The Matrix and Meaning of Character: An Archetypal and Developmental Approach

311 Pages·2007·2.8 MB·English

by  Nancy J. Dougherty

The Matrix and Meaning of Character
‘‘Finally,aJungianbookoncharacterthatlinkssensitiveclinicalinsightsto
the mythopoetic imagination and to the developmental dynamism of the
archetypal psyche. Nancy Dougherty and Jacqueline West have written an
originalanddeeplysignificantbookthatbringstogetherthebestinsightsof
contemporary analysis and is a virtual map of the soul. A must-read for
clinicians and scholars of all persuasions, this is a book on character that
has character, and one destined to become a classic in the field.’’
Stanton Marlan, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst and adjunct Professor of
ClinicalPsychologyatDuquesneUniversity. The authorof TheBlackSun:
TheAlchemyandArtofDarkness,Dr.Marlanisalsotheprioreditorofthe
Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice, and editor of two previous books
on alchemy.
‘‘This book manages to weave together threads of the archetypal and the
clinical into a sophisticated and poetic exploration of spirit and soul. It
presentsauniquemodelofcharacterdisordersthatrevealstherelationships
betweendiagnosticcategoriesandisamust-readfortherapistsdrawntothe
clinicalacumenofNancyMcWilliam’sPsychoanalyticDiagnosis.Grounded
in practical examples, the authors masterfully guide the reader, through a
rich integration of images and clinical wisdom, to understanding that ‘we
transform through our character structures, not in spite of them.’’’
ThomasKelly,M.S.W.isaseniortraininganalystandpriorPresidentofthe
Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, now serves on the Executive
Board oftheIAAP(the InternationalAssociationofAnalytic Psychology),
and is the current President of the Council of North American Societies of
Jungian Analysts (CNASJA). He has a private practice in Montreal and
teaches and lectures widely.
‘‘Too much psychotherapy emphasizes description, category, treatment
plan, and ignores the dynamism of each human soul. In The Matrix and
Meaning of Character, Jungian analysts Dougherty and West revivify our
understanding and our language around the many ways psyche organizes
itself in response to early traumata. They remind us that psyche is a
dynamic energy system, not a set of clinical categories, and they provide
case studies and archetypal stories which illustrate this shape-shifting
drama playing through that fragile field and form we call character.’’
James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst, and Director of Jung Center of
Houston, TX, has authored numerous books, including Under Saturn’s
Shadow: The Wounding and Healing of Men; The Middle Passage: From
MiserytoMeaninginMidlife;CreatingaLife:FindingYourIndividualLife;
and Mythologems: Incarnations of the Invisible World.
‘‘The clinical world has long been divided between those who depend on
diagnosis as a guide, and those who find diagnosis unacceptably restrictive
and lifeless. In this wonderfully useful book, the authors provide us with a
diagnostic system that is instructive, comprehensive, and, at last, illumi-
nated by the poetry of archetype. I expect that this book will, for years to
come, provide clinicians with a way of not only understanding one’s choice
of defensive strategy, but also seeing the rich beauty of character.’’
Michael Kahn, Ph.D., author of Basic Freud: Psychoanalytic Thought for
the21stCentury,hasalsowrittenBetweenTherapistandClientandTheTao
of Conversation and is a clinical psychologist in private practice. Professor
EmeritusattheUniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,Dr.Kahnispresently
directorofacounselingcenterattheCaliforniaInstituteofIntegralStudies
where he trains psychotherapists.
‘‘At last! An original new work that puts ‘character’ rather than ‘neurosis’
at the heart of our psychic realities and wounds, that pours the fresh water
of living language over those arid diagnostic categories, and does it with
imagination, intelligence, sensitivity, and the power of story. Read it. Just
do it.’’
Lyn Cowan, Ph.D., a senior training analyst and prior President of the
Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts is the author of Portrait of
the Blue Lady: The Character of Melancholy; Tracking the White Rabbit: A
Subversive View of Modern Culture; and Masochism, A Jungian View.
‘‘This is a book for which those of us who practice the everyday clinical
work of depth psychology have been waiting a long time. While honoring
the archetypal mode of diagnosis, it bridges the gap between Freudian
memory and Jung’s vision of the intentionality of the psyche, between the
developmental and symbolic ways of seeing personality. The thrust of the
book is a bold analytic reimagination, correcting Freud’s view of person-
alitylimitationandJung’sfantasyofpersonalitytranscendence.Insteadthe
authors see within the confines of character a destiny enlivened by spirit, a
worldofwholenessemergingfromwithinthegrainofcharacter.Theydoso
by presenting us with an original developmental model, which they then
animatewithimagesfrommythandfairytale.Theresultisanoriginaland
valuable container for the main streams of depth psychology.’’
Ronald Schenk, Ph.D., President of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian
Analysts, has authored several books, including The Soul of Beauty:
Toward a Psychology of Appearance; Dark Light: The Appearance of Death
in Everyday Life; and The Sunken Fish, the Wasted Fisher, the Pregnant
Fish: Postmodern Reflections on Depth Psychology. He has a private prac-
tice in both Dallas and Houston, TX and lectures widely.
‘‘This original Matrix of archetypal and developmental concepts will be
useful for the seasoned practitioner and student alike, and is likely to
become a much-used reference. The work’s capacity to orient the clinician
amidst diagnostic considerations and movements within analysis is
immensely practical and inspiring.’’
CatharineJ.Jones,M.Div., LCSW, current President and formerDirector
of Training at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, lectures both nationally
and internationally.
‘‘For the most illuminating view of Character as the source of healing and
transformation, this book is the book to read. While, ‘character’ is most
oftenreferredtoasdisorder,diagnosisabsentparadoxisabsentmeaning.It
cannot point the way to the wellspring, the source, of healing – one’s own
character and one’s own soul. Jacqueline West and Nancy Dougherty have
cleared a path to that paradox and show us how to hold the resulting
tension. They have done so in a well articulated and poetic way.’’
Jerome S. Bernstein, M.A., is the author of Living in the Borderland: The
Evolution of Consciousness and the Challenge of Healing Trauma, as well as
Power and Politics: The Psychology of Soviet-American Partnership. Prior
PresidentoftheC.G.JungInstituteofSantaFe,Mr.Bernsteinisinprivate
practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Character structures underlie everyone’s personality. When rigidly
defended, they limit us; yet as they become more flexible, they can reveal
sources of animation, renewal and authenticity.
The Matrix and Meaning of Character guides the reader into an awareness
of the archetypal depths that underlie character structures, presenting an
original developmental model in which current analytic theories are
synthesized.Theauthorsexamineninecharacterstructures,animatingthem
withfairytales,mythicimagesandcasematerial,creatingabridgebetween
the traditional language of psychopathology and the universal realm of
image and symbol.
This book will appeal to all analytical psychologists, psychoanalysts and
psychotherapistswhowanttostrengthentheirclinicalexpertise.Itwillhelp
clinicians to extend their clinical insights beyond a strictly behavioural,
medical or cognitive approach, revealing the potential of the human spirit.
NancyJ.Dougherty,M.S.W.,isseniortraininganalystintheInterRegional
SocietyofJungianAnalystsandtheC.G.JungInstituteofChicago.Sheis
coordinator of training in the Florida Association of Jungian Analysts
Seminar and is in private practice in Naples, Florida.
Jacqueline J. West, Ph.D., is President and Training Director of the C. G.
Jung Institute of Santa Fe, a senior training analyst in the InterRegional
SocietyofJungianAnalystsandJungInstituteinSantaFe.Sheisinprivate
practice in Sante Fe, New Mexico.
The Matrix and Meaning of
Character
An Archetypal and Developmental
Approach
Nancy J. Dougherty &
Jacqueline J. West
R
Routledge
Taylor &. Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
Firstpublished2007byRoutledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byTaylor&FrancisInc
711 Third Avenue, New York NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
(cid:216)2007NancyJ.Dougherty&JacquelineJ.West
TypesetinTimesbyGarfieldMorgan,Swansea,WestGlamorgan
PaperbackcoverdesignbyAnu´ Design
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin
anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
fromthepublishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
Libraryof CongressCataloginginPublicationData
Dougherty,NancyJ.
Thematrixandmeaningofcharacter:anarchetypalanddevelopmental
approach/NancyJ.Dougherty&JacquelineJ.West.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-415-40301-4(hbk) – ISBN0-415-40300-6(pbk)1.Character.2.
Personality.3.Archetype(Psychology)I.West,JacquelineJ.II.Title.
BF818.D682007
155.2–dc22
2006021638
ISBN978-0-415-40301-6hbk
ISBN978-0-415-40300-9pbk
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
The breath of Isis 1
An archetypal and developmental Matrix of character structures 4
The developmental phases 5
The relational patterns 11
The character structures 12
Regression, shadow, and the intersubjective field 14
Additional comments 17
Notes 19
PART I
The withdrawing pattern 21
1 Schizoid character structure 23
The Little Match Girl 23
Theoretical formulations 26
Schizoid defence of encapsulation 30
The goddess Sedna: icy abandonment, submerged creativity 45
Notes 50
2 Counter-dependent narcissistic character structure 53
Peter Pan and the archetype of the puer aeturnus 53
Fairy-tale sisters and puella psychology 60
Freud and neo-Freudians on narcissism 65
Case study: Joan – perfect image, shadowy daughter 69
Jung and Jungians on narcissism 71
viii Contents
Olympian virgin Athena: victorious and invulnerable 74
Notes 77
3 Obsessive-compulsive character structure 79
Case vignette: working for what is right and compulsively
doing what is wrong 80
Developmental dynamics 81
A conundrum of terminologies 83
Theoretical antecedents 87
Personal and archetypal dynamics 89
‘‘The Red Shoes’’ 91
Case study: sleepless, skinny, tormented and guilty 95
From Peter Pan and narcissism to Saturn and obsessive-
compulsive disorder 99
Apollo: in the human realm, justice needs mercy if the will to
power does not predominate 100
Summary of the withdrawing relational pattern 102
Notes 102
PART II
The seeking pattern 105
4 Borderline character structure: agony and ecstasy 107
Introduction 107
Allerleirauh: a tale of the soot-covered sun 111
The literature 115
Case study: Rachel – the sharp edge of a sword 120
The mythological landscape of borderline chaos 127
Final thoughts 132
Notes 132
5 Dependent narcissistic character structure 133
Introduction 133
Theoretical considerations 135
A fairy tale: learning to serve the self 142
Case study: Paul, a charming but desperate ‘‘courtier’’ 144
Demeter and Persephone 148
Final thoughts 154
Notes 154
Contents ix
6 Hysteric character structure 157
Alice’s world 157
An introduction to the hysteric character structure 159
Theoretical considerations 161
Cassandra: gifted and cursed 167
Jason: developing a personal connection to feelings 168
Aphrodite: the golden goddess 174
Summary of the seeking relational pattern 177
Notes 177
PART III
The antagonistic pattern 179
7 Psychopathic character structure 181
Psychopathy, sociopathy, antisocial personality disorder 184
Archetypal dynamics in the analytic relationship: the risk of
a naive assessment 189
Treatability and assesssment 192
Case study: Sue – a beguiling wolf in sheep’s clothing 193
The deadly princess and her wily suitor 200
A challenge to action and the trickster within 206
Notes 208
8 Alpha narcissistic character structure 211
The dynamics of envy and destruction of that which is
perceived to be good 213
Theoretical antecedents 215
Jungian theory: developmental dynamics 220
Case study: Elizabeth – pain, superiority, pain 221
The mythic dimension: the darkest side of the human soul 228
Notes 233
9 Passive-aggressive character structure 235
A sticky mess 235
Three perspectives on one story 238
Identifying the passive-aggressive character structure 241
Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit: endless rounds of trickery 245
The treatment of passive-aggressive dynamics 249
Final reflections 255