Mackenzie Amara -Depth psychology, the hero, the heroine, & phenomenological psychedelic experience

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Depth psychology, the hero, the heroine, & phenomenological psychedelic experience

Depth psychology is the study of psyche through an interdisciplinary examination of archetypal patterns as they emerge collectively in myths & fairy tales and individually in personal dreams, psychedelic experiences, & unconscious drives. As more people experience psychedelics, C. G. Jung’s proposed map of the psyche comes ever-clearer into view. According to Jung, individuals contain not only their personal conscious & unconscious parts, but also have unlimited reciprocal access to what he dubbed the collective unconscious, a nonlocal storehouse of those truths & patterns which are so ubiquitous in the human drama as to be archetypal. Two such archetypes which pose profound influence on the growth & development of healthy adulthood are the Hero & the Heroine. This presentation explores the relationship of these developmental trajectories as they relate to psychedelic experience. I suggest the Hero archetype relates to the development of authentic identity in the world, while the Heroine’s trajectory maps the growth of the capacity of one’s heart. Who we are, how we participate in the world, the profound emotional dimension of our lived experience, & what it means to live authentically are all aspects of the human experience with which psychedelics consistently dance. Looking through the lenses of myth & Depth Psychology, I will illuminate what happens to our sense of self & what happens to the heart when we embark on a transformational journey with the help of psychedelics. As the Hero develops, so too does the healthy ego; as the Heroine evolves, so too does the heart. It is my hope that these two archetypal developmental patterns shed some light on the evolutionary arch of a psychedelic journey, as well as provide insight into how to make sense of & best integrate our challenging experiences. I also suggest that a deep understanding of these two mythological maps can support clinicians in seeing where patients might be stuck & how to assist them though the weeds.

By trade Mackenzie is a writer, researcher, consultant, & 5Rhythms® teacher. By vocation she is a Jungian analyst-in-training & Clinical Psychology doctoral student. By design she is a collection of fractal, holographic cells dancing around some strange attractor for the sake of who knows what to live an insignificant, mythic life reflective of the mysterious vital spark within her. She identifies as a series of memories & unverifiable subjective experiences of self-hood to which she is rather fondly attached. She has a penchant for scholarship, the occult, pedantic erudition, morbid humor, grandiosity, nihilism, & semi-responsible hedonism. Born in the shadow of New Age culture into a fractured family system & the subjective experiencer of (arguably) extreme early childhood trauma, her life’s work is to heal psychic wounds—her’s & other’s—that she & others become strong enough to contend with the unconscious quicksands & transpersonal abysses which lap at the periphery of developing consciousness. She is an emergent property of Being playing at becoming sovereign.Mackenzie is a Diploma Candidate at the International School of Analytical Psychology in Zurich, training to become a Jungian analyst. She is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Saybrook University in Oakland, CA. She holds a Master's degree in Clinical & Counseling Psychology from Columbia University & a Bachelor's degree in Psychology & Spiritual Experience New York University. She is certified in Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (The New School & Center for Optimal Living), 5Rhythms® (The Moving Center), and Holistic Psychology (The Open Center).