Jungian Analysis, Depth Psychology, and Soul: The Selected Works of Thomas B. Kirsch

Thomas B. Kirsch

Jul 2017 · Routledge

About this ebook

Thomas Kirsch is one of the foremost architects of the contemporary Jungian scene and has influenced the evolution and organization of analytical psychology worldwide. His works on the history of Jungian analysis and his memoir of a "Jungian life" have been widely appreciated and this book contains important examples of these interests. Gathered together in The Selected Works are Kirsch’s original and humane contributions to diverse areas, such as: training and the dynamics of analytical institutions; clinical themes in Jungian analysis and how these differ from what typically happens in psychoanalytic treatment; as well as a continuation of his remarkable work into the personalities and prejudices that characterize the profession of Jungian analysis.

As Andrew Samuels observes in his foreword, "In these chapters, we see Tom’s humanity, generosity and flexibility". Given the multifarious dynamics of the training community, Kirsch accepts that things can sometimes go wrong, and he is open about his experiences in this regard. For Kirsch, rather than a simple question of psychologically damaged people becoming analysts, the figure of the "Wounded Healer" is always present in depth psychology.

Kirsch is an exceptionally gifted communicator and several of these chapters stem from lectures and conference presentations. However, behind the appearance of informality emerges, not only a formidable intellect at work, but a warm and compassionate perspective on the human condition. The Selected Works will be of vital interest to analysts, therapists, trainees, academics, and students working in the areas of Jungian analysis and Jungian studies around the world.

About the author

Thomas B. Kirsch is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Palo Alto, California, and the son of two first-generation Jungian analysts, James and Hilde Kirsch, who began their analytic work with C. G. Jung in 1929. He graduated from Yale Medical School (1961), did his residency in psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University, and then spent two years with the National Institute of Mental Health in San Francisco. He completed his Jungian training at the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco (1968). He was president of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco from 1976–8, served on the executive committee of the International Association for Analytical Psychology, 1977–95, and was IAAP president 1989–95. Dr. Kirsch was the co-editor of the Jungian Section of the International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry, and Neurology (1977), as well as editor of the Jungian section of the three-volume International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis edited by Alain de Mijolla, 2005. He is the author of The Jungians: A Comparative and Historical Perspective (Routledge 2000), consulting editor of The Jung-Kirsch Letters (Routledge 2011), the correspondence between his father James Kirsch and C. J. Jung, as well as the author of many published chapters in books, articles in scientific journals, and book reviews. He co-edited with George Hogenson The Red Book: Reflections on C.G. Jung’s Liber Novus (Routledge 2013), and his memoir, A Jungian Life, was published in 2014. For more information on Dr. Kirsch, see his website at www.jungians.com.