Where? ISAP Zurich training program fall semester 2024 (ISAPZURICH)
When? September 24, 2024
Cultural complexes & body politics of gender.
Through looking at the Greek Myth of silent Philomela and her transformation, this lecture explores connecting with the dark feminine and using one’s own voice in the redemption of trauma.
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In my lecture I invite the listeners to explore the lived experience of the feminine body and psyche. By using myth and body work, my lecture is a lab for psychotherapists who hold space for women in their practices. Together, we have the opportunity to honor the feminine voice, foster its healing, and create a more balanced, inclusive, and regenerative cultural narrative within analytical work.
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Within the feminine core resides a powerful force of life, death, and regeneration—a sacred rhythm centered in the pelvic floor, often called a woman’s second heart, a Holy Grail. Unlike the physical heart, however, this center requires conscious engagement—an intentional ebb and flow, contraction and expansion—to remain vibrant and alive. I will speak about specific methods of engaging with the pelvic floor. Women are tied to their biological cycles as they transition from maidens to crones, whether or not they choose to become mothers. Female individuation is embodied, and our work is enriched by embracing the body. For instance, it is difficult to remain indifferent to the epidemic of autoimmune diseases affecting women worldwide (80%), diseases in which the autoimmune system attacks one's own body. This is at least partially a result of trauma.
By using the myth of a silent and raped Philomela, we will learn to name the individual and collective cultural trauma we all face, particularly as women.
My focus is on the potential for women to find pathways toward wholeness and restoration. In the symbolic language of the myth, this process is akin to stitching together the broken pieces of a story, reimagining them as threads in a new, unified fabric. Such an approach holds the promise of not only personal but cultural transformation, where the feminine body and psyche are no longer defined by wounding but by resilience, creativity, and regeneration.
I will also emphasize on the politics of the body through the lens of gender, sexuality and race – determining factors for mental, physical and spiritual health. What complexes are constellated around these topics?
Analytical Psychology is especially enriched by a truly feminine perspective – integrating an archetypal understanding with embodied experience. Unfortunately, the legacy of our field has been largely rooted in a masculine, patriarchal perspective. Together we can co-create new ways of further enriching well-established analytical methods in the support of women’s growth and flourishing.
In this lecture, I wish to move beyond logos-centric communication to using the non-rational language of the heart and the female body. This is the language of the mythical Philomela who moves from isolation back to public life. You are welcome to join in.