“Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakes.”
-Carl Jung
Archetypes, as Dr. Carl Jung postulated, are deep and abiding patterns in the human psyche that remain powerful and present over time. These may exist, to use Jung’s terminology, in the “collective unconscious,” the “objective psyche,” and can be coded into the make-up of the human brain. These patterns can move a person’s story from the unconscious.
Trauma effect creates images in both the psyche and dreams in response to outer trauma exposure. The mythopoetic imagery, originally coined by Fredrick Myers, believing that the unconscious was continually creating mythic fantasies, manifesting themselves in dreams, created as a defense of ongoing trauma exposure and can aid in the healing process when understood (Kalsched, 1996). Trauma exposure can lead to, in some cases, dissociative activities striking the developing psyche of a child. This place of innocence is representative of the core of the individual’s imperishable person spirit. The spirit has always been a mystery tied to an essence of selfhood never really fully comprehended. It is the imperishable essence of the personality – that which Winnicott referred to as the “True Self” (Winnicott, 1960) and which Jung, seeking a construct honored the transpersonal origins, called the “Self” (Jung, 1963).
As a clinician, the awareness of archetypes helps by noting various archetypes which have appeared in the narratives of our patients. Jung first applied the term archetype to literature recognizing universal patterns in all stories and mythologies. Recognizing archetypal patterns in narratives brings patterns from the unconscious to a conscious level.
“Archetypes are manifested in myths, dreams, literature, religions, fantasies, and folklore.”
The term archetype can be applied to an image, theme, symbol, idea, character type, and plot pattern. Archetypes are manifested in myths, dreams, literature, religions, fantasies, and folklore.
There are many character archetypes that come into view of the “telling of the story.” Some of the characters that we have seen emerge from the shared dreams and stories of trauma-exposed patients. Some of these are:
- The Threshold Guardian – a test of the hero’s courage and worthiness to being the journey.
- Father-Son Conflict – the tension in the relationship is built out of separation from childhood or some other source when the two meet as men.
- Friendly Beast – an animal companion showing that nature is on the side of the hero.
- The Shadow – a worthy opponent with whom the hero must struggle in a fight to the end – must be destroyed or neutralized. Psychologically this can represent the darker side of the hero’s psyche.
- The Devil Figure – this character is evil incarnate.
- The Outcast – a character banished from a social group for some real or imagined rime against his fellow man usually destined to wander from place-to-place.
In addition to these, many times we see storybook characters arise from the narrative, i.e., Cinderella, Snow White, and characters from the Wizard of Oz, just to mention a few. All of these character types can be referred to when helping a patient make sense of the trauma exposure.
“These symbolic themes that flow from the patient’s narrative
have the ability to illuminate the path to find the pure inner heart.”
Also, there are many symbols that come from archetypes: supernatural intervention; fire and ice; light vs. darkness; the threshold; heaven vs. hell; the crossroads; tower; colors; numbers; or, whirlpools. These symbols will also arise in the patient’s dreams or narrative as they express their story. Exploring symbols with the patient will also help to understand deeper meanings of narratives. As patients explore this deeper understanding, it is healing for them and also has a way of universalizing perceptions formed.
By exploring themes that rise out of traumatic events, we understand the probability of repressed or suppressed memory that influences a neurologically wired process. Neurologically, the wired process can perpetuate throughout the stages of life. These stages reflect early childhood experiences through lifespan experiences of life such as partner relationship, marriage, middle age, senior citizenhood, and preparation for death. These symbolic themes that flow from the patient’s narrative have the ability to illuminate the path to find the pure inner heart.
Bill McFeature, Ph.D.
Cinthia McFeature, Ph.D.
References
Jung, C. G. (1966). Psychology of the Transference, Collected Works Volume 16, Practice of Psychotherapy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kalsched, D. (1996). The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit, New York, NY: Routledge.
McFeature, B. & Herron-McFeature, C. (2017). Integrated Health – HeartPath Practitioner Assessment and Intervention for the Trauma-Exposed Patient. Melbourne, FL: Motivational Press.
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