Humanistic Psychology Lecture Series

William James College is excited to announce the seventh lecture in the continuing lecture series that focuses on the current role of Humanistic Psychology in the context of the continually changing dynamics within the field of psychology and mental health practice. While evidence based treatments and behavioral protocols have come to prominence in recent years, humanistic psychology remains at the core of the human transaction and process that is psychotherapy. This lecture series aims to bring esteemed colleagues from around the country whose primary focus is on the humanistic perspective in psychotherapy to help articulate why this perspective remains so vital and necessary in contemporary clinical practice.

The Religious Function of the Psyche

Wednesday, September 27, 2017 from 6:30- 8:30 pm

at William James College, Newton

Dr. Corbett’s lecture will explore the religious function of the psyche the lens of depth psychology. The experiential aspect and case studies that are presented will focus on personal experience of the numinosum, or the holy, its relationship to the psychology of the individual, and its effects within the personality. Because we have no presuppositions about the ways in which the numinosum may appear, the depth psychological approach is open to personal manifestations of the sacred that may not be recognized as such within traditional Judeo-Christian thought. The depth psychological approach to the sacred focuses on revelation by means of dreams, synchronistic events, creativity, relationships, the earth, the body, sacred places, and attention to our complexes.

Learning objectives:

Examine the Jungian understanding of the nature of the religious function of the psyche

Discuss the importance of the religious function of the psyche in healing

Describe how to apply the religious function of the psyche in the therapeutic process

HP07| 2 CE Credits | $40

No CE Credits | FREE | Pre-Registration REQUIRED

Lionel Corbett, M.D., received his medical degree from the University of Manchester, England, in 1966; served as a military physician; and became a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1974. In the USA, he did fundamental research into the biochemistry of the brain; began one of the first programs in the psychology of aging; was a hospital medical director of in-patient psychiatry; trained as a Jungian analyst at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago 1978-1986; helped found a training program for Jungian analysts in Santa Fe, while carrying on a private practice and teaching psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Corbett has studied various spiritual disciplines including Christian and Jewish mysticism, Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, and Yoga and has had a personal meditation practice for 20 years. He now teaches depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute near Santa Barbara, California, where he founded the Psyche and the Sacred program, a highly successful series in its 5th year that integrates spirituality with depth psychology. This program has developed a powerful approach to spirituality that is based on personal experience of the sacred, avoiding all forms of doctrine and dogma. He is the author of 5 books, several training films, and about 40 professional articles. Publications Include: Fire in the Stone: The Alchemy of Desire (essay); Psyche and the Sacred: Spirituality Beyond Religion; The Sacred Cauldron: Psychotherapy as a Spiritual Practice; The Religious Function of the Psyche