The Intersection of Poetry and Jungian Analysis Through Metaphor: In Creation You Are Created

The Intersection of Poetry and Jungian Analysis Through Metaphor: In Creation You Are Created explores the relationship between Jungian psychoanalytical intervention and poetry, focusing on the emergence of metaphor, which occurs in both processes, as it happens in neuroscience and fairy tales.Metaphor is a mode of communication that forms a bridge between different experience domains through associative linkages: it refers to a subject by mentioning another for rhetorical effect. Indeed, the prominence of metaphor in Jungian therapy is a characteristic that differentiates it from other forms of treatment. That’s because metaphor—as we will see in this book—is deeply rooted in the body in two ways: It is used to organize bodily sensations cognitively and is located on the border between mind and brain. C. G. Jung uses a metaphor when he observes, in Memories, Dreams, Reflections: “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”

Table of Contents:
Preface Metaphor and the Threshold of ConsciousnessIn Creation, You Are CreatedThe Incas: Masters of Stars and MetaphorsThe Powerful Image: Metaphorical MindPoetry as a Healing ResourceMetaphor and Individuation in Fairy Tales: The Green Sandal of CinderellaGroundbreaking Neuroscience: Contemporary Contributions to the Process of AnalysisBreaking the Silence: Metaphor in My PracticeConcluding CommentsBibliography Index About the Author

About the Author :
Regina Colonia-Willner is a licensed clinical psychologist.

Review :
[Colonia-Willner] documents each chapter thoroughly, demonstrating not only her command of the subject matter, but also that she grounds her theses in the scholarship. In this fascinating book, The Intersection of Poetry and Jungian Analysis through Metaphor: In Creation, You Are Created, Regina Colonia-Willner deftly explores metaphor as a fundamental human impulse while illuminating its relationship to archetype, psychoanalysis, and poetry. Through personal anecdotes, professional insights, relevant history, and thoughtfully chosen poems, Colonia-Willner contributes an important examination of the mind's inherent creativity and the human impulse behind creation. This is a work for seekers from all walks of life—poets and analysts alike—who wish to foster collective understanding and humanity. Regina Colonia-Willner has succeeded in weaving a probing tapestry out of the warp of psychoanalysis and woof poetry. When she remarks that ‘as therapists, we must be alert in our symbolic capacity to allow the client’s symbolization to be alive in the room,’ we also hear, through close readings (an equivalent kind of analysis) that, as poets, we must be alert to the liminal, dream-like ways in which images seek to surface on the page as sentient organisms. This is a meticulous, critical examination of the intersection of hidden structures. Dr. Colonia-Willner’s breadth of scholarship, combined with her autonomy in theorizing and mindful prying apart of many concrete examples of coherence between poetry and psychoanalysis, is audacious, remarkable, fascinating, and provocative. This rich psychoanalytic exploration of figurative language achieves what few theoretical books achieve: it fully engages me both intellectually and poetically. At once generous and deep, Colonia-Willner's book closely reads narratives and poems in ways that are both novel and natural. An impressive read! Regina Colonia-Willner’s work on C.G. Jung, poetry, and the power of metaphor proves utterly original, thrilling, and invaluable. Her exploration of symbols, archetypes, and images offers both intellectual savvy and narrative excitement. The depth of insight is here matched by a clear and companionable prose style. Serious readers, writers, and artists, as well as everyone dedicated to cultivating their own creativity, owe it to themselves to read this book. Colonia-Willner certainly has a unique and impressive gift for literary analysis. But to say that Willner merely has a brilliant critical mind would be to underestimate her powers as a writer. Throughout The Intersection of Poetry and Jungian Analysis through the Metaphor, Willner cultivates an innovative, interdisciplinary space where poetry and Jungian theory illuminate one another, presented in prose as erudite as it is gorgeously crafted. This book is a singular achievement and an important addition to Willner's already accomplished body of work. All too often in recent years, the discourse surrounding poetry and poetics has turned—sometimes subtly, sometimes crudely—against metaphor, condemning it as a form of violence or of rhetorical expropriation. With calm of mind and passionate erudition, Regina Colonia-Wilner asserts the organic virtue and vertu of metaphor, showing it to be not just a way of being in the world, but a way of well-being essential to humanity's engagement with things as they are. This book champions energy and delight, siding with the angels. Regina Colonia-Willner has written an original, rich, scientifically based research study that is thought-provoking. What is special is the connection of the intellectual approach, the discussion of many authors, the analytical practice, and the idea of incorporating poems. The investigation is well written—a fine work.