Our closest relationships offer us profound opportunities to grow and to experience our deepest sense of connection. At the same time, relationships can challenge us in precisely those spots in which we feel tender and unsure. Despite the difficulties involved, our human hearts require relatedness. We need others in our lives—in whatever form—in order to feel whole. As Carl Jung phrased it:

The self is relatedness; the self doesn’t exist without relationships. Only when the self mirrors itself in so many mirrors does it really exist—then it has roots.

Jungian couples work offers a collaborative environment in which partners can explore ways of engaging the relationship as well as their own lives in a more satisfying and vital manner. In an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust, we work together to examine patterns of family history that may be impacting the relationship and preventing present day growth and healing. We also observe together the way that the relationship unfolds in the therapy session—sensing dynamics that may be interfering with communication and understanding. Jungian couples work invites the use of dreams and other creative modalities to better hear the deeper currents at work in the relationship.

...I tell you now,
in every house of marriage
there's room for an interpreter.
Stanley Kunitz, 'Route Six'

© 2006 • Barbara Platek, Jungian Psychotherapist • 119 East Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY, 14850 • (607) 273-4610