Working with Archetypal Figures / Personification

Archetypal figures (the Wise Old Man, the Great Mother, the Hero, the Trickster, Puer Aeternus, Kore/the Maiden, and others) are universal images of the collective unconscious. They appear in dreams, fantasies, and life patterns. The work is to personify them, enter into dialogue, understand the message, and limit their autonomy through awareness. The danger is archetypal inflation (identification with the archetype instead of dialogue).

Step-by-step guide

1. Identify the archetypal figure in the client's material — a dream, a life pattern, a symptom
2. Amplify through mythology: "This image [of the Wise Old Man / Trickster] appears in…"
3. Explore how the client is "identified" with this archetype or "possessed" by it
4. Offer dialogue through active imagination
5. Help differentiate the Ego from the archetype — "this is a part of you, but not the whole of you"

When to use

• Puer Aeternus syndrome — the "eternal youth" who cannot take up reality
• "Capture" by the negative Mother — depression, the sense of being swallowed
• A client in the role of a "rescuer" — capture by the Hero / Messiah archetype
• Grandiosity (inflation by an archetype) — the person has "become" the archetype instead of being in dialogue with it

Key phrases

Follow-up questions