About John
Being a psychoanalyst entails holding the tension on a variety of levels – between two people; between the conscious and the unconscious; between reconstruction of the past and construction of the present – but overall, between the two psyches involved and the direction they are both heading.
John was awarded his Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the International School of Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2006. This Diploma permits John to practice as a Jungian Analyst worldwide. John graduated as a psychologist from the University of Cape Town in 1989 and has lived and worked in Victoria since that time, with the exception of his training in Switzerland. He began his Jungian Analysis practice in 2004, and, while still in the training programme, conducted Jungian Analysis with clients while under supervision. In the past 15 years, prior to beginning his training as a Jungian Analyst, John managed a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme.
To see a short introduction video about John, please click here.
John has specialised expertise in treating issues such as the following:
Clinical issues
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Childhood abuse/trauma
- Adult trauma
- Personality Disorders
- Addictions (substance and behavioural)
- Grief and Loss……..
- …as well as the use of online technology to conduct Jungian Analysis
It is common for people to enter into an analysis not because of a clinical disorder, but because they feel a lack of meaning, or a sense of purposelessness. This is often the case at critical junctures in their lives such as adolescence, young adulthood, entering into primary relationships, career changes, retirement and mid-life.
The Practice of Jungian Analysis
Jungian Analysis is covered in greater detail in another section of this website. Briefly it is a form of individual psychotherapy (sometimes referred to as Jungian psychotherapy) that involves dealing with the contents of the unconscious, especially key archetypes, such as the Shadow, Animus, Anima and the Self; as well as working through common complexes we all share, such as Father complex, Mother complex, Power complex, and Competence complex.
The manner in which the ego deals with these unconscious contents is also critical, so the work of Jungian Analysis involves ego-strengthening, or ego-building approaches as well as ego-changing approaches to life.
John also conducts online or internet Jungian Analysis through FaceTime or Zoom. Please use the contact submission form to contact John about such work.
Jungian Dream Interpretation
The work of analysisis based on Jungian theory, or Analytical Psychology, a theoretical model developed by Carl Jung. Many analysands are attracted to Jungian Analysis not so much because of a problem that needs a solution, but because of an overwhelming state that persists in the psyche often occurring at mid-life.
Mid-life crises are the psyche’s way of asking us to make changes to the way we lead our lives, to alter the fundamental psychodynamics of our personality and seek meaning for the second half of life. Common themes that arise in mid-life may include depression, anxiety, psychosomatic complaints and a general feeling of “there must be something more to my life than this!” Analysis involves many areas of life, but often includes the interpretation of dreams, the use of projective techniques such as the interpretation of symbols in fairy tales, in literature, and often in film.