If you have not yet watched season one of Pluribus, go do it. I’ll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, focusing on the archetypal patterns we are all facing today. You really should go watch it for yourself and do your own reflection. This is written after the end of season one, so some plot points may change as more episodes are released.
Show synopsis: “In a world overtaken by a mysterious wave of forced happiness, Carol Sturka, one of the immune few, must uncover what’s really going on – and save humanity from its artificial bliss.”
It begins in a remote place. With people really hungry to discover something. They asked what it means when the day comes that they finally discover something. They are excited in their frantic efforts to decode it. They are clueless about the danger that is in store.
Not too long after, suddenly, everybody in the world is now “all one.” All except 12 random people scattered across the world who are somehow immune to “the turning” to join the collective hive mind. Much like our digital hive mind, which has been rapidly growing over the last 30 years, everyone in the collective has access to everyone else’s knowledge. Suddenly, everyone knows literally everything and how to do everything, including medical procedures and flying airplanes.
Most interestingly, the collective is very nice. They give the 12 survivors literally anything and everything they want. All they want in return is for the remaining 12 to consent to join the collective. They honor their sovereignty, but they do want them to join them.
The number 12 symbolizes completeness and cosmic order, often associated with significant concepts such as the 12 months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, and 12 disciples. It represents a balance of energies, including the combination of masculine and feminine traits. Perhaps an indication that the 12 foundational archetypes are still present in the world and will be available to correct the situation, despite the catastrophic leveling that occurs.
The main character, Carol, is a reluctant, chaotic, alcoholic hero who wants to save the world and restore it to its former state. At first motivated by her grief and loss, which eventually gave way to loneliness. She begins befriending the collective and settling into the new normal. Eventually, though, she recognizes all that is lost and the moral problems obscured by the collective’s kindness, and she starts to investigate, discover, and analyze everything she can about them, hoping to find a way to set things straight.
Of the other 12, we one meet a few in any detail. Each is practically a one-dimensional archetypal character. Carol initially tries to recruit them to help her restore the world. None of them is willing to help; each of them is content, now that the collective willingly gives them everything they have ever wanted. Getting everything we want causes complacency. Why would we want to give up having what we most want? One guy exemplifies this the most clearly. He is a man-child, enjoying the luxuries of material riches, private jumbo jets, luxury penthouse suites, beautiful women, and parties.
Another woman still has her son (in appearance only, he is part of the collective), and won’t help because she believes her only role is to mother him. She calls Carol angrily whenever something happens that upsets him. When the only goal is not to upset the children, we miss key aspects of development that are necessary for the maturation of both parents and children. It’s even more striking commentary as an image when we recognize that the mother only wants to possess her child and not ever upset him, and that he is not an individual person with his own dreams and purpose that are being cultivated, he is unable to think or feel for himself and only plays a role that the mother and the collective demand of him.
Each of us is a complex person, not an archetype. We hold many roles, many ways of being in the world. Whenever we are reduced to a one-dimensional archetype, we are possessed, unable to access the rest of our humanity. A mother is much more than a mother, a father is much more than a father, and a worker is much more than a worker. We have to recognize when we are being reduced to an archetype, or when we willingly claim one, because it limits our consciousness and potential actions and cuts us off from our wholeness.
Towards the end of the season, one character, Manousos, who initially refuses contact, eventually becomes the only one willing to help save the world when Carol has fallen into her own contentment to combat her loneliness and grief. He refuses all food and contact, sacrificing greatly to clearly define the situation and make a plan to fight the collective takeover. Only after emerging from a paranoid, withdrawn seclusion does he decide to join Carol, recognizing he can’t do it alone.
An extreme masculine archetype, he demonstrates rigidity, sticking to his beliefs and values, which strengthens his conviction and mission, but he is unable to relate to Carol and her care and relatedness to people, and is therefore ineffective. He has to soften and learn to relate to her. He wants to just kill everyone to solve the problem, but Carol, in her feminine Eros, still cares about the people underneath the collective brainwashed hive mind and wants to find a more subtle and skilled way to end the collective takeover and save as many people as possible. His values and convictions help snap Carol out of her slide into joining. Her relationality helps him recognize his extreme aggression. They don’t trust each other, but they need each other.
The show’s name, “Pluribus,” is part of the phrase, “e pluribus unum,” a Latin motto of the United States found on the Great Seal of the United States and all printed currency, which means ‘out of many, one’. The show is an excellent example dangers of the current misinterpretation of the phrase. The phrase was not intended to mean out of many – same. The founders of the US used the phrase to describe the joining of the 13 independent, distinct, individual colonies into a stronger alliance. As I have written about in previous articles on Individuation and groups, groups of people are stronger and richer when diverse individuals enter into healthy relationships and alliances. Much like a band, orchestra, or American football team, where everyone has different skills and different roles, something beautiful is created that would not be possible if everyone were the same. Yet, that is exactly how our culture has been moving – into sameness rather than relating through differences. Pluribus beautifully illustrates the sinister moral problems masked by sameness and kindness, exploiting people’s need to belong and avoid loneliness.
The show is beautifully written to illustrate how collective thought, behavior, and assumptions, as well as our own personal emotions, needs, wants, and desires, can guide us into extremely unhealthy positions and trap us there. It’s one of the many ways in which modern therapy has misguided us into prioritizing our personal feelings and needs. Some people and therapists even go so far as to believe that our personal feelings, needs, and beliefs are truths that others must abide by. The show also illustrates what happens when we take things at face value. What others say and show may look and sound good, but we always have to balance that with our own understanding of our own motivations, feelings, values, and morality. Our work is not to mindlessly join any collective thought based on how it sounds, appears, or feels, but rather to develop our own understanding, our own compass, and our own position while maintaining healthy relationality with others. It is not easy. The collective’s desire to consume and absorb others is strong and aligns perfectly with our wounds around belonging, isolation, and loneliness.
Again, here is the show synopsis: “In a world overtaken by a mysterious wave of forced happiness, Carol Sturka, one of the immune few, must uncover what’s really going on – and save humanity from its artificial bliss.”
Where have you experienced forced happiness or artificial bliss? Maybe you have even been told to be grateful, to count your blessings, to look on the bright side, and not to be such a downer by well-meaning friends, family, coaches, or therapists. And when and how do we cling to what little bits of happiness and bliss we experience, like every character in the show except Manousos? Don’t misunderstand me, it is important to be grateful and happy for things that warrant those feelings. And we can’t neglect our duty to “uncover what’s really going on.” At least in ourselves and our own lives. Not to just get excited by a new discovery as they do at the beginning of the show, but to take the time to discover what it really is and what the consequences may be. Manousos does take the time to discover what is really going on, but he too neglects an important part of the equation. This is a lesson too for what happens when we cling so rigidly to our ideals that we lose the ability to be relatable and cooperate with others, a much-needed skill to tackle problems in the world beyond our own personal lives.
We’ll see where Vince Gilligan takes the show in the future. But from my vantage point at this moment, Pluribus is a fantastic story of individuation and the development of individual character in relation to the collective. In individuation, all the characters are transformed by their unique souls’ needs. Carol is an engaged public figure, successful but not fulfilled in her career, just going through the motions. She wrestles with her own grief and clings to the past, temporarily falling for the seduction of getting what she wants, and eventually coming back to navigate what is best for both her and the world based on what she can offer. Manousos has to move out of his isolated, withdrawn position and learn to relate to someone who is completely different in culture and gender to form a healthy partnership that will fulfill both of them in their mission and individuation. Individuation – development into a whole, healthy presence in the world is different for everyone.
As with any great story, we can ask, who are we most like in the story, and where in the story are we? Are we like Carol? Manousos? Any random person in the collective? Identified with the mother archetype, man-child playboy archetype? Or any other one-dimensional archetypes illustrated, such as public figures, doctors, nurses, consumers, managers, loyal friends, or nameless, featureless extras? With careful reflection and an earnest desire to see ourselves, Pluribus offers a rich mirror for us in our current times.
Chuck Hancock, M.Ed., LPC, LMHC, is a licensed psychotherapist and Analytic Psychology Training Candidate practicing in Colorado and New York, guiding individuals, couples, and groups into greater wholeness. Inner Life Adventures.
Some forms of isolation aren’t solved by more effort, insight, or self-improvement. They arise not because something is wrong with you—but because psyche was never meant to be carried alone.
This small, facilitated psychotherapy group offers a place to tend the deeper waters of inner life in the presence of others. It is a space for reflection, shared meaning-making, and slow relational work—where what is often held privately can be spoken, witnessed, and metabolized together.
Why Group?
Many people come to individual therapy having already done a great deal of inner work—thinking, reading, reflecting, understanding themselves more clearly. And yet something remains unmoved.
Group therapy works differently.
In group, isolation is named, shared, and gradually transformed through relationship. Experience is no longer held in the solitary mind, but enters a living relational field. Patterns emerge. Resonance happens. Something human and essential is restored.
This group is not about advice-giving or problem-solving. It is about presence, honesty, and the slow unfolding of psyche in relationship.
What This Group Tends
Chronic or subtle feelings of isolation or disconnection
Life transitions, midlife questions, or loss of meaning
Relationship patterns that repeat despite insight
Dream material and symbolic inner life
Longing for depth, authenticity, and shared reflection
The tension between a functional outer life and a neglected inner one
This group welcomes complexity. Nothing needs to be fixed. What matters is showing up as you are.
Who This Group Is For
This group may be a good fit if you:
Are an adult drawn to psychological depth and inner life
Have done some therapy, reflection, or personal work before
Feel inwardly alone, stagnant, or unseen despite outward competence
Are curious about dreams, meaning, and symbolic experience
Want relational contact that goes beyond surface conversation
Are open to being impacted by others—and to impacting them
This group is not a class, a support group, or a drop-in experience. It is an ongoing relational process.
Format & Practical Details
Format: Live, facilitated psychotherapy group on Zoom
Group Size: Limited (approximately 6–8 members)
Location: Participants must reside in Colorado or New York
Frequency: Weekly
Length: 90 minutes – 12 week minimum
Time: Wednesdays, 12:00-1:30EST/10:00-11:30MST
Fee: $60-$90, some sliding scale flexibility if cost is the only barrier to a good fit
All participants complete an initial conversation to assess fit and readiness for group work.
About the Facilitator
The group is facilitated by Chuck Hancock, M.Ed., LPC, LMHC, a depth-oriented psychotherapist with over 15 years of experience. His work integrates relational psychodynamic psychotherapy, Jungian psychology, mindfulness-based somatic awareness, and group process.
Chuck’s approach emphasizes presence, meaning, and the living relational field—supporting both psychological insight and embodied experience.
Next Step
If something in this description resonates, the next step is a brief, no-cost, no-pressure conversation to explore whether this group is a good fit for you.
There are No Shortcuts Here: Forget TikTok attention spans and bullet points. This process takes time, and you can’t rush it. Your conscious “ego” isn’t the boss.
This will be a long article. It will be long because it is a broad framework, and much can be said about Jungian Analysis, Jungian-oriented psychoanalysis, or Analytic Psychology, as it is most often called, or Archetypal Psychology, as James Hillman developed from his Jungian training. However, I hope this will not be overly rambling, as is common in Jung’s writings. In the modern age, when attention must be captured in short TikTok bursts or in bulleted lists, I will do exactly as Jungian work does. I will go against the grain and take as much time as it takes to develop, share, and reveal as much as I can about the process with words. The ego is not in charge here. It cannot be shortened or simplified by ideas alone, as understanding Jungian work from a cognitive dimension is at best only 1/4 of the picture. It is counter-cultural and non-consumerist, in that there is no linear set of steps to follow, no specific set of diagnoses it treats (though there are certainly contraindications), no guaranteed outcome, and it can’t be reduced to a bullet-point list or described in a social media post.
It Evolves as We Evolve: Unlike some other theories, this approach recognizes that people and ideas evolve over lifetimes (even Jung contradicted himself repeatedly — this is a sign of growth, not a weakness of the theory).
I reserve the right to change my mind and describe it completely differently in the future. This is being written in December 2025, after about five years of study in Jungian Psychology and about eight years of my own analysis. This may sound like a lot of time, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m not fully cooked yet, and I’m still learning, growing, and being shaped by my studies and analytic process. Many people don’t take this much time, but everyone’s timeline is different. One of the reasons I’ve chosen to study this approach is that it recognizes that we grow, change, and learn over time. Every day, there is more to learn from life and from our unconscious, which for many presents itself nightly through dreams. But dreams are by no means the only way the unconscious presents itself to us. When you study Jung, you find many contradictions and conflicts as he refined his ideas and continued his own individuation. I believe we should all continue to grow and approach life differently as we mature. Most other theories in practice today don’t account for differences across the lifespan and try to apply the same theory and method to all people at all stages of life. This is short-sighted and disrespectful to the soul.
That said, there is an end goal, and this is the modern age. I’ll do my best to summarize and provide bold bullet-point headings so you can decide whether it is worth your time to go further. I’ll honor both the spirit of the depths and the spirit of the times in this way.
TL;DR: The Main Goal: It’s a custom-tailored, in-depth “initiation” that helps you relate your conscious self (ego) with your personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The aim is to build a solid inner core, minimize “projecting” your stuff onto others, and recognize your unique role in the world. The core idea of Jungian Psychology is that people are in a constant process to try to be who they are, and when that process gets thwarted, as it does by countless obstacles, people become various flavors of neurotic and miserable.
There is no single good name for it because it is a diverse, in-depth process tailored to each client and therapist at each phase of life, and when it is most effective, it is born anew in each moment of each session. It aims to help each unique person develop a healthy relationship between their conscious ego and the unconscious, to develop a solid internal structure, which helps them project less onto others, be more effective in building healthy relationships, bring their unique gifts and contributions to the world, and recognize their place in the world. I’ve come to see it as a relational process of initiation into the depths of the self and the other (where the other includes other people, the world, the unknown, the unconscious, the not-understandable, the mysterious, etc. ). It is an initiation into the rich depths of both the inner and outer worlds, recognizing archetypal patterns and forces that possess us while recovering wholeness and humanness through individuation across the lifespan.
The primary aim of Analytical Psychology is to facilitate a durable and functional relationship between the conscious ego and the unconscious. As a diverse, custom-tailored process, its effectiveness lies in its capacity to continually renew itself within the unique relational field of the client-analyst relationship. This in-depth work fosters a robust internal structure, which reduces projection, enhances relational capacity, and facilitates the realization of the individual’s unique purpose. Fundamentally, it is an archetypal process of initiation into both the inner and outer worlds-a confrontation with the unknown that restores wholeness through the life-long journey of individuation.
If you want to unpack it all a bit further, let’s carry on:
It’s About Finding Your Own Language: Good analysis helps you learn the unique “symbolic language of your own soul,” rather than forcing you to speak the system’s jargon. Beware of therapists who think they have the answers for you or force you to learn their language!
If you ask other Jungian Analysts, you’ll get many different answers because the process recognizes the uniqueness and subjectivity of each person. When done well, it helps the client learn the unique symbolic language of their own psyche and soul.
Jungian thought has been integrated into many other psychological theories and pop-psychology without attribution (or with criticism). (I’ll refrain from a detailed discussion on how Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a scripted approach working with complexes — maybe in another article.) You may encounter vocabulary commonly used in Jungian thought, such as shadow, complex, persona, anima/animus, ego, psychological types, introversion, extroversion, alchemy, archetypes, projection, personal unconscious, collective unconscious, individuation, etc. In some ways, understanding the structure of the psyche through this vocabulary can be helpful. Still, it can also be a trap, as, without a relational guide to help us see what we can’t see in ourselves, this knowledge can keep us locked into an intellectual understanding alone, which keeps distant the development of the relationship between the ego and soul and the multitude of parts or complexes we contain. To me, any good therapeutic process does not require you to learn the language of its system to participate, but rather to find your own language to describe and understand your unique experience, and to work with and relate to it more effectively. It’s not about drinking anyone’s “Kool-Aid.” However, plenty of misguided therapists, including Jungians, may try to get you to do so, believing they have the answer for you.
It’s “Care for the Soul”: Jungian psychology gets back to the root meaning of “psychology” — the study of the soul — but it’s not tied to any specific religion.
While the movement in academia and business over the last century has been to specialize and silo schools of thought, Jung approached psychology from the perspective that everything that humans have developed has come through the psyche; therefore, psyche and psychology are integrated into everything and found everywhere, and everything has been shaped by psychology. Rather than claiming a single school of thought as the one right way, this system works to integrate diverse systems, just as the diverse ecosystems that make up our planet do. Furthermore, Jung’s psychology stays close to the etymology of the word , which means “study of the soul,” or in other words, Jungian therapy can be seen as care for the soul.” But not from any religious or spiritual tradition, but a care for the soul that recognizes that each person has their own unique path that their soul is on, that may or may not involve a particular spiritual orientation.
James Hillman in Re-Visioning Psychology writes:
“ Soul is rediscovered, and with it comes a rediscovery of human-kind, nature, and world. One begins to see all things psychologically, from the viewpoint of the soul, and the world seems to carry an inner light. The soul’s freedom to imagine takes on preeminence as all previous divisions of life and areas of thought lose their stark categorical structures. Politics, money, religion, personal tastes and relationships, are no longer divided from each other into compartments but have become areas of psychological reflection; psyche is everywhere “ (Re-Visioning Psychology, p. 196).
Why the Name “Jungian” is a Problem: Jung didn’t want a “school” or followers because he didn’t want the work to become dogmatic or rigid. The name risks drawing attention to Jung himself rather than the actual process.
Since the model is based on reclaiming and integrating diverse ways of being, and because every person’s journey is unique and requires different methods and approaches, it is difficult to name. That is probably why people call it Jungian Psychology after the founder. However, this is problematic because Jung did not want a school and didn’t want Jungians to follow him. Yet he eventually agreed to establish a school because he recognized the need for in-depth training to undertake such work. Furthermore, Jung, in the transparency of his own process, made numerous mistakes, which people like to latch onto and discredit everything he wrote. The danger of calling it Jungian is exactly what Jung tried to avoid with his system: he didn’t want it to become dogmatic or codified in any way, which can happen when people focus more on the originator and/or his words than on the process he was describing. A finger pointing to the moon is not the moon, as they say. And the process of sorting what is useful from what is not helpful in our own lives and in what we read is something we all must do.
As we each travel our own unique paths, we can better understand ourselves and one another by examining diverse ways of seeing the world. We all see it differently. This was analyzed using the theory of psychological types. That is, we all have different strengths and weaknesses in thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuition, and the combination of these creates different ways of seeing and interacting with the world. They are not static and fixed; they are fluid and dynamic, and, in fact, we deepen our understanding of ourselves and each other by developing the areas in which we are weaker. In reality, Jung himself recognized that the system was incomplete, but it served as a starting point for understanding how different modes of perception shape consciousness. Modern conversations about consciousness often exhibit a one-sided bias toward either Eastern spirituality or Western science. Still, consciousness is not a monolithic phenomenon over which any discipline, school, or tradition can claim ultimate authority.
The “Blind Men and the Elephant” Parable: This image vividly illustrates how different schools of psychology (and people in general) grasp one piece of the truth and mistake it for the whole. Jungian psychology tries to honor all those perspectives.
Because this approach encompasses the diversity of human experience and the unconscious, which, by definition, can never be fully known, the parable of the blind men and the elephant is a powerful image for illustrating what is happening in both Jungian psychology, the field of psychology as a whole, and in each of us as we try to relate to our psyche and unconscious. The story concerns a group of blind men who have never encountered an elephant and learn its nature by touching it. Each blind man feels only a different part of the animal’s body, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the animal based on their limited experience, and their descriptions of the elephant differ. In some versions, they suspect the other person is dishonest and come to blows. The moral of the parable is that humans tend to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience while ignoring others’ equally valid subjective experiences.
It is easy to see how each branch of psychology and psychotherapy, such as cognitive, somatic, emotionally focused, trauma-informed, relational, developmental, behavioral, social, psychodynamic, personality, etc, has focused itself. We can easily become grandiose when we study only one system, believing we have the right way to understand people and the proper therapeutic methods. Just like each branch of science or religion can do the same. However, as the parable illustrates, they are all just different methods of describing the same thing from a limited perspective. When we become attached to a single right way and try to defend it, it can become violent and ruin relationships, creating further division. Jungian Psychology attempts to educate the practitioner from the perspective that all ways of seeing are valid, and that it is up to the therapist to understand their own ways of seeing and being, and how they compare and relate to the other, while guiding the client to find their own, without dogmatically telling the client what to do. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of work and education to appreciate and see things from many different perspectives.
It Avoids Being Too Bossy: It requires maturity on the part of both the client and the therapist to avoid the “authoritative trap” of wanting someone to give the “right way.” It teaches you to orient yourself.
We all want someone to tell us the right way sometimes, especially when we are at our lowest or most lost. But taking the time to learn to orient ourselves to ourselves and the world around us helps us avoid getting lost and teaches us how to navigate unfamiliar terrain in the future. It Works (Eventually). When we learn what works for us and how other things work for other people, it is much easier to navigate the world and the people around us. That is why there is evidence to suggest depth-oriented approaches and Jungian Psychotherapy in particular is effective in creating long-lasting change . Recognizing we each have things that work better for us, and everyone is different, is a much-needed perspective in our modern, divisive world, which brings more peaceful interpersonal relationships.
So Many Names, Still No Perfect One. Despite being involved in many different forms of Jungian study over the years, I’ve never heard a term to describe it that I really liked. In my quest for a better name for Jungian Analysis, I asked ChatGPT for suggestions, thinking maybe I just haven’t been exposed to the best term yet, but hopefully, in its infinite scouring of the internet, maybe it found a better term. It gave me many suggestions, all accurate in their own ways, and at the same time emphasising one blind man’s perspective — that is, describing one aspect of it at the expense of others. Here are some additional names that convey its various facets.
Relational Depth Work
Relational Jungian Therapy
Depth-Oriented Relational Therapy
Experiential Depth Psychotherapy
Intrapersonal & Interpersonal Depth Work
Relational Soul Work
Soul-Oriented Psychotherapy
Archetypal Soul Work
Symbolic Process Work
Inner Life Work
Psychospiritual Depth Work
Work with the Living Psyche
Soul-Centered Therapy
Archetypal Depth Work
Therapy for the Inner Journey
Shadow & Soul Work
Depth Psychology Counseling
Inner Work Psychotherapy
Unconscious Process Work
Dream-Oriented Psychotherapy
Symbolic Depth Work
Integrative Depth Therapy
Mythopoetic Psychotherapy
Imaginal Psychotherapy
Deep Inner Work Therapy
Transformational Therapy
Therapy for Personal Meaning
Therapy for Self-Discovery
Insight-Oriented Therapy
Mind–Body–Soul Therapy
Therapy for the Deep Self
Inner Exploration Therapy
Whole-Person Depth Therapy
As you can see, many names describe one facet, but no one name can describe it all!
Avoid One-Sided Thinking: The system’s value is in recognizing and avoiding “one-sidedness,” making room for the complexity of reality. This applies to Jung’s theories, the author’s thoughts, and other psychological theories (e.g., CBT, IFS).
For me, one of the most valuable parts of the theory and process is the recognition and avoidance of one-sidedness. Many of the terms fall into this trap. But that doesn’t mean we should avoid words or terminology altogether; we need them to describe and differentiate. And then it is up to us not to let them lock us into a rigid, one-sided, rational way of thinking about things. That includes all of Jung’s theories as well! Neither Jung nor his students have the correct answers, but they point to important things to examine and relate to. So bring all the criticism of Jung and my thoughts on the process! It’s needed! And apply it to all of the other theories as well! CBT, IFS, somatic, trauma-focused, etc…. They are all helpful to a particular person at one specific moment. And let’s see if we can gently pry things open a bit more to get some more space to breathe and maneuver before we get so one-sided and fixed into one way of being in the world. That includes being “Jungian!” I consider this a key essential skill in our increasingly polarized world.
At its core, the process is one of seeing through to the core. That is where the word analysis comes in. Many people have negative associations with the word analysis. Still, the process is one of taking apart, analyzing carefully, seeing what is happening behind the scenes, so that one can be put back together more completely and function more smoothly without being derailed by habitual thoughts, feelings, or patterns. The negative views of analysis are worth unpacking in themselves. The world’s complexity and diversity, and his continued development and evolution throughout his life, account for the extensive rambling and diversity of thought in Jungian writing. However, it is aimed at seeing through, in whatever dimension the client is coming from or needs to work with, what is occurring in life at that time. Most importantly, it helps people derive meaning from and learn from their suffering, thereby growing, developing, and gaining greater mastery over their lives.
“We don’t so much solve our problems as we outgrow them. We add capacities and experiences that eventually make us bigger than the problems.” — C.G. Jung
Relational Aspects are Key: The work on alchemy shows that Jung’s ideas were very relational. The goal is to see past the personal drama to the deeper, “archetypal core” of your relationships.
In The Mystery of Human Relationship, Jungian Analyst Nathan Schwartz-Salant writes:
“In a sense, the alchemical way is one in which the analyst sees with the larger vision of the self; the scientific way is one in which he or she sees through the vision of the ego. The alchemical way sees through the eyes, whereas the scientific way sees with the eyes. Whereas the scientific way cannot encompass both opposites at the same time, the alchemical way can encompass both opposites simultaneously by situating them in a middle realm, the subtle body or the interactive field, the very existence of which scientific thinking denies” (p. 98–99).
Because of the collective cultural biases of our time and the introverted nature of many people who are drawn to Jung, the relational aspects of Jung are sometimes overlooked. Science is very important to much of our world, but it is one of many ways of seeing, all of which are important. Jung’s writings on alchemy and the Rosarium Philosophorum are foundational and closely aligned with the relational schools of psychoanalysis that emerged later in the century. But again, the key is that in a Jungian Analysis, we don’t get caught in the personal, but see through to the archetypal core of the dynamics at play in relationships with the analyst, intimate partners, family, and friends. It’s not about the ego’s desires, feelings, or unmet needs. Yet, being able to see and understand them, and their sources, can help reduce the extent to which they compel us and drive our lives.
It’s All About Individuation: This is the process of developing a relationship between your ego and your Self/soul to become your most whole self. It’s about letting the ego be a healthy part of you — no more, no less.
Lastly, as I’ve explored in other writings, Jungian Analysis is about aiding someone’s process of individuation. Individuation is a process of developing a relationship between the ego and the Self/soul, and all of the multitude of different parts of ourselves, which allows us to become as much of our full, whole self as possible in this lifetime. Not trying to destroy the ego or transcend the ego, just letting it be what it is. No more, no less. This is relativizing the ego.
Don’t Become a Jerk: Individuation means being able to enjoy and relate well to people who are different from you, rather than becoming a self-absorbed, judgmental hermit or dominating others with your beliefs.
We need a healthy ego and relationships with others as we individuate, because if we become a misanthrope who distances from or judges others, we’re only continuing to project our shadow. A good Jungian analysis helps us to appreciate people who are different from us more, rather than creating more distance. It is a process of recognizing and detaching from being controlled by the influence of the other — of our upbringing, of the other person, and of the culture, collective beliefs, and the collective unconscious, while remaining in relationship to the world. If we attend only to ourselves and do not relate well to or care for others, especially those who differ from us, we become more narcissistic. But we also cannot be infected by others’ beliefs and feelings.
It’s an Experience, Not a Theory: All the words and theories are just maps. The process itself is an experience, an initiation into yourself, the world, and transformation, using the symbols that arise in your own life.
You Have What You Need: The answers are already within you; you just need to look, listen, speak, and live.
No matter how we describe the process, it is NOT being led by the client’s, therapist’s, or someone else’s ego, or by anyone’s conceptualization of how to live one’s life. While reading more about Jung’s theories can dangerously lead to following someone else’s path or to intellectualizing the process, it can be helpful to understand the map. However, we cannot mistake the map for the terrain. There is nothing inherently bad about maps or intellectualizing; we don’t want to diminish or prioritize thinking, feeling, sensing, or intuition in our approach to ourselves or the world. We need all of these ways of being. I’ve tried to put some words to it while minimizing jargon. Still, even these words, along with the writings of other Jungian-oriented scholars, are insufficient to describe the process thoroughly. There is no adequate name to describe it. It’s an experience. It’s an initiation. Into yourself. Into the world. Into life. And death. And the natural process transformation. Through the symbols that present themselves to you in your one unique and precious life. You already have everything you need. You don’t need to look outside yourself for answers. They are right there. You just have to look. You just have to listen. And speak. And live.
Chickpea to Cook
Rumi — Translated by Coleman Barks
A chickpea leaps almost over the rim of the pot
where it’s being boiled.
‘Why are you doing this to me?’
The cook knocks him down with the ladle.
‘Don’t you try to jump out.
You think I’m torturing you.
I’m giving you flavor,
so you can mix with spices and rice
and be the lovely vitality of a human being.
Remember when you drank rain in the garden.
That was for this.’
Grace first. Sexual pleasure,
then a boiling new life begins,
and the Friend has something good to eat.
Eventually the chickpea will say to the cook,
‘Boil me some more.
Hit me with the skimming spoon.
I can’t do this by myself.
I’m like an elephant that dreams of gardens
back in Hindustan and doesn’t pay attention
to his driver. You’re my cook, my driver,
my way into existence. I love your cooking.’
The cook says,
‘I was once like you,
fresh from the ground. Then I boiled in time,
and boiled in the body, two fierce boilings.
My animal soul grew powerful.
I controlled it with practices,
and boiled some more, and boiled
once beyond that,
and became your teacher.’
Chuck Hancock, M.Ed., LPC, LMHC, is a licensed psychotherapist and Analytic Psychology Training Candidate practicing in Colorado and New York, guiding individuals, couples, and groups into greater wholeness.
Individuation isn’t a solo project—it’s a shared journey of showing up for yourself and others.
In our modern age, how many of us truly have a place where we regularly meet with others to build ongoing relationship? Not just a place where we see familiar faces or exchange pleasantries, but a space where we share and listen personally -authentically, honestly, and vulnerably-so that we can be seen and known, and in turn, see and know others.
The Illusion of Connection
Perhaps you’re someone who, through the gift of extroversion or fortunate life circumstances, has a strong social circle. You might see one another often enough to feel cared for and supported by the community. Yet how many of these circles include -not only demographic diversity, but differences in worldview, politics, religion, relationship status, and belief? Most of us tend to surround ourselves with people who are more like us than not.
The importance of relationships that unfold over years, not just days or months, has been apparent to me throughout my life. In an era of technological “connection,” the reality for most of us is a landscape of disconnection. This makes it all the more vital to have real, sustained relationships.
Social media tends to either reinforce our existing views or inflame us with opposing views, casting others as wrong or even dangerous. It takes intention to cultivate caring relationships with people who see the world differently from us.
The Limits of Temporary Community
Over the years, I’ve attended countless retreats, workshops, and classes that promised community. Many of them even use the word in their marketing. Yet something was always missing.
I’ve come to realize that, no matter how inspiring the experience or language, without an ongoing relationship, these offerings often perpetuate the same consumerist pattern that dominates our culture. We sign up, pay a fee, attend, perhaps feel nourished-and then return to our individual, isolated homes until it’s time to purchase the next experience we hope will fill the gap. Despite our digital connections and community-themed events, many people still feel profoundly lonely. It might feel good to see a familiar face, but it does not replace a sustained, authentic relationship.
What’s the Alternative? Real, Ongoing Relationship
Ongoing, authentic relationship with multiple people. In other words: a group.
Many religious and community organizations attempt to meet this need, but the community is often transient. People attend for a while and move on when it no longer meets their expectations, or worse, they must trade parts of their authentic selves to belong.
In most groups, belonging has a cost. The essential question is whether that cost is conscious and transparent or unconscious, requiring us to abandon parts of ourselves in order to stay connected.
Why Commitment Matters
That’s why I’ve been running men’s groups every week for over a decade, and more recently, an all-gender group that includes explicitly transpersonal elements. All of my groups require a screening to ensure participants are ready to make a real commitment to themselves and to others. Members agree to show up week after week, especially during an introductory period, because making and keeping commitments has become rare. Especially when things feel hard and awkward, and our sense of belonging is called into question. Ending relationships explicitly and intentionally is even more rare. And both are essential parts of relationships.
Group Therapy Office
It’s not uncommon for people to question why they should pay to participate in a group. I’ve had those same questions myself. However, over the years, I’ve come to realize that financial and attendance commitments help sustain investment, accountability, and awareness around our choices to show up or not, and to end relationships with intention. And it ensures the cost of belonging to the group is conscious, consensual, and is not enacted unconsciously through joining in a particular belief system.
Think about how often we cancel plans with a friend or therapist because we “don’t feel like going.” We might not even be fully honest with them or ourselves about our reasons, allowing the truth to remain unconscious. Yet being honest and exploring what’s behind our desire to avoid is often the more authentic way to show up for ourselves.
Some of the most generative moments in relationships and groups occur when someone brings forward they don’t want to be there. Avoidance gives way to awareness.
Beyond Transactional Relationship
Another reason I believe ongoing groups are so powerful is that the relationships they foster are transformative. Too often, people leave relationships because the other person isn’t meeting their needs. Seeing others primarily as sources of need fulfillment is a limited way of relating.
Nearly every day in my practice, someone contemplates leaving a partner or friend for this reason. In a diverse group, we learn to relate differently-to ask for what we need, to notice what happens when we don’t get it, and to continue showing up anyway. We begin to experience a connection that is less transactional and more human.
The Mirror of Relationship
There’s a saying in both Zen and group therapy: “Wherever you go, there you are.” In group language, we might say, “How you show up in group is how you show up everywhere.”
How we show up in relationship to ourselves mirrors how we relate to others. Of course, the expression changes depending on the context and person, but the deeper patterns remain.
We can’t fully understand ourselves in isolation-we need the reflection of others to see who we are. And that reflection can only happen if we keep showing up: for ourselves and for each other, again and again. Whether we want to or not, we need to discuss what is happening in the relationship until we communicate that it is time for the relationship to end. Every step of the relationship journey is illuminating and transformative when it is expressed and not hidden. Our patterns of avoidance are varied and often have very valid justifications
Avoidance is easy. Commitment is harder. But showing up, truly showing up, for yourself and others is where transformation begins.
Chuck Hancock, M.Ed., LPC, LMHC, is a licensed psychotherapist in Colorado and New York, guiding individuals, couples, and groups into greater wholeness.
Individuation Is Not Individualism by Chuck Hancock, M.Ed., LPC, LMHC As a psychotherapist working with individuals, couples, and groups, one of the most persistent yet least discussed themes I encounter is the tension between focusing on oneself and focusing on others. I’m also fascinated by how people relate to groups and how group influence shapes individuals. In our modern era, mass media and social media amplify this dynamic: it’s easy to absorb the ideas, beliefs, and emotions of the collective. Digital engagement—through likes, comments, and shares—magnifies one person’s voice into that of a group. Yet, paradoxically, one of the most common concerns I hear in therapy is, “I don’t want to just focus on myself.” Many prefer to look outward, often under the belief that it’s more altruistic and less selfish.
Music has been one of my greatest teachers in understanding this balance. Playing music in a group or band is an excellent metaphor. It requires individuals who have practiced their craft and developed skill, sensitivity, and awareness—people who can both listen and express. A musician who only focuses on others isn’t playing; they’re just listening. Likewise, a musician who only focuses on themselves can’t play something that fits rhythmically or harmonically with others. Musicians who never attend to their own development won’t grow. Good music emerges when each person has cultivated their musicianship, can listen and express authentically, and can adjust fluidly in real time relationship to others. This is individuation.
Individualism, on the other hand, is doing whatever one pleases without regard for the group. It often derails collective harmony. But individuated people—those who know themselves, can listen deeply to self and other, and can contribute authentically from that place, which can create beauty that enhances everyone’s life. When we act from an unindividuated place, we lose creativity at best, trainwreck the group with our out of sync rhythm, or become consumed by the group unable to do anything but merely repeat its chorus. When the group itself is toxic, the results can be destructive as the toxicity is amplified. When people say they don’t want therapy to be “just about themselves,” they raise a valid concern. A narrow focus on self to the exclusion of others can become pathological. The American Heritage Dictionary defines autism in part as “an abnormal absorption with the self; marked by communication disorders and disregard for external realities.” When we neglect the world around us and the validity of other people’s experience, we lose the relational grounding that keeps us human. But the reverse is also true—without self-understanding, it’s impossible to truly relate to others. How can we learn to “play well with others” if we don’t first understand ourselves—our capacities, limitations, and relational patterns? Well-facilitated groups can help people develop both self-awareness and relational skill. I sometimes wonder whether our cultural struggle with self-focus versus self-negation stems from our monotheistic heritage. The idea of “one god,” “one truth,” or “one right way” has deeply shaped Western consciousness—even among those who no longer believe in God. We still search for “the one” best answer, product, diet, or leader. By contrast, polytheistic and animist traditions honor multiplicity: many beings, many perspectives, and the relationships with and between them are the priority. This pluralism mirrors the inner world as well. Even modern systems like Internal Family Systems (IFS), which introduce multiplicity into psychology, can fall into a subtle monotheism by idealizing “Self energy” as the ultimate goal. It struggles to hold the tension in the paradox. While on one hand IFS proclaims there are “no bad parts,” it can hold a dogmatic agenda to increase the traits found in its limited definition of Self energy over other less shiny parts. An overfocus on the self is as problematic as neglecting it. The self is the only being we have 24/7 access to—the one we can truly know and influence. We can never fully know another person, but we can cultivate a deep, lifelong relationship with ourselves. To me, a healthy psyche can move fluidly between self-focus and other-focus, balancing both empathy and autonomy. When we either disregard or over-prioritize ourselves or others, I become curious about what may be causing that imbalance.
The myth of Narcissus offers a useful lens. Popular culture equates narcissism with self-absorption, but the story is richer than that. According to the myth, Narcissus was prophesied to “live a long life, so long as he never knows himself.” His mother, in a misguided attempt trying to protect him (a helicopter parent before there were helicopters), removed all mirrors from their home. Later in life, he rejected the love (and relationship) of all suitors, focusing only on his work. Deprived of reflection, he had no way to know himself. When he finally saw his image, he was transfixed—not out of vanity, but out of deprivation. He didn’t know who he was, so when he first saw his reflection, he became enamored. It was actually so important for him to see himself, that he was fixated in agony till he died on the spot. Having never been mirrored, he was starved for self-recognition. The tragedy was not his love of self, but the absence of it. True self-knowledge requires reflection from others; we come to know ourselves through relationship. There is also widespread misunderstanding of Jung’s concept of individuation. Many equate it with individualism or believe focusing on oneself is selfish. Often, this stems from discomfort with our own inner life. When we dislike what we see in ourselves, it’s tempting to turn outward, focusing on others under the guise of altruism. This “helping” can become a defense against self-contact. Since we can’t change others—especially if they’re unwilling—it’s ultimately ineffective. Individuation means developing a conscious relationship with all aspects of oneself—our diversity, contradictions, and complexity. While we may never know ourselves completely, we have the best chance of doing so because we are the only person we live with every moment of our lives. And it can’t happen without relationships to others, and the whole point is actually healthier relationships to others and a decrease in falling into a mutual unconsciousness. And, of course, living life as fully as possible with our unique constellation of gifts, strengths, weaknesses, shadows, and limitations, while being engaged with people and society at large. Individuation unfolds through relationship; it’s not isolation. Its purpose is more authentic connection—with others and with life itself. And since we can’t change others, focusing solely outward is futile; our most profound work begins within. Groups can profoundly influence individuation—for better or worse. When a group aligns with our true self, it can be supportive, affirming and transformative. When it doesn’t, it can distort or suppress individuality. Today, more than ever, we need deep self-understanding to resist the pull of groupthink. This happens through a greater focus on yourself and your relationship to others, not less of either. True individuality strengthens community; it doesn’t oppose it. Through music groups and therapy groups, I’ve witnessed how collective work can deepen individuation—helping people become more grounded in themselves while staying in meaningful connection. Real relationship requires difference. Without difference, there’s only sameness or fusion, not fruitful connection. Individuation allows us to be distinct and related at once. Jung himself emphasized this balance. In “The Psychology of the Transference” (Collected Works, Vol. 16), he wrote that as internationalism and the weakening of religion erode traditional boundaries, humanity risks dissolving into “an amorphous mass.” The antidote, he said, is “the inner consolidation of the individual,” which must happen consciously. Otherwise, we risk becoming “soulless herd animals governed only by panic and lust.” But Jung warned that individuation doesn’t mean spiritual aloofness; it must “cling to human relationships as to an indispensable condition.” True inner unity depends on conscious fellowship with others. (Jung’s full text in context is quoted below.) In the end, individuation is both an inner and outer process—a deepening relationship with self and a more authentic connection with others. Neither can exist without the other. The goal isn’t isolation, but integration: to live fully engaged in the world, with awareness of our unique gifts, shadows, and limitations, in relationship with the wider world. — Chuck Hancock, M.Ed., LPC, LMHC, has completed comprehensive training in the Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy—a mindfulness-based, body-centered approach. He integrates depth psychology and nature-based (ecopsychological) perspectives to explore the interplay between conscious and unconscious patterns in relationship to the world. Chuck guides individuals and groups in self-exploration, providing insight and a vessel for transformation. With over a decade of experience leading men’s interpersonal process groups, therapy groups, wilderness programs, and rites of passage, he is highly trained in trauma treatment, mindfulness, and somatic therapy. He continues his study of psychoanalytic work through JPA in New York and is licensed in Colorado and New York.
If you enjoy reading Jung directly, here are a few paragraphs illustrating his take on this:
[443]…Increasing internationalism and the weakening of religion have largely abolished or bridged over these last remaining barriers and will do so still more in the future, only to create an amorphous mass whose preliminary symptoms can already be seen in the modern phenomenon of the mass psyche. Consequently the original exogamous order is rapidly approaching a condition of chaos painfully held in check. For this there is but one remedy: the inner consolidation of the individual, who is otherwise threatened with inevitable stultification and dissolution in the mass psyche. The recent past has given us the clearest possible demonstration of what this would mean. No religion has afforded any protection, and our organizing factor, the State, has proved to be the most efficient machine for turning out mass-men. In these circumstances the immunizing of the individual against the toxin of the mass psyche is the only thing that can help. As I have already said, it is just conceivable that the endogamous tendency will intervene compensatorily and restore the consanguineous marriage, or the union of the divided components of the personality, on the psychic level—that is to say, within the individual. This would form a counterbalance to the progressive dichotomy and psychic dissociation of collective man.
[444] It is of supreme importance that this process should take place consciously , otherwise the psychic consequences of massmindedness will harden and become permanent. For, if the inner consolidation of the individual is not a conscious achievement, it will occur spontaneously and will then take the well-known form of that incredible hard-heartedness which collective man displays towards his fellow men. He becomes a soulless herd animal governed only by panic and lust: his soul, which can live only in and from human relationships, is irretrievably lost. But the conscious achievement of inner unity clings to human relationships as to an indispensable condition, for without the conscious acknowledgment and acceptance of our fellowship with those around us there can be no synthesis of personality. That mysterious something in which the inner union takes place is nothing personal, has nothing to do with the ego, is in fact superior to the ego because, as the self, it is the synthesis of the ego and the supra-personal unconscious. The inner consolidation of the individual is not just the hardness of collective man on a higher plane, in the form of spiritual aloofness and inaccessibility: it emphatically includes our fellow man.
[445] To the extent that the transference is projection and nothing more, it divides quite as much as it connects. But experience teaches that there is one connection in the transference which does not break off with the severance of the projection. That is because there is an extremely important instinctive factor behind it: the kinship libido….Kinship libido—which could still engender a satisfying feeling of belonging together, as for instance in the early Christian communities—has long been deprived of its object. But, being an instinct, it is not to be satisfied by any mere substitute such as a creed, party, nation, or state. It wants the human connection.That is the core of the whole transference phenomenon, and it is impossible to argue it away, because relationship to the self is at once relationship to our fellow man, and no one can be related to the latter until he is related to himself.
[446] If the transference remains at the level of projection, the connection it establishes shows a tendency to regressive concretization, i.e., to an atavistic restoration of the primitive social order. This tendency has no possible foothold in our modern world, so that every step in this direction only leads to a deeper conflict and ultimately to a real transference neurosis. Analysis of the transference is therefore an absolute necessity, because the projected contents must be reintegrated if the patient is to gain the broader view he needs for free decision.
[447] If, however, the projection is broken, the connection—whether it be negative (hate) or positive (love)—may collapse for the time being so that nothing seems to be left but the politeness of a professional tête-à-tête. One cannot begrudge either doctor or patient a sigh of relief when this happens, although one knows full well that the problem has only been postponed for both of them. Sooner or later, here or in some other place, it will present itself again, for behind it there stands the restless urge towards individuation. [448] Individuation has two principal aspects: in the first place it is an internal and subjective process of integration, and in the second it is an equally indispensable process of objective relationship. Neither can exist without the other, although sometimes the one and sometimes the other predominates. This double aspect has two corresponding dangers. The first is the danger of the patient’s using the opportunities for spiritual development arising out of the analysis of the unconscious as a pretext for evading the deeper human responsibilities, and for affecting a certain “spirituality” which cannot stand up to moral criticism; the second is the danger that atavistic tendencies may gain the ascendency and drag the relationship down to a primitive level.
From (Collected Works of CG Jung, Volume 16. Practice of Psychotherapy in the Essay Psychology of the Transference. Emphasis mine.)
Mark your calendars and register soon for a new offering for professionals. We are forming a depth-oriented learning community next fall to continue growing to better serve our community. We believe the best therapists never stop reflecting on themselves and their work through their own therapy and continued growth process, no matter how long they have been practicing. Come join our learning community to continue your growth from a holistic depth oriented frame that includes many different modalities.
My Life is the Medicine is a new podcast hosted by Chuck Hancock. Chuck sits down to have conversations with people to look at how life has provided numerous lessons and initiations already that we sometimes overlook. Instead, we get lost seeking new, bigger, or better experiences.
In the age of abundant experts and gurus, we take the subversive stance that you are actually the only expert you need for your own life. By looking closer at your own life experiences – both the ones that felt good and the array of challenges you had, you can harvest all the wisdom and medicine you need to guide your unique life and offer your unique gifts and wisdom to the world. We have conversations with ordinary people to look closer at how everyday experiences of living life have shaped us and taught us profound lessons. Often we don’t think much of our choices and experiences, but in reality, they all have a profound meaning. Instead of just moving from one thing to the next, we can slow down and pause to integrate the initiations that life has already provided, to become even more whole, balanced, and able to bring the medicine of our life, the medicine we’ve already been given, into the world.
Contract Therapist and Growth Facilitator Job Description
Inner Life Adventures, LLC provides licensed psychotherapy to individuals, families, and relationships of all genders age 13 and up. We are growing a community of helping professionals working to enhance the mental wellbeing of kids, adults, families, and couples in our community through a combination of evidence-based practices, cutting edge innovative treatments, and creative outside-the-box programs both indoors and outside. In our ever-changing times, we are challenged to provide healing services outside the traditional models, so partnering with the abundance of outdoor opportunities in our area that Reconnecting to Our Nature, LLC provides such as coaching, retreats, and educational programs Guided by Nature. We are assembling a fun, dynamic, and collaborative group of clinicians, who are compassionate, skilled, energized by helping to improve the health and wellness of our communities through a wholistic approach to services.
The ideal therapist candidate will provide outpatient individual and group therapy to clients of both Inner Life Adventures and Reconnecting to Our Nature in our midtown Fort Collins office, using HIPAA secure telehealth software and in outdoor settings. Clinical therapy services include treatment of adults, adolescents, couples and families. We are looking for a clinician that enjoys working with older children, adolescents, young adults, couples, families, trauma, EMDR, and group facilitation with experiential methods. The initial need is for licensed or soon to be licensed clinicians with the ideal candidate interested in expanding to nature-based coaching and group facilitation.
Reports to: Clinical Program Director.
Minimum Qualification Requirements: • Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree in counseling or social work. • Active, unrestricted license (PhD, PsyD, LCSW, LMFT) in the State of Colorado or able to obtain a full license within 6 months of start date. • Available to hold at least 10 client sessions per week. • Knowledge of laws and ethics of practicing psychotherapy in Colorado. • Ability to conduct risk assessment and evaluation of mental status to determine appropriateness for services and provide referrals, if necessary.
Job Duties and Responsibilities: • Perform on-site, telehealth, and outdoor clinical counseling services to patients of Inner Life Adventures and/or Reconnecting to Our Nature as scheduled, and in accordance with company policies. • Perform all functions of clinical counseling and psychotherapy including conducting intake interviews, diagnosing (if necessary), formulating treatment plans, scheduling, and billing for services. • Regular, timely, and reliable attendance is required. Keeping scheduled appointments with minimal rescheduling is the goal. • Be properly licensed, maintain license in good standing, hold liability insurance, and abide by all laws, rules, regulations, and codes of ethics that are binding upon or applicable to the services performed. • Respond to patients’ calls or requests for service within 24 hours (excluding weekends and holidays), whether such requests are made in person, by phone, voicemail, etc. or through the website. Respond to such requests by meeting, evaluating, and providing services to appropriate patients. • Communicate with a patient’s treatment team (i.e., PCP, psychiatrist, school counselors, etc.) as necessary. • Completion of written records for each patient including, but not limited to, intake notes, progress notes, treatment plans, termination notes, contract notes, and other forms or documents which may be needed or required from time-to-time by Inner Life Adventures, Reconnecting to Our Nature, or third parties in conjunction with the treatment of the patient within a timely fashion (by Friday of each week). Keep patient files accurate and up to date. • Charge and collect payments from patients for services provided consistent with the policy and rate guidelines for such services.• Communicate with a patient’s treatment team (i.e., PCP, psychiatrist, school counselors, etc.) as necessary. • Attend mandatory staff meetings and trainings 1-2 times per month. • Conduct counseling services, prospective client, and current client communications in a professional manner to maintain and increase the good will and reputation of Inner Life Adventures. Be respectful of, cooperative, communicative, and collaborative with co-workers including proper use of electronic communication during and after hours. • Collaborate with other community providers via phone and email to coordinate care with other service providers in the community. • Other duties which may by assigned and mutually agreed upon by clinician, Inner Life Adventures, and/or Reconnecting to Our Nature.
Hours: Work hours and schedule may vary depending on patient and clinic needs. Hours include some nights and/or weekends, more if you want to work at those times. Therapist is not guaranteed a minimum number of patients or sessions per week. Therapist workload will be partially dependent on efforts to market services. It is expected that Therapist will be available to hold at least 10-15 sessions per week, provided such sessions are available and referred/scheduled by Inner Life Adventures.
Other Qualification Preferences: • At least 8-12 months prior experience in a private practice setting and/or similar outpatient clinic experience. • Completed at least one specialty training post graduate school (i.e.: EMDR, IFS, RLT, Gottman, Sandtray, EFT, etc). • Ability to communicate your preferences for clients in at least one niche market of counseling services (i.e., children, teens, trauma, anxiety, grief, anger management, etc.). • Flexible availability with at least 2 weeknight and/or weekend days available. • Familiar with the benefits of group therapy and able to refer to groups, co-facilitate groups, or develop group curriculum. • Experience or interest in ecopsychology, experiential therapy, or outdoor counseling. • Have existing relationships and/or willing to market and build relationships in the community by communicating about your services and group programs. • Desire to become an in-network provider for at least three insurance panels. We will assist you with this process, if you are not already in-network.
Compensation and Benefits • $30-$80 per clinical hour based on percentage of collected service fee. Percentage is based on experience in field and length of time at Inner Life Adventures. Opportunities available to renegotiate rate every 6 months based on performance. • Clinical supervision available at a highly discounted negotiable rate, if needed. • Company required meetings and approved marketing efforts paid at $20/hour. • Stipend provided for the first 2 months of employment while building up caseload. • Bonus opportunities: $100/month for 15 clients per week all four weeks. $200/month for 20 clients per week all four weeks. Able to be doubled twice per year if applied to professional development. • Payment for connecting within the community. • Flexible schedule. Decide your own hours and the number of clients you wish to see. Ability to work in-person as well as remotely. • Team case consultation meetings. • Administrative Assistant for scheduling, document editing, sending invoices, and other administrative tasks. • Business VOIP phone line accessible from anywhere to keep your personal cell phone and business separate. • Paid subscription to EHR software for record keeping, client portal, intake paperwork, billing, invoicing, credit card processing, insurance claim submission. • Quarterly community social gatherings. • Commitment to developing a healthy, supportive, growth-oriented environment to help you thrive and have a fulfilling career as a counselor.
To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter outlining your interest and fit with our organization to [email protected].
Here are the 5 Foundational Tools and 200+ Coping Skills Everyone Should Have to be able to self-regulate
Our mental and emotional stress ebbs and flows throughout life as our schedules, routines, and work tasks change. Because of this, I highly recommend that we all do a daily check-in, two or three times per day, even with our current mental, emotional, physical, and stress levels. The human body can only handle so much, and our mental, emotional, physical, and relational stress all take a significant toll on our nervous system.
It doesn’t have to take too much time; a simple traffic light works great:
Green – I’m good, great even perhaps! Keep going (if you want to)!
Yellow – I need to be careful, use caution, pay close attention, consider slowing down.
Red – Stop right now or harm will come.
Or if you are more numbers-focused, a 0-10 scale also works great, where 0 represents calm and relaxed, and 9-10 signifies stop right now, I can’t take any more.
So once you start monitoring your nervous system and recognize that you need to reduce stress, what do you do? There are 5 foundational tools, all supported by research, that are very effective in reducing stress as well as difficult moods like anxiety and depression. Having these tools in your back pocket is great when you need to reduce your stress levels or, even better, build them into healthy life routines to maintain a sustainable pace as much as possible.
Mindfulness – Find several flavors of mindfulness exercises that work for you. See my resources section, or check YouTube or apps like Insight Timer, Calm, or Headspace for many guided practices. Some key practices are focusing meditation (on your breath, music, a candle, an object in nature, etc.), listening to relaxing music or binaural beats, body-scan meditation, walking meditation, and loving-kindness meditation. My personal favorite is walking in nature, paying attention to your 5 senses.
Exercise – Any exercise will do – walking, running, bodyweight fitness, calisthenics, weight lifting, stretching, yoga, martial arts, sports. Get your body moving and heart rate up with activities that are appropriate for your body and skill level. Even doing pushups, jumping jacks, burpees, until you can’t do any more for 5 minutes makes a difference! You don’t have to commit to a full training program!
Nature – So much has been written on the benefits of nature. See here for a brief introduction. Go outside and use your 5 senses (hear, smell, sight, touch, taste – well, be careful what you taste outside). It can be just outside your home, your closest park, a patch of grass, your closest favorite trail, or a wilderness destination. Just get outside!
Communication – Communication helps you get beyond yourself to connect with other people, nature, pets, or the transpersonal (spiritual) realms. This is a big topic, but for now, know that being able to effectively communicate to connect with others beyond yourself so you can express yourself creatively and effectively is another essential skill. There are many effective communication skills and strategies that you can learn, and there are many blocks to communication that can happen in yourself or with others. Taking time to develop the ability to communicate your wants, needs, ideas, requests, and feelings is essential for a healthy, balanced life. Which leads to:
Emotional Intelligence – The definition of an emotion in the Psychology 101 textbook I used to teach from is that it is a subjective physiological experience. That is, your feelings are yours, and they happen in your body. The foundation for knowing yourself, effectively communicating with others, and managing your stress is emotional intelligence. Some people say that our thoughts control our feelings, which has some truth, but really, our emotions are often way more powerful than our thoughts. Our minds create stories to make sense of our feelings at least as much as our thoughts create our feelings. Knowing what you are feeling, to what degree, and being able to be honest with yourself and the right others is an essential skill for being human. Research shows that no matter what culture, education level, or level of industrialization of your community, all humans feel the same 5 basic emotions:
Mad (also known as frustrated, annoyed, etc)
Sad (also known as down, blue, moody, etc)
Glad (also known as happy, joyful, content, peaceful, etc)
Fear (also known as anxious, nervous, tense, etc)
Shame/Guilt (pretty self-explanatory, but helpful to distinguish between Guilt – a healthy emotion of I did something wrong and feel bad about, and Shame – I am bad)
Being able to identify our basic feelings is a foundational step to a healthy, balanced life, understanding ourselves, and relating to others. I invite you to add onto the traffic light or 0-10 scale exercise above by naming the feeling that goes with it and where it is happening in your body.
When the above 5 Foundational Tools are well developed, it will go a long way to help you manage your life more effectively and live with greater wellness and health. Getting skilled at using these tools takes time and practice. Our team of therapists can help you learn and refine these skills. Further, when you need a break because the stress is just too high (you are at a “red light”) and none of these foundational tools are working, it’s time for something more basic. That’s when the coping skills below come in handy. Use the ones that seem helpful to you, ignore the rest. Everyone is different and likes different things.
So there you have it – 5 Foundational Tools to develop and 200 coping skills to help you live a healthy, well-balanced life. If you get good at all of this, are living life effectively and are content, then give yourself a big congratulations! That is something! For many of us though, these skills are just the tools that make deeper exploration possible. It’s difficult to do deeper therapy without these skills, but these skills are not the end of the road. Once you are ready to understand the bigger picture patterns that create unneeded stress and keep you repeating the old patterns, you know it is time to seek an Inner Life Guide – a therapist skilled at depth work. That is our specialty!
So, reach out when you are ready. Whether you are at the beginning of the trail, haven’t yet left your home, or are deep in the wilderness, we’ll meet you where you are and guide you to greater health and wellness!
Big List of 200+ Coping Skills
Cognitive
Self-monitoring
Identify your stress level
Identify your emotions
Identify how this shows up in your body
Cognitive restructuring
Challenging the truth/assumptions of your thoughts
Reframe with positive self-talk/reassurance
Say something kind to yourself
Say “I can do this”
Make a list of positive affirmations
List your positive qualities/strengths (and refer to it often)
Compliment yourself
Act opposite of negative feelings you’re experiencing
List things you are proud of
Make a gratitude list
Keep a daily positive experiences journal
Start a notebook with different inspirational and meaningful quotes
Make a “forget it” list
Setting and managing goals
Decision-making pros and cons
Brainstorm solutions to a problem you are facing
Keep an inspirational quote with you
Read a magazine
Write a thank-you note
Take pictures
Write a list
Schedule time for yourself
Write a story
Blog
Count to 100, then do it backwards
Do a crossword or sudoku puzzle
Play a word game on your phone/computer
Plan a trip
Write down your thoughts
Identify a positive thought
Make your day’s schedule
Make a to-do list
Write
Journal
Plan a dream vacation
Research a topic of interest
Start your memoir
Start a blog
Research your family tree
Look at pictures you’ve taken
Start a dream journal
Do a puzzle
Write a short story or poem – refrain from self-judgement or critique – give yourself permission for it to be really bad if necessary
Count backwards from 500
Think of 3 foods for every letter of the alphabet
Play a video game
Visualize a stop sign
Notice and name 5 things you can see, hear, and touch.
Color a mandala or a page from an adult coloring book
Practice playing an instrument
Emotional
Cry
Watch a funny video
Name your feelings
Name the triggers to your feelings
Watch a sad movie/video
Laugh
Scream into a pillow
Smile in the mirror
Move anger through movement, slamming pillows, or throwing or breaking rocks
Find a way to amplify your feelings to catharsis
Feel fear, remind yourself you are safe (if you really are safe)
Make a list of things you are grateful for. Feel the feeling of gratitude. What does it feel like?
Tell someone you love them
Tell yourself you love and care about yourself
Somatic (physical)
Deep breaths – 10, then 10 more if needed
Progressive muscle relaxation – systematically tense and relax all your muscles
Do a positive activity
Play sports
Stretch
Take a walk
Practice yoga
Give yourself or someone else a massage
Ask for a massage
Go for a bike ride
Play with clay
Crawl and roll around on the floor
Visualize your favorite place
Listen to music
Eat a healthy snack
Jog in place
Do pushups, squats, jumping jacks, or anything to exhaustion
Hum your favorite song
Clean something
Use a stress ball
Dance
Sexual self-pleasure
Build something
Play with clay
Rip paper into pieces
Chew gum
Paint your nails
Garden
Paint
Drink some tea and pay attention to the temperature, flavors, and smells
Pet an animal
Organize something
Listen to nature sounds
Take a bath/shower
Use aromatherapy
Put on a face mask
Sing
Go for a drive
Watch television
Go shopping
Blow bubbles
Squeeze or suck on an ice cube
Sit in the sun and close your eyes
Throw rocks into the woods
Suck on a peppermint
Do the dishes
Make (and listen to) an upbeat playlist
Move your body to music
Scream into a pillow
Swim
Use a nicely scented lotion
Get a massage
Play hacky sack
Stargaze
Give yourself a facial
Play a video game
Watch sports
Wear soft/comfortable clothes
Transpersonal/spiritual
Pray
Meditate
Attend a church service, group meditation, or yoga class
Listen to a recorded inspirational or spiritual talk
Get out in nature and talk to a natural object, plant, or animal
Do self-generated ritual or ceremony
Talk with your deceased loved ones or ancestors
Behavioral and Social/relational
Behavioral activation
Complete something you have been putting off
Try a new recipe
Create a vision board
Make a bucket list
Call or write your senator to discuss an issue that’s important to you
Learn a new skill
Learn how to play an instrument
Learn how to read sheet music
Learn how to code
Learn 10 new words
Learn photography
Study and learn a foreign language
Take a class
Slow down, breath as you are doing things
Research something you’re interested in or would like to learn more about
Get enough sleep – keep a sleep log if sleep is a challenge
Take a nap
Volunteer
Go to library
Go for a picnic
Watch a movie
Draw/doodle/color
Ask yourself, “What do I need right now?”
Play a game
Ask for and take a break
Enjoy a hobby
Shoot hoops
Shoot a bow and arrow
Take a day for self-care
Play an instrument
Reward or pamper yourself
Create art
Go for a relaxing drive out of town
Destroy something (that you can afford to lose)
Sew, knit, crochet
Make a collage of your favorite things
Work on the car
Cook or bake
Paint a room
Make a gift for someone. Give it to them.
Give a small gift to a random person
Restore furniture
Play with a pet
Listen to music with a friend
Feed ducks/birds
Visit an animal shelter
Make your bed
Clean your room, kitchen, or whole house
Clean out your car
Turn on all of the lights
Fly a kite
Join a book club
Talk to a friend
Give someone a hug
Tell someone you are thankful for them
Express your feelings to someone
Smile at others
Meet a friend at a park, home, coffee shop, or restaurant
Get dressed up in a nice outfit
Put on makeup – fun, funky, creative or fancy and beautiful – your choice
Schedule an appointment for therapy
Tying it all together with practice accepting the things you cannot change,
Cultivating the courage to change the things you can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Chuck Hancock, M.Ed, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of CO. He has completed comprehensive training in the Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy, a mindfulness mind-body centered approach. Chuck guides individuals and groups in self-exploration providing them with insight and tools for change. He also incorporates nature as a therapy tool to help shift perspective and inspire new patterns.
We are continuing to Grow and Offer More Ways to Explore, Heal, and Connect!
In 2020, Inner Life Adventures turns 10 years old! The past 10 years of serving Northern Colorado – Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Cheyenne, and Laramie has been an amazing experience. Hearing so many stories of challenges and growth has shaped me tremendously. I want to thank you for your support in the last decade.
In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggests that reaching the 10,000-Hour Rule, which he considers the key to success in any field, is simply a matter of practicing a specific task that can be accomplished with 20 hours of work a week for 10 years. I’d argue it also takes self reflection, improving the process, learning new ideas, and getting coaching or guidence. Either way, I’ve learned so much from the experience of serving our community. Knowledge combined with experience is really what creates mastery.
Never content to stay stagnant, in the last decade I’ve continued to train and learn the most cutting edge modalities, as well as some of the oldest and most ancient that modern day has forgotten. In order to offer more non-traditional approaches, I have formed a separate company that offers nature based programs, including retreats, workshops, rites of passage, and connected coaching. This new business is named “Reconnecting to Our Nature.”
Inner Life Adventures will continue as it has, offering mindfulness based somatic counseling psychotherapy. In fact, Inner Life Adventures is growing in 2020 hiring clinicians in line with our mission and values. We’ll be offering more couples and family sessions to help with your relationships and child behaviors. We’ll also be increasing availability so you won’t have to wait weeks or months to get in. I apologize to those who have wanted to get in that I have not had the time for. Hopefully this change will make these services more available to you.
Reconnecting to Our Nature will be growing alongside Inner Life Adventures offering more coaching, retreat, and workshops to help you find your own path to growth and healing. Reconnecting to Our Nature is informed by my training and experience with the nature connected work of School of Lost Borders, 8 Shields, Jungian Psychology, and the initiations, Rites of Passage (such as vision quest), Ritual, and council I’ve experienced through training and apprenticing with men’s organizations and various idiginous elders. Guiding you to become the leader of your own life.
What’s the difference between coaching, counseling, and psychotherapy?
The truth is, the lines are blurry. There’s a lot of overlap with things that both good coaches and therapists do. That’s why there are so many providers out there and a million different answers. One of the biggest differences is the depth of background and experience. Having a deep background and experience matters because that is the source of intuition and creativity for those situations that don’t fit the standard patterns, tools, or templates you can find online. More specifically, here’s what we think and why we created a separate business for coaching and programs.
Counseling and psychotherapy is a regulated profession with specific laws about record keeping, relationship boundaries, scope of practice, confidentiality, etc. Coaching is not regulated, though there are becoming more certifications and professional organizations seeking to standardize and create ethics to keep clients safer. Those are guidelines and not laws. There of course are pro’s and con’s to both approaches. There are many amazing coaches out there, and also many that don’t have the experience or training to really be effective long term. One of the benefits of counselors is you know they have standard training and are bound by the same laws and ethics to get and maintain a license.
One of the drawbacks to a licensed counselor is the pressure from insurance companies and licensing boards on only using evidence based practices such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) or DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). This is especially true if you are utilizing managed care (insurance) who can dictate how many sessions, what diagnosis, and audit your records to ensure the therapist is adhering to their idea of what your care should look like. These approaches work for some people in some situations, but newer research shows the long term effect of CBT is not as strong. It’s a great start, but we are more interested in going deeper to address the core patterns for lasting long term change, not just short term gains that are lost again.
Further, when people try counseling and the first attempt doesn’t work, they blame the counselor or worse blame themselves for not being a good enough client, rather than expand the picture to see what is really happening and what else could be effective. That is where your provider having a broader background and skill set can be more effective. Some of the newer modalities or older nature based modalities don’t have the evidence base as the standard fare, but for the right client can be effective. Our approach is finding the right path for you, not forcing you to the path that research showed worked for a lot of other people. It may work for you, it may not. Utilizing a coach with broad experience and a variety of skills and tools to use with you can help you find the right path for you quicker rather than forcing you into the traditional models.
That said, for some people the structure of predictable weekly hour long sessions, being able to pay less by using insurance, and staying grounded with tried and true practices that have lots of evidence base is exactly what is needed. That is why we are continuing to offer therapy in a professional office setting by licensed professionals. And for those that would rather explore in a more open way with an experienced guide, coaching and nature based work is an option as well. In either approach, it is up to you to decide which path(s) you are wanting and willing to go down. We have the skills and ability to guide you in many different directions. We won’t force you into the direction traveled by most everyone else when something else is calling to you. Together we’ll help you find your unique way, wherever that may lead.
In town or in nature – we’ll meet you there
In short, Inner Life Adventures counseling and psychotherapy when what you need is the safety, stability, and structure of professional counseling, in an office, in town. Reconnecting to Our Nature nature based coaching when you are ready to venture off the well worn trails, with a trained and experienced guide, into the wilderness and to learn better how to guide your own life. You don’t know what you will get with any given coach or counselor, but hopefully this guide has given you a few things to think about in making your choice with us, or whatever provider you choose if we are not right for you.
The main character, Carol, is a reluctant, chaotic, alcoholic hero who wants to save the world and restore it to its former state. At first motivated by her grief and loss, which eventually gave way to loneliness. She begins befriending the collective and settling into the new normal. Eventually, though, she recognizes all that is lost and the moral problems obscured by the collective’s kindness, and she starts to investigate, discover, and analyze everything she can about them, hoping to find a way to set things straight.
