Diversity at the Society of Analytical Psychology
A working group on Diversity has been established at the SAP and works closely with the governing Council of the Society to deepen the organisation’s understanding of inter-cultural analytic practice, as well as of analytic issues arising out of individuals’ diversity in relation to culture, sexual orientation, class, disability and age.
A Process of Continuing Exploration
We recognise that following the requirements of current legislation on Equal Opportunities (www.equalityhumanrights.com) goes hand in hand, in the analytic sphere, with serious exploration over time of unconscious processes in individuals and in the collective of each psychoanalytic organisation. We are putting in place forums, small groups and internal consultations for our own members. In addition, the working group is beginning to consider how we can strengthen and then utilise our present informal connections with culture-focussed organisations. These organisations include Careif, (a consultancy operating worldwide to work with organisational dynamics in this area), Nafsiyat, (an organisation working to promote the theory and practice of inter-cultural therapy), the Asian Women’s Counselling Service, and BPC and UKCP organisations who wish to collaborate with us in this process of exploration.
Analysis, Psychotherapy and Training
The SAP seeks to provide an inclusive context for all trainees, including minority ethnic and diverse sexual orientation groups, to enter and to succeed in its training programme. In addition, the SAP offers Jungian analysis and psychotherapy inclusively for all sections of the public through its Reduced Cost Clinic and Consultation Service.
C.G. Jung
Jung actively studied many cultures and proposed that individuation evolved out of similar life processes in everyone, in a variety of forms and constellations. He also described, in his theoretical work, a universal model of the mind. He wrote about cultural diversity and introduced the concept of the collective unconscious, which he understood as a unifying factor in human life. Jung’s ground breaking work on masculinity and femininity was a precursor of present day debate on gender and identity. As contemporary Jungians, we are energetically addressing these areas which we see as necessary for further understanding and the further development of good practice in terms of Diversity
The SAP is committed to ongoing work on diversity issues and to constructive examination and development of Jung’s and Freud’s ideas on sexuality, culture, religion and race, which were inevitably products of their time.
