Depth psychology is grounded in the belief that symptoms, dreams, and emotional turmoil are not just problems to be fixed — they're symbolic messages from the soul. This profound approach takes us beneath surface-level functioning and into the deeper layers of psyche: the realm of archetypes, myths, and images that shape our lives from behind the scenes. Rather than trying to erase pain, we ask: What is this trying to reveal? What deeper truth wants to be known?
This orientation recognizes that the human psyche is far more complex and mysterious than rational consciousness can comprehend. Beneath our everyday awareness lies a vast realm of unconscious material — ancestral wisdom, archetypal patterns, creative forces, and shadow aspects that profoundly influence our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Depth psychology sees symptoms not as pathology but as the psyche's attempt to communicate something essential about our authentic nature and life purpose.
The Unconscious as Creative Source: Rather than viewing the unconscious merely as a repository of repressed material, depth psychology recognizes it as the wellspring of creativity, wisdom, and transformative potential. The unconscious actively seeks expression through symptoms, dreams, relationships, and creative endeavors.
Symbolic Thinking: The psyche naturally communicates through symbols, metaphors, and images rather than literal language. Dreams, fantasies, artistic expressions, and even physical symptoms carry symbolic meanings that reveal deeper psychological and spiritual truths.
Archetypal Patterns: Universal patterns of experience (archetypes) exist within the collective unconscious and manifest through individual lives. These patterns — such as the Mother, Father, Hero, Wise Old Man, Shadow, and Anima/Animus — provide templates for understanding human experience across cultures and centuries.
Soul-Making: James Hillman's concept that life's purpose involves the deepening and enrichment of soul through engagement with psychological complexity, suffering, and beauty. Rather than solving problems, we cultivate capacity to live with mystery and paradox.
Active Imagination: Developed by Jung, this practice involves conscious engagement with unconscious material through dialogue with inner figures, exploration of fantasy images, or creative expression. Rather than analyzing dreams, clients learn to continue the dream through imagination.
Dream Work: Dreams are treated as direct communications from the unconscious rather than coded messages requiring interpretation. The focus is on amplifying dream images, exploring their emotional resonance, and discovering their connections to waking life.