James Hollis

James Hollis: Jungian Analyst, Author, and Teacher

James Hollis, Ph.D. is one of the most respected Jungian analysts and teachers of our time. A core faculty member at Jung Platform since 2016, he has spent more than four decades helping people find meaning, face their shadow, and live more authentically. Both as a therapist in private practice in Washington D.C., and as a teacher. Author of 23 books translated into 18 languages, including the widely loved Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Swamplands of the Soul, and What Matters Most.

Hollis is a gifted teacher, combining wisdom and a great sense of humor. His work draws on his training as a Jungian analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, 26 years as a Humanities professor, and a lifetime of listening to people's suffering and searching for what makes life genuinely meaningful.

At Jung Platform, Hollis brings that same depth to 30+ online courses and talks, covering shadow work, archetypes, relationships, individuation, and the psychology of meaning.

30+ courses and talks

BY JAMES HOLLIS

James Hollis online courses on jung platform

Since 2016, James Hollis has been one of Jung Platform's most beloved teachers. With 30 online courses and talks, the response from students around the world has been extraordinary. His ability to take the deepest questions of human life and make them both intellectually rigorous and personally relevant is what sets him apart. He makes Jung accessible. People describe James Hollis' work as life changing. 

Start for Free — Introduction to Jungian Shadow Work

In this free introduction, James Hollis explains what Carl Jung meant by the shadow, and why Jung said we spend our lives walking in shoes too small for us. Drawing on four decades of clinical experience as a Jungian analyst, Hollis shows why the shadow is an invitation to grow. Understanding your shadow changes the way you see yourself, your relationships, and the patterns that keep repeating in your life. This introduction gives you a taste of the full course: Encounters with the Shadow: Introduction to Jungian Shadow Work.

Start for Free — Introduction to call & purpose

In the free call & purpose introduction, three of Jung Platform's most respected teachers (James Hollis, Ken James, and Jean Shinoda Bolen) each offer their perspective on what it means to live a life with genuine purpose. They are three distinct voices, each shaped by decades of Jungian work, converging on the same essential question: what is this life asking of you?

James Hollis blog on jung platform

THE FEARSOME CREATURE IN THE MIRROR
Jungian analyst James Hollis on fear, shadow work, and projection in Jungian psychology. How confronting our own shadow heals not just ourselves, but the world around us. Read more

From Humanities Professor to Jungian Analyst

James Hollis, Ph.D., is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He is also a Core Faculty Member at Jung Platform since 2016, and one of the best Jungian teachers of our age.

            He was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities for 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years, was Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on the JSW Board of Directors. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston. He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grandchildren.
            
            He has written a total of 23 books and over 50 articles. Most popular are: Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Swamplands of the Soul, and What Matters Most.  The books have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, and Czech.

Books 

James Hollis has written 23 books on depth psychology, Jungian analysis, and the search for meaning. Several of his most beloved books are explored in depth in his courses at Jung Platform.
  • Harold Pinter: The Poetics of Silence (1970)
  • The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Mid-Life (1993)
  • Under Saturn's Shadow: The Wounding and Healing of Men (1994)
  • Tracking the Gods: The Place of Myth in Modern Life (1995)
  • Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places (1996)
  • The Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other (1998)
  • The Archetypal Imagination (2000)
  • Creating a Life: Finding Your Individual Path (2001)
  • On This Journey We Call Our Life: Living the Questions (2003)
  • Mythologems: Incarnations of the Invisible World (2004)
  • Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life (2005)
  • Why Good People Do Bad Things (2007)
  • What Matters Most (2009)
  • Hauntings: Dispelling the Ghosts Who Run Our Lives (2013)
  • Living an Examined Life: Wisdom for the Second Half of the Journey (2018)
  • Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times (2020)
  • Prisms: Reflections on This Journey We Call Life (2021)
  • The Broken Mirror: Refracted Visions of Ourselves (2022)
  • A Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Center of Spiritual Gravity (2023)
  • Living with Borrowed Dust: Reflections on Life, Love & Other Grievances (2025)
  • Tending the Fire: Creativity, Purpose, and the Unfolding Self (2026)

    Explore these themes he has written about further in his online courses on our platform.