As we enter in to 2017, we continue to hold tensions around uncertainty and what it means to advocate for socially just ways. When I reflect on purposeful work and “right livelihood” I feel it is important for those of us working in the field of psychology to continually examine the reasons we went into this filed in the first place. I know that, in my case, I thought I could perhaps make a difference in people’s lives in such a way that my work could play a part in reducing suffering, particularly of the “second arrow” type. Those of us who find ourselves in the helping/healing professions as well as in educational settings shoulder a great deal of responsibility in regard to how we may nourish budding potential and foster the capacity for creativity, compassion, and right action in our own and others’ personal and professional lives.Thomas Teo (2015), a faculty member at York University, spoke in the journal, American Psychologist, about challenging those in the field of psychology to critically reflect on our current values and practices. A recent volume of the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology has devoted the entire issue to topics of this nature, in which Teo (2015) has contributed an article entitled Are Psychological “Ethics Codes” Morally Oblique? In addition, a recent volume of Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology has several quite fiery pieces exploring distinctions in the framing of psychological practice.  For instance, one of the pieces is a commentary entitled Adversarial Operational Psychology is Unethical Psychology: A Reply to Staal and Greene (2015). Certainly the divisions for psychoanalysis and for humanistic psychology have also been actively engaging in lively discussion about where the field of psychology is going and how we need to critically question the status quo and expand our perceptual bandwidth to include diverse ways of knowing, including, but not limited to, non-linear paradigms. These discussions bring to light some systemic concerns in our field.

The process of individuation may be applied in a collective context. For instance, if we were to view the field of psychology as an entity of sorts that is experiencing its own evolutionary development, then it is conceivable that we may join hands across and between theoretical differences to objectively (and subjectively) explore the idea that we may be experiencing a powerful disequilibrium that is calling for a growth spurt in awareness and spiritual maturity and ultimately, integration.

Center of all centers, core of cores,

almond self-enclosed and growing sweet–

all this universe, to the furthest stars

and beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.

Now  you feel how nothing clings to you;

your vast shell reaches into endless space,

and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.

Illuminated by your infinite peace,

a billion stars go spinning through the night,

blazing high above your head.

But in you is the presence that

will be, when all the stars are dead

Rainer Maria Rilke —

 (From book, The Enlightened Heart, ed. Stephen Mitchell)

Enjoy a series of dynamic, educational, expansive workshops that are all about imagery!

Topics include:

Spiritual Imagery of the Shaman
with Hypnotherapist and Counselor, Pamela Albee

Active Imagination
with Professor Nancy Galindo, PhD, Pacifica Graduate Institute

The 5-Elements, Photography
and Contemplative Practice
with photographer Monique Fay and Professor Juliet Rhode-Brown

A Collaboration of Poetry and Imagery
with poet and artist Cecily Markham, RN

Investigating the Trickster Archetype
and Story
with Life Coach Karen Hawkwood

Explore the practice of Spirit Breath Flow
with Reiki Practitioner Janice Baker, M.Ht.

Click Here for Full Flyer

Click Here to Register

II conference 2016

I just came back from having conducted an experiential workshop on the Image of the Desert at the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies conference, which was truly a pleasure to attend. Here are a couple of upcoming conferences at which I will be co-presenting.

Yoga Meets Depth Psychology Conference, Pacifica Graduate Institute Public Program, July 15-17, 2016. For questions, please contact the External Affairs office at externalaffairs@pacifica.edu. You may also view a more detailed description of the event at the Public Program tab on the website for Pacifica Graduate Institute at www.pacifica.edu

Imagery International Conference, On the Wings of Expansion, October 21-23, 2016, Vallambrosa Retreat Center, Menlo Park, CA. For more information, visit www.imageryinternational.org

Hope to see you there!

Juliet

On this Memorial Day

Gift

R.S. Thomas

Some ask the world

and are diminished

in the receiving

of it. You gave me

only this small pool

that the more I drink

from, the more overflows

me with sourceless light.

(From Risking Everything: 110 Poems of Love and Revelation, 2003, Edited by Roger Housden)

“I have a dream..”

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

MLK by James Paul Brown

As you reflect on this life we all share and sail into the unknown waters of this new year, may all of the vibrant colors of your being flourish in service to self and others and be at peace.

http://www.sacredearthfound.org/#!about/c24cg