As a psychodynamic astrologer I combine approaches from psychodynamic therapy with astrology
I act as a mediator between the querent’s conscious and unconscious processes and between the chart and their lived experience. My approach is participatory and co-creative in the discovery of meaning.
I recognize astrology’s capacity to speak both to biographical material and psychological material. I conceive of the planets as embodied psychic expressions of archetypal forces with whom we are in relationship. These forces [archetypes/divinities] manifest internally and externally.
I draw most of my techniques from Hellenistic astrology and utilize whole sign house system for natal charts. My therapeutic style is psychodynamic, drawing from classical psychoanalysis, Jungian, and post-Jungian (Hillman & Mindell). I utilize parts work and somatic processing. I view trauma through the lens of Donald Kalsched.
“We think we can congratulate ourselves on having already reached such a pinnacle of clarity, imagining that we have left all these phantasmal gods far behind. But what we have left behind are only verbal spectres, not the psychic facts that were responsible for the birth of the gods. We are still as much possessed by autonomous as if they were Olympians. Today they are called phobias, obsessions, and so forth; in a word, neurotic symptoms. The gods have become diseases; Zeus no longer rules Olympus but rather the solar plexus, and produces curious specimens for the doctor’s consulting room, or disorders of the brains of politicians and journalists who unwillingly let loose psychic epidemics on the world.” (Jung, Cw 13, par. 54)
“The physician must have knowledge of man’s other half, that half of his nature which is bound up with astronomical philosophy; otherwise; he will be in no true sense a man’s physician, since Heaven retains within its sphere half of all bodies and all maladies. What is a physician who knows nothing of cosmography?” - Paracelsus
“We need to periodically ask, “What wants to come into the world through me?” This is not an ego-driven narcissistic question. It is a query which summons us to show up, to serve something larger than the familiar, the comfortable. Surely one of the most telling tests of our lives is whether we are living in a way which is driven more by challenge than by comfort, one which asks more of us than we had planned to offer.” - James Hollis
Disclaimer: For legal and ethical reasons, I keep my roles as an astrologer and as a therapist separate. While I incorporate principles and techniques of psychodynamic therapy into my astrology practice, in the context of astrology I am not acting in the role of a therapist. If you are interested in seeing me in the context of a therapist, please reach out to me directly. I am able to transition astrology clients into therapy clients, however once you transition I can no longer utilize predictive techniques.