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Depth Psychology In Action

© Craig Chalquist

"Depth psychology," a term coined by Eugen Bleuler, describes the evolving work coming out of that of Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Carl Jung. It concerns itself with "the deep stuff," the psychological activity at the edges of the conscious and unconscious. In other words, depth psychology was created to greet what the muscular everyday mind pushes into the shadows, into the margins of the psyche.

For that reason the field is potentially suited to interpreting contemporary events from the standpoint of welcoming what we marginalize out in the world. Minorities of race, class, gender, faith, economic status, and even personal or spiritual perspective: it is these repressed voices that call out for representation and greeting, just as the voices of what we repress in ourselves require an earnest attentiveness, lest the divisions and fragmentations within us concatenate into everything we do and everyone we meet.

Until now, the clinical psychologies have confined themselves to the clinic, psychotherapy to the consulting room. But depth practitioners now find themselves wondering how to make an impact out in the streets and in the communities that support its researches.

One way I've chosen to bring psychology out from behind the pagers, offices, and voicemail is via the Internet. In this way I hope to make available psychoeducational ideas for people who are not necessarily inclined to be "clients" or "patients" and to learn new ideas for making available the best of what the deep psychologies have to offer.

To remain relevant and to broaden its capacity to welcome the life at the edges, depth psychology must find ways to translate its core learnings and spiritual aspirations into concepts graspable by everyone. It must also welcome feedback from people outside the field, and in this way attend to dialogs from which it can only benefit.

Craig Chalquist, M.S. and clinical psych Ph.D. student http://www.thineownself.com

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