Psychology of the Masculine

Course Description

In this deeply moving audio series, Hollis trains his soulful eye on the psychology of men and masculinity. He warns us at the outset that when we use words like masculinity and femininity, we’re really talking about mysteries. Biology, history, culture, dynamics of our family of origin and elements unique to each one of us come together to constitute this extraordinarily complex mystery. Hollis profoundly distills and articulates these mysteries to make them accessible to many.

Woven throughout the course is the idea of the eight secrets that men carry within. What do these secrets make them do? What do these secrets keep them from doing? 

These questions are available to us in a way that were not for our parents and grandparents. Our longer lifespan and a softening of gender roles are now allowing many things to surface that have been held down. Yet despite our generation’s new opportunities, facing these questions still stirs up enormous conflict. So we often wind up colluding with unseen patterns rather than upsetting them. 

By example, Hollis encourages us to risk bringing them to the surface. He calls out to all men to become conscious of the fact that they are wounded. The unconsciousness of their trauma causes them to repeatedly wound themselves and those around them. This course aims to bring men and women to greater awareness and foster dialogues that must be had for healing to begin. Hollis shows us that it is possible to allow tough issues to surface and to question the deep-rooted assumptions that are choking our roots.

Hollis traces the path of the masculine using the central concepts of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. He describes how complexes, transference, archetype, anima, animus, sublimation, projection ,transference & other concepts  play out through the masculine. To illustrate these ideas he offers rich examples from poetry, literature, stories from his own life-journey, anecdotes from his years of clinical practice and observations of popular culture.

These audio recordings are in the format of a discussion: enjoy Hollis’ interaction with the audience as well as the numerous questions and comments that are sure to assist you along the way.

This program is being offered by the Jung Center of Houston and the Jung Platform. The original recording of this lecture took place at the Jung Center. The recordings have been remastered and the classes are available now.

This course is ideal if you want to:

• Understand yourself as a man or understand the men in your life better
• Have a deep psychological understanding of aspects of human development
• Enjoy the company of a  compassionate, witty and wise guide in your explorations

Course Overview

Class 1

In this class, Hollis lays out the eight secrets that men carry. He takes us through his discovery of this idea as well as the initial feelings and thoughts he had about offering a program on this topic. We begin to understand how these secrets play out in a person’s life; in their relationship to others and particularly in their relationship to themselves. They are revisited throughout the program.

Class 2

Hollis tackles the heaviness that comes with the history of male identity. He briefly takes us back to the Saturnian myth which is a key myth in his exploration of the masculine psychology. We look at what it means to live in the legacy of this myth as well as in the legacy of the messages we received as children. We also look at the stages of rites of passage in traditional cultures and what happens in modern times when these rites have disappeared. 

Class 3 

In this class, we begin to explore the archetypal aspects of the male psyche. In particular, Hollis talks about dealing with the power of the mother complex. We will also look at  the specific ways the mother complex shows up in male female relationships. In this class, Hollis also offers a beautiful and clear description of the multiple levels in which our psyche processes life simultaneously: the conscious, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. 

Class 4

This class delves into the importance of separation and the necessity of wounding. Hollis talks about what happens when separation does and doesn’t occur and how we can address that.  We look at the wisdom and the necessity of rights of separation. Hollis also dips into the importance of mentoring and living a symbolic life. 

Class 5

In this class, we continue to explore the archetypal aspects of the male psyche. Specifically, we talk about the issues raised by the Father imago or Father archetype. Among other things, we look at the concepts of power, empowerment, mentorship, messages from childhood and what happens to a child’s development when there is a ‘missing father’. 

Class 6

This class is a revisiting of the secrets with the knowledge gained from the previous classes. We will delve into role expectations, the cost of having our lives defined by them and their intrinsic relationship to our complexes. The ideas of individuation, living with ambiguity, fear, shame and the false self are explored.

Class 7

This class deals with the idea of wholeness. We explore how we can serve the psyche; how do we do what’s right for our soul? Hollis talks about many things:  symptoms, dreams , the feeling function, the thinking function, grief, depression, the importance of mentorship, what analysis can help with & so on. 

Class 8

This class focuses on the issues of healing and what the practices or attitudes that foster healing are. Hollis offers a series of questions for participants to work with. These questions are meant to be personalized by each person and are a gift that we can keep revisiting over time.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Recognise some important aspects of the masculine and the life journey of men
• Encourage some of your secrets to come out of hiding
• Understand contemporary society, interpersonal relationships and yourself in a deeper way
• Ask yourself important questions that will help you hear your soul’s calling