3 and 17, 2020.
Many have followed Jung’s lead in using spontaneous expressions to access their inner world. Collage is one way to connect to the vast creative and healing potential in the Unconscious.
This presentation was in two parts:
October 3, we will explore the potential of collage to ameliorate the negative effects of early trauma. Since the powerful impulses for spontaneous play and creative expression get split off, neglected, suppressed, attacked and/or punished by childhood or preverbal trauma, the images created by collage can be an effective and accessible tool for safely reconnecting these vital and creative energies that make us unique. By pasting together previously dissociated and unspoken elements, a space is created for mirroring, acknowledgement and integration. Participants will be sent an email before the two-week break with an instruction sheet describing the process of creating a collage.
October 17, after the participants have been given an opportunity to make their own collages, the presenter will lead a discussion of the professional and personal experience creating these collages, including: thoughts, feelings, sensations and intuitions activated in this process. We will be able to brain storm together about this experience of expressing early trauma in collage and possible symbolic meaning of the imagery. We will explore ways this process will likely be utilized, or not, in the future and why.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss how trauma interferes with the natural development of creativity, psychological growth and transformation.
- Express ideas of how collage can be integrated into your personal/professional life.
- Apply a Jungian perspective to understanding the imagery of collage.
Janie Ingalls has worked for 25 years as a Marriage Family Therapist in Huntington Beach. She has recently been certified as a Jungian analyst and works with a variety of individuals and groups with issues of transition, grief and loss of meaning.
Janie believes that creativity is essential to the communication, integration and healing of body, mind and spirit. She uses collage, sandplay and other expressive techniques to assist her analysands to find their own creative resources.
