Upcoming Courses for Spring term 2018

Upcoming Courses for Spring 2018

Angels Workshop, Wednesdays, 3/21,28,4/4 & 4/11; 7-9PM; 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury; $60; to register, call Sue (802) 244-7909.

This workshop explores how we, as individuals, can discover and work more consciously with the inner energies that have traditionally been described as “angels.” Dozens of true accounts of how these energies have manifested in human lives are provided by the readings, and exercises designed to help participants contact their inner guides are included. We also discuss angelology in Western history. This course is designed to transform attitudes about spiritual reality and to bolster participants’ trust in the Self. Led by Sue Mehrtens

Women’s Biography, Thursdays, April 5^th & May 3^rd; 7-9PM; 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury; $10/session; to register, call Sue (802) 244-7909.

Our biography for April is Oprah, Kitty Kelly. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2011, and for May, My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor. New York: Vintage Books, 2013. These books can be purchased (for a discount for our class) at Bridgeside Books in Waterbury.

The Spiritual Adventure of Our Time, Wednesdays, 4/18,25, 5/2,9,16, & 23^rd; 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury; $75; to register, call Sue (802) 244-7909.

In his 1936 Terry Lectures at Yale University, Jung spoke of “the spiritual adventure of our time.” This course explores what Jung meant by this, including an overview of Jung’s own spiritual biography, the sources he drew upon in formulating his own religious viewpoint, and how he distinguished “creeds” (which he had no use for) from religio, which he regarded as an instinct innate in all human beings. Also included are discussions of some of the components of the spiritual adventure (e.g. spiritual literacy, symbology, the numinosum and meaning in life). The course is built around The Spiritual Adventure of Our Time, which will be provided to all participants. Led by Sue Mehrtens and Susan Ackerman.

Introduction to Dreamwork, Thursdays, 5/10,17,24,31^st; 7-9PM; 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury; $60; to register call Sue (802) 244-7909.

The Talmud regarded an uninterpreted dream like a letter from a friend that you fail to open. Dreams are full of guidance, wisdom and insights designed to heal us, help us and enrich daily reality. In this workshop we learn how to remember our dreams, handle their symbols, and interpret them so as to glean the messages they offer. Led by Sue Mehrtens

Save the Dates–Special Programs!

Jung and Music: An Introduction to Archetypal Music Psychotherapy, Saturday, June 2^nd, 7-9PM; 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury; $25; to register call Sue (802) 244-7909

After meeting with music therapist, Margaret Tilly, in 1956, Jung stated:
“This opens up whole new avenues of research I’d never dreamed of. Because of what you’ve shown me this afternoon – not just what you’ve said, but what I have actually felt and experienced  – I feel that from now on music should be an essential part of every analysis. This reaches deep archetypal material that we can only sometimes reach in our analytical work with patients. This is most remarkable.“ (C.G. Jung, 1956)

This lecture and discussion will focus on illustrating a Jungian approach to working with music and sound that is based on Jung’s personal experiences with music. There are many hints within the Jungian literature that Jung himself had an intimate relationship with music and sound. According to Jung’s grandson, Dieter Baumann, and to E. A. Bennet’s account (Bennet, 1967) Jung was particularly moved by African American spiritual music (Brome, 1978). According to music therapist, Margaret Tilly, Jung had a tremendous sensitivity to music and after inviting her into his house to teach him about music therapy he eventually told her “from now on music should be an essential part of every analysis (Tilly, 1977).”

Jung liked Bizet and Wagner, despised polyphonic music and stated that he knew “the whole (musical) literature” and had “heard everything and all the great performers (Tilly, 1977),” but felt that musicians don’t realize the “depth of archetypal material” that music is dealing with, so he effectively stopped listening to music because it “exhausts and irritates” him (Tilly, 1977).
This lecture is an exploration of how we relate with music, both clinically and personally, from a Jungian perspective while travelling our individuation path. We begin with a rare glimpse into Jung’s own experiences of music and their impact on his discoveries and then move through modern clinical examples and musical narratives in order to express a current understanding of how music and psyche relate to each other.
Topics covered include:
– Jung’s relationship with music and how he used it in his own work
– The Music Therapy connection between Jung and Margaret Tilly
– Musical dreams and non-rational creativity
– What Jungians are (and aren’t) doing with music
– “The next step” in applying Jungian approaches to working with music
– Musical Active Imagination
– How Archetypal images, shadow aspects and Anima/Animus show up in sound
– Clinical examples of how the transcendent function operates through -musical mandalas’
– Contributions of psychoacoustics and quantum physics to a Jungian understanding of music and sound
– The relationship between psyche and music as archetype
– Bridging the gap between verbal therapies and the expressive arts
– The role of musical Beauty and Aesthetics across cultures
– How to work therapeutically with music and sound
A Jungian Approach to Exploring Our Inner Landscape through Music and Sound, Sunday, June 3^rd, 10AM-4PM; 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury; $90 (includes snacks and lunch); to register, call Sue (802) 244-7909

Music and sound play a vital role in our lives. We hear music almost everywhere we go and it often has the ability to deeply stir our hearts and minds. We naturally use music to feel, to remember, to connect to our cultural roots and sometimes even to distract ourselves from the inevitable aches and pains of living a human life.

This experiential workshop will delve into the world of music-centered psychotherapy to illustrate some effective ways to utilize music, sound and image to explore our own inner landscape based on C.G. Jung’s 100-year-old process of Active Imagination.  We will investigate together various musical approaches to finding meaning within our human experience including aspects of grief, loss, anxiety, transitions, pain, and the depressions of life. We will explore how to work with various archetypal images such as the Shadow, the archetypal Feminine/Masculine, the Trickster and the Hero. We will look at a few clinical examples of how the transcendent function operates through ‘musical mandalas’ and we will investigate the role that psychoacoustics and quantum physics have played in developing a deeper understanding of how music mediates our daily life.

No musical experience is necessary and nothing more than your presence is required but there will be guided opportunities to engage musically for those that wish to have a “hands-on” experience.
For an intro to this topic here is Joel’s TED Talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgKqX5Yj3b8

Joel Kroeker is a Swiss-trained Jungian Analyst and a registered Music-Centered Psychotherapist with a private practice based in Victoria, BC. He is the founding international workshop facilitator of Archetypal Music Psychotherapy (AMP) and an international recording and touring artist on True North Records. He currently divides his time between his clinical practice and teaching Jungian-oriented courses at various universities across Brazil, Europe and North America.
Feel free to contact Joel by email at:

The link to our March blog essay is:

Jung on Neurosis Part III