Women’s Midlife Transition
My subject of interest in Graduate School was Women’s Midlife Transition. My research on mid-life women found that these women benefit most from a form of therapy that brings meaning and symbolic value to their life.
Mid-life issues are not about fixing problems and relieving symptoms as quickly as possible. Jungian theory offers a mid-life woman a way to discover her purpose in life as she enters the second half of life, gaining a deeper awareness of the unconscious forces that have previously blocked her growth.
At this time women benefit most by establishing an inner relationship with their unconscious mind through dream work and other symbolic investigations into their unconscious.
In general, any transition will cause stressin your life. Everyone goes through these changes, known asPhase of Life Transitions. However, how we handle these major changes will influence the remainder of our life, and can have a dramatic impact upon us. Since life will never be the same, this can be a disturbing adjustment for many people.
It is important that we do not allow the mid-life transition to have a negative effect on us.
The goals in moving successfully through life transitions are:
Learn to manage the changes
Readjust to the new lifestyle
Continue to grow and learn.
Life transitions, as well as any changes in lifestyle, can bring on, or can be caused by a major life crisis. If you are having difficulty with a phase of life transition, it may result in a family or relationship issue that could be helped through therapy.
Possibly you are searching for more meaning in your life? Would you welcome an improved quality of life? Do you aspire to life of increased inner fulfillment that can carry you into an older age?
It is possible to accomplish this by working on your own Individuation. This begins by increasing your consciousness (awareness), and by being more connected to your soul, and linked to your spirit.
Jungian Psychology informs us that if we integrate our unconscious contents through Dream Work, Journaling, and other Introspective Techniques with the opposites within, which he called the anima and the animus, along with, work on our shadow (our dark side) we could facilitate the Individuation Process.
When we live our life unconsciously we hinder our ability make decisions that benefit our wellbeing. I will work with you, helping you to discover your Self within. Your Self within can help to guide you when you learn to listen to its symbolic messages.
Marion Woodman, in her 1992 book, Leaving My Father’s House, gives us an example of how a dream can be interpreted symbolically:
Dream – I am spring-cleaning my bedroom clothes closet. I appear to have put all my old clothes and shoes in large, green garbage bags but left the bags in the back of my closet. Today I am taking the bags out. It surprises me how big the closet now is. I notice a staircase at the very back corner. To my delight it leads to an undiscovered tower room made of wood. I have always known that this room existed but I could never find the opening to it. With great joy I climb the stairs. The room is magnificent. It is an open square space with huge windows on all four sides. The sunlight streams in the curtain less windows. Nothing clutters the natural hardwood floors. It is the space I have always longed for, the space I can go to whenever I want.
Marion Woodman, a Jungian Analyst, interpreted this dream by identifying the symbols in relation to the dreamer. The symbol of spring- cleaning means that a new possibility is being born. The old clothes (persona)and theold shoes (standpoint in life) were put in garbage bags (made conscious of but held onto). Now I am throwing the bags out (letting go of old patterns of behavior) and creating a new psychological space. The staircase (ego-self axis) leads to a square room with wooden floors (place of feminine wholeness). Here sunlight (consciousness) streams through the window (outlook). The floor (a new place to stand) is uncluttered.
Therapy Sessions are $95 or $410 for 5 sessions
payable by Cash, Check, or Credit Card
Please call me at 949-285-5199 to set up an appointment.
