ken james

Ken James: jungian analyst and jungian psychology teacher

Kenneth James, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Chicago, Illinois. He is the founder and director of The Soulwork Center, dedicated to facilitating the process of individuation according to the teachings of C.G. Jung and other contributors to the field of Analytical Psychology.


Dr. James received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University and a Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago. Along the way, he studied voice at the American Conservatory of Music and learned a modality of music therapy at the Institute for Consciousness and Music in Baltimore, Maryland. He also completed four years of post-doctoral study in theology and scripture at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He has taken lay ordination in Zen Buddhism and has studied the Kabbalah with a Lubavitcher rabbi in Chicago.


Ken James teaches about the relationship between divination and synchronicity, and on the use of the Tarot to explore the unconscious. The synthesis of Jungian thought, clinical practice, and the numinous has been a strong motif throughout his career.

10+ Courses and talks

By Ken James

ken james online courses at jung platform

concepts. He brings therapeutic understanding and practical skillsSince 2020, Ken James has been one of Jung Platform's core teachers. With 10+ online courses and talks he brings a rare combination of analytical clarity and intuitive depth to everything he teaches. Ken has a gift for making Jungian theory genuinely clear, translating complex concepts into something both intellectually rigorous and practically usable. He brings therapeutic understanding as well as real, applicable skills. This makes Ken James an excellent guide for anyone seeking to understand Jungian psychology and put its concepts to work in their own life.

Start for Free - Introduction to jungian perspective on the tarot

Explore this free talk, Tarot through a Jungian lens with Jungian Analyst Ken James. Discover how Tarot symbolism illuminates the process of individuation, deepens self-awareness, and serves as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious psyche.

start for free - call & purpose, an introduction

This free talk brings together three of Jung Platform's most respected teachers: James Hollis, Ken James, and Jean Shinoda Bolen. Each offers a distinct perspective on discovering personal purpose and aligning with what genuinely calls you forward. These three clips are drawn from the full Call & Purpose course, a series of twelve in-depth interviews exploring the psychology of purpose, calling, and meaning. This introduction offers a taste of the deeper conversation that awaits in the complete course.

Ken James - From Music and Theology to Jungian Analysis

Kenneth James, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Chicago, Illinois, and the founder and director of The Soulwork Center, dedicated to facilitating the process of individuation according to the teachings of C.G. Jung and other contributors to the field of Analytical Psychology.

His path to Jungian analysis was anything but linear. Dr. James received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University and a Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. Along the way, he studied voice at the American Conservatory of Music and learned a modality of music therapy at the Institute for Consciousness and Music in Baltimore, Maryland. He also completed four years of post-doctoral study in theology and scripture at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He has taken lay ordination in Zen Buddhism and has studied the Kabbalah with a Lubavitcher rabbi in Chicago.

This unusually wide range of study: music, theology, Zen, Kabbalah, and depth psychology, is reflected in the way Ken James teaches. His work consistently draws connections between Jungian psychology and the deeper symbolic traditions that have shaped human meaning-making across cultures and centuries.

Ken James and the Tarot - A Lifelong Study

Ken James' studies of the Tarot began at an early age. He was introduced to the notion of divination by an elderly aunt from Scotland who read tea leaves. Coincidentally, he purchased his first Tarot deck in his late teens from a Scottish woman in a store on State Street in his hometown of Chicago.

Formal study of the Tarot, as well as astrological studies, continued at The Astrologer's Medium, an esoteric store that operated in Chicago during the 1970s and 80s. Kenneth James has since led workshops around the world on the relationship between divination and synchronicity, and on the use of the Tarot to explore the unconscious.

The synthesis of Jungian thought, clinical practice, and the numinous has been a strong motif throughout his career, and it is this synthesis that shapes his approach to teaching both Tarot and Jungian psychology topics today, like archetypes and complexes, active imagination, Jungian typology, and synchronicity.

Get introduced to Ken James in his blog on the individuation process and the Tarot. Read more