In this profound episode, Dr. Jennifer Reid speaks with renowned Jungian analyst Dr. James Hollis about personal growth, life transitions, and the journey of self-discovery. Dr. Hollis, a distinguished faculty member at the Jung Center of Houston and author of over 20 books, shares deep insights about finding one's authentic path and understanding the messages our psyche sends us.
The Journey from Academia to Depth Psychology
Dr. Hollis shares his personal story of transformation, beginning with a midlife depression while working as a humanities professor. This crisis led him to retrain as a Jungian analyst in Zurich, Switzerland, ultimately discovering that his true calling lay in helping others explore their psychological depths.
Understanding the Soul's Journey
Dr. Hollis explains how we often lose touch with our authentic selves in childhood and must work to recover this connection in adulthood. He emphasizes that this recovery isn't self-indulgent but rather essential for both personal growth and our relationships with others.
The Two Halves of Life
The conversation explores how life's first half focuses on adaptation and fitting in, while the second half calls us to deeper questions of meaning and authenticity. Dr. Hollis discusses how this transition often emerges during midlife or significant life changes.
On the Soul's Journey:
"The soul is intuited in childhood, pushed aside by the adaptive choices of consciousness and recovered in adulthood only when we are willing to open to it."
On Childhood's Impact:
"Jung said the greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of the parent. And what he meant by that was wherever the parent is stuck, the child sooner or later is going to internalize that as a roadmap and either repeat that, which is very common, or spend a lifetime trying to get away from it."
On Finding Your Path:
"You're not here to live someone else's pattern. That's already taken. You're here to learn yours, find your path."
On Self-Understanding:
"It's not so much what we do or think or feel or believe or desire. It's what that is in service to inside of us that makes a difference."
On Personal Growth:
"Something inside of each of us knows what's right for us. How do you access that? How do you pay attention to that?"
Dr. Reid on Instagram: @jenreidmd and LinkedIn
Also check out Dr. Reid's regular contributions to Psychology Today: Think Like a Shrink.
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