Monika Wikman is a gifted teacher and psychotherapist.  In this interview she brings her Jungian lens into focus for a penetrating view on narcissism. In the Jungian perspective narcissism is a problem of identity in which the relationship between the ego and the larger Self is off. This disconnect is experienced as a deep lack, and triggers rage and envy in the person. Monika also talks about ways to heal the narcissistic wound, and how we can engage with narcissistic people around us. Join her for a unique look at this timely topic.

In this session, you will learn: 

•  A Jungian perspective on narcissism
•  The dynamics of envy and rage in narcissism
• Approaches to  healing narcissism  from a Jungian perspective

About Monika Wikman 

Monika Wikman Ph.D is a Jungian Analyst and astrologer. She has worked for decades with clients and their dream symbols. Monika’s analysis of dream material leads readers into a practical explanation of alchemical symbolism.

Monika Wikman has a Ph.D. in Psychology with the California School of Professional Psychology and completed the training program with the Research and Training Center for Depth Psychology according to Carl Jung and M. L. von Franz in Zurich. Her doctoral work involved the study of dreams of patients with cancer at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center.

She is the author of ‘Pregnant Darkness’. In her book she shows that alchemy is at work in everyday life. Alchemical symbolism can be applied to unraveling the meaning of visions in meditation, active imagination, and dream work.

This summit session with Buddhist teacher Larry Ward is about narcissism in relation to our impulse to continuously create ourselves. Ward sees the narcissistic personality disorder as deeper than it appears to be. At the core it is a complex of the I-making process rooted in deep unmet needs. This state of body, mind and emotion is called the hungry ghost realm. IIn this state people feel nearly constant emotional hunger yet are never fulfilled. The complex habitually craves something pleasing as well as acknowledgement of itself. It demands to have its needs for love and nourishment met, yet it is certain to fail. To decondition this habitual pattern requires a conscious effort. Meditation, among other things, can help. Ward argues it is important that we learn to nourish our inner life into wellness. 

In this session, you will discover:

• How we continuously create and invent ourselves
• The unmet needs in narcissism 
• The importance of skill development that nourish our becoming 

About Larry Ward 

Dr. Larry Ward is a senior teacher in Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Lotus Institute. He has a PhD in Religious Studies with a Buddhism emphasis, His teachings are focused on integrating Buddhist psychology and practices with neuroscience, trauma resiliency work, indigenous wisdom and social imagination. 

He is the author of the book America’s Racial Karma, and co-author (with his wife, Peggy) of Love’s Garden: A Guide To Mindful Relationships.

Join the hypnotic storyteller and savvy interpreter of myths and stories Michael Meade. He takes us on a reflective journey through myths to see how the problems and potential healing of narcissism plays out in mythology. Few people have the ability to make these old stories so practical and relevant to our daily life as Meade. He points out where in our own souls we can encounter the challenges and dangers of narcissism, so we can also recognize them when they happen on a collective level. With a world hanging on a thin thread, we all can benefit from strengthening the thread through the connection to our own soul thread.

In this session, you will discover:

•      Stories of narcissism in mythology and fairy tales
•      How to recognize narcissism in our own life mythology/path
•      How to find medicine for inner and outer narcissism

About Michael Meade

Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology and is one of the greatest depth psychological teachers of our time. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths with a deep knowledge of cross-cultural rituals. 

He has an unusual ability to distill and synthesize these disciplines, tapping into ancestral sources of wisdom and connecting them to the stories we are living today. He is the author of The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul, Why the World Doesn’t End and The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul. 

Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network of artists, activists, and community builders that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples.

Thomas Moore uses the myth of Narcissus as his guide.  Narcissism is the lack and felt need for self-love and appreciation.  As a symptom, it points to what is needed. So the narcissistic person shows his or her pain by being a pain to others. He tries to coerce others to see and appreciate himself. In the myth (Ovid) Narcissus at first is hard like marble and doesn’t respond to his friends.  But he reflects on himself in a pool of water, at first not knowing the image is of himself. Then he discovers for himself that he is lovable. He turns into a flower, which is the opposite of marble. Ovid’s Metamorphoses always presents a special, metaphorical transformation.  So a narcissist needs love. He isn’t full of self-love, he is empty of it.  Moore has a friend who has a program she learned in Africa of self-praise. She helps young people learn to praise themselves and each other.  A cure for narcissism.  One more thing, there are times in life when praise is especially needed and when narcissism rises:  childhood, adolescence, when life hasn’t gone well, in old age.

In this session you will learn:

• What’s meant by “a sense of soul”
• What happens when we’re disconnected from the soul 
• How can we restore a sense of soul in our daily lives

About Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore published his classic Care of the Soul in 1992 that sold several million copies. Since then he has written twenty books on spirituality, sexuality, myth, religion and depth psychology. His books have been translated into thirty languages. He has taught religious studies and psychology and has been a psychotherapist for over 30 years.  

He often speaks at C. G. Jung societies and has done special work consulting at major medical centers with the idea of bringing soul to medicine. He was a close friend and collaborator with James Hillman and published an anthology of Hillman’s work with extensive introductions and commentaries. He writes fiction and music and has a special relationship with Ireland, the home of his ancestors. He lives in New England. His wife is Hari Kirin Khalsa, an accomplished painter and yoga trainer. His daughter Ajeet is a popular singer of spiritual music.

Jungian Coach and Jung Platform co-founder Akke-Jeanne Klerk discusses the challenges one faces when romantically involved with a person with strong narcissistic traits. In the early stages of the relationship narcissists are likely to be charming. However, as the relationship progresses in time, the destructive dynamics will take its toll on the relationship. The relational dynamics turn abusive. Each stage of the relationship comes with its own challenges, as well as the ending of the relationship and the experienced heartbreak afterwards. In this session, Akke-Jeanne will focus on what is mirrored back through the other about the relationship we have with ourselves. What is it within us that wants to be fully seen through our own eyes?  What part of ourselves do we need to recognize, honor and allow to move on?  

In this session you will discover:

• What narcissism in romantic relationships looks like
• Why people enter relationships with a narcissistic other and why they experience difficulties ending it
• What a relationship with a narcissistic other might reveal about yourself

About Akke-Jeanne Klerk

Akke-Jeanne is Jung Platform’s co-founder & VP Strategy Programs. Her background consists of a Master’s in Psychology, and several years of training in Jungian Analysis. She has offered training and coaching in a professional setting for over 10 years. In the past, she has worked for 8 years as a lecturer of psychology at the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam. 

She is the author of ‘Psychology of Heartbreak’ (in Dutch) and she provides Jungian coaching and training. 

At Jung Platform, apart from daily management tasks, Akke-Jeanne identifies, develops and manages projects, like the development of courses and programs. She supports Jung Platform’s teachers in fine-tuning their modules to ensure that our programs are always practically grounded. Akke-Jeanne is driven by a passion for depth psychology.

Robert Romanyshyn focuses on the soul’s suffering – its psychopathology – by regarding its symptoms as a vocation to remember what is being forgotten even as it is too painful to be remembered by them. Individuation then is the fruit of mourning as one discovers who one is and is meant to be, thus transforming an impersonal fate into a singular destiny. The work of Individuation requires, as Jung has pointed out, a situation that calls for change, the courage to do so, and a vocation, a calling that is from the Self. In the course of the interview, Romanyshyn uses a key dream as well as two examples from his life and work to illustrate his remarks.

In this session you will  learn

• The Myth: The Fatal Attraction of the Ideal of Beauty
• Through Rilke’s Duino Elegies  about Lament and Praise
• The Mourning Process: From Loss and Disillusionment to Transformation

About Robert Romanyshyn 

Robert D. Romanyshyn is an Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, an Affiliate Member of The Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, and a Fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. He is also a Core Faculty Member at Jung Platform. 

Author of eight books including his newly published Victor Frankenstein, the Monster and the Shadows of Technology: The Frankenstein Prophecies, he has published articles in psychology, philosophy, education and literary journals, published a book of poems, written a one act play about Frankenstein, and created a multi-media DVD entitled Antarctica: Inner journeys in the Outer World, a psychological reflection on the melting polar ice. In addition to online seminars and interviews, he has given lectures and workshops at universities and professional societies in the U.S., Europe, Australia, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand.

In this session Depth Psychologist Craig Chalquist talks about narcissism in the workplace. Narcissistic behavior can be found in any position in the workplace, from management positions to  co-workers to clients. Chalquist  explains how to recognize behaviors like entitlement, abuse of power, gaslighting, and lack of empathy, as  they play out in  the workplace. The dynamics narcissists often create around them have an impact on a personal level as well as on the team dynamics. Craig discusses the challenges that are faced by those who work and interact with the narcissist. He will give examples and offer some suggestions on how  to deal with narcissism on the job.  

In this session you will discover:

• How to recognize narcissism in the workplace
• The impact of narcissism in work environments 
• How to deal effectively with narcissism on the job 

About Craig Chalquist 

Craig Chalquist, Ph.D. is a depth psychologist and storyteller with a background in Family Systems Therapy. He teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies and at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where he was formerly the associate provost. He has also presented at various Jungian institutes and societies. 

His interests include: storytelling, depth psychology, terra psychology and presence of place, ecopsychology and enchantivism and deep systemic change. The various interest areas are reflected in his many publications and lectures.

The masterful teacher and gifted astrologer Alexander Graf von Schlieffen shares how we can look at narcissism through the lens of astrology. Narcissism is a problem of identity, which in astrology is mainly symbolized by the Sun. The placement and aspects of the sun point to particular personality traits and certain life circumstances. If the Sun can’t express itself in a healthy way it might indicate narcissism. Astrology can provide clues as to how narcissism plays out for a particular person, and also points the direction where healing can be found.

In this session you will learn:

• About the sun as a symbol of identity
• How to find healing for narcissism
• Some specific ways narcissism can play out in an individual chart

About Alexander Von Schlieffen 

Alexander von Schlieffen started studying astrology in 1991, after having been deeply impressed by the writings of the astrologer Thomas Ring. In 1996 he passed the examination of the Astrological Association of Germany (DAV) with excellence and became a teacher at the Astrology Center of Cologne. In the following years he lectured for various Astrology Institutes all over Europe. From 2001 – 2012 he was a regular tutor at the world renowned “Center for Psychological Astrology” (CPA) that was founded by Liz Greene and Howard Sasportas. Liz Greene mentored Alexander in astrology and published his first book “When chimpanzees dream astrology” in 2004. 

Alexander has been invited to Astrology conferences worldwide, such as the UK, Poland, South Africa and many more countries. He had his own Astrology show on TV and has written for several magazines, such as “Vanity Fair” and many others.

Alexander also studied painting at the Art academies in Vienna and Düsseldorf. His teachers were Gerhard Richter and AR Penck. His work has been exhibited all over Europe and he has done numerous commissions such as wall paintings and portraits. He is also a jazz musician.

In this session psychoanalyst Daniel Shaw reviews the effects ‘traumatizing narcissists’ can have in families. He describes how narcissists create a relational system of subjugation. Narcissists intimidate, belittle, and humiliate the people around them. They require the other to become an object for them. Narcissistic parents resent their childrens’ dependency and shame their children for their natural needs. Consequently, people that grow up in these abusive relational systems oftentimes blame themselves for things they aren’t the cause of. They become alienated from themselves. They feel trapped, work hard on themselves, and try to be the person the narcissistic other wants them to be. But they could also become like the narcissistic parent, feeling superior and shaming others for being needy and small. In his work with survivors of narcissistic abuse Daniel Shaw focuses on understanding the dynamics of narcissism better and he helps survivors retrieve a healthy sense of self.

In this session, you will discover:

• How to identify a ‘traumatizing narcissist’
• The effects of growing up in an abusive relational system
• How to deal with narcissistic parents in adulthood

About Daniel Shaw 

Daniel Shaw, LCSW, is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Manhattan. Dan Shaw also provides clinical supervision to individuals and groups internationally.

He is known for his books on narcissism: Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation (2013), and Traumatic Narcissism and Recovery: Leaving the Prison of Shame and Fear (2021). Both books are published by Routledge. 

In this talk Jungian psychoanalyst Robert Bosnak reviews how moral categories -such as ordinary selfishness- have seeped into therapeutic  categories such as complex narcissism. The Narcissus myth refers to someone drowning in self-reflection. In this  moment of drowning the  reflection becomes possessive, dual consciousness is lost and one becomes identified with one’s self-image. Dual consciousness is the awareness of self while simultaneously experiencing oneself. Cultivation of this dual consciousness can help in dealing with narcissism in ourselves and others. It’s of vital importance to keep in mind the distinction between this psychological process and the assessment of ordinary moral despicableness. 

In this session, you will discover:

• How to recognize moments of  ‘drowning in self-reflection’ in oneself and others
• What dual consciousness is
• How to cultivate dual consciousness to deal with narcissism

About Robert Bosnak 

Robert Bosnak, PsyA, is a Jungian psychoanalyst who graduated from the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich in 1977. He pioneered the Embodied Imagination method, and his current interest is focused on exploring Embodied Intelligence (MQ). Robert Bosnak is a Core Faculty Member at Jung Platform.

Robert has written several books translated into a wide variety of languages, amongst which the worldwide bestseller A Little Course In Dreams and Embodiment: Creative Imagination in Medicine, Art and Travel. He’s a Past President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and founder of the Santa Barbara Healing Sanctuary. He divides his life between Santa Barbara, California and Sydney, Australia. He trains the Embodied Imagination method worldwide

Machiel Klerk hosts a live Panel Discussion with Robert Romanyshyn and Alexander von Schlieffen. Join us for an engaging live session featuring two of our top instructors, where we’ll delve further into the subject of narcissism and provide you with the opportunity to ask questions.

In this summit session, Jungian Analyst Lionel Corbett, talks about religious narcissism. He explores the projection of human narcissistic vulnerability onto the biblical God-image. He will go into narcissism in the Christian tradition as well as narcissism in religious fundamentalism. Lionel Corbett starts giving a short talk on the subject, and it is followed up with a discussion.

In this session you will discover:

• Religion can be used by narcissists to maintain self-esteem and control others
• How human personality traits can be projected onto the god image
• Why narcissists feel drawn to (religious) leadership positions

About Lionel Corbett 

Dr. Lionel Corbett trained in medicine and psychiatry in England and as a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. Dr. Corbett is a professor of depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, where he teaches depth psychology. His primary interests are: the religious function of the psyche, especially the way in which personal religious experience is relevant to individual psychology; the development of psychotherapy as a spiritual practice; and the interface of Jungian psychology and contemporary psychoanalytic thought. 

He is the author of numerous professional papers and six books: Psyche and the sacred; The religious function of the psyche; The sacred cauldron: Psychotherapy as a spiritual practice; The soul in anguish: Psychotherapeutic approaches to suffering, and Understanding Evil: A guide for psychotherapists. He is the co-editor of four volumes of collected papers: Psyche’s Stories; Depth psychology, meditations in the field; Psychology at the threshold; and Jung and aging.