M.A. Program in Counseling Psychology
Humanities and Depth Traditions Courses
These courses serve to promote the incorporation of literature, mythology, and depth psychology into the practice of psychotherapy. They emphasize a wide variety of topics, such as depth psychology, literary genres, religious and mystical traditions, mythic approaches to experience, and cultural psychology. Students are urged to imagine and approach the human condition from diverse ethnic and cultural perspectives. The humanities and depth traditions courses have the capacity to awaken a sense of the complexity of the human psyche, teaching one how to see mythically, imaginally, and psychologically. Instead of perceiving literature, mythology, and depth psychology as isolated fields of study, the student is able to understand that the psychotherapist's vision is fed from a multiplicity of cultural sources which open up the way an individual's suffering is witnessed in psychotherapy. The specific contents, courses, and titles of the Humanities and Depth Traditions classes vary each academic year. Students complete six courses in this area of study during their two-year program.
Freud's Depth Psychology
CP 504........ 2 Units
Students explore the emergence of the "talking cure" and the profound repercussions this therapeutic development has had on the modern practice of psychotherapy. Themes include the psychoanalytic view of human nature, defense mechanisms, Freud’s topology of the unconscious, and the relationship between psyche and culture.
Jung's Depth Psychology
CP 505........ 2 Units
This course surveys Jung’s contributions to depth psychology, including his work on archetypes, the Self, the objective psyche, the transcendent function, individuation, dreams, and active imagination. Jungian and post-Jungian theorists such as von Franz, Fordham, Samuels, and Edinger may be explored.
Myth, Literature, and Religious Studies I, II, III
CP 507, 508, 509, 2 Units each
Mythology, literature, and religion reveal the complex metaphoric and symbolic nature of the human psyche and its search for meaning. To be fully present to the polyphonic nature of experience and imagination, psychology must pay close attention to the perennial issues that guide the understanding of being human. Opening the interdisciplinary connections between psychology and the studies of myth, literature, and religion expands and enriches the understanding of therapeutic relationships, psychopathology, therapeutic interventions, and healing.
Cultural Psychology
CP 511........ 2 Units
Psychological experience, development, and pathology occur in a cultural context. This class examines cultural issues and problems such as racism, sexism, ageism, violence, poverty, ecology, and education to illuminate how they affect individual development. The intermingling of cultural psychology and depth psychology can open the door of the consulting room to the culture itself, widening the scope of "psychological" practice, so that the soul of the individual and soul in the world are seen to be continuous.
Imaginal Psychology
CP 512........ 2 Units
Imaginal and archetypal psychology are examined for the ways in which they revision depth psychological approaches to therapy and culture. Consideration is given to the development of a poetic/metaphorical sensibility in confronting the complexity of psychological life. Emphasis is placed on moving from theory to practice specifically regarding the use of images to deepen one's work.
