Notes from the Inner Earth is my occasional letter on the road to becoming a psychotherapist. I used to be a journalist but feel called to work more with character and subjectivity. Having completed a foundation year in the UK with the Guild of Analytical Psychologists in 2019, I now reside in Toronto, where I am a candidate with the Ontario Association of Jungian Analysts.
Why Jungian? My experience has convinced me that a relationship with the unconscious — not only through dreams, fairy tales and mythology but via an imaginal appreciation of all phenomena, the prosaic too — is vital. We suffer a great deal when we are cut-off from our imaginative life, and part of our malaise, I believe, is that we no longer know where to find the wellsprings, let alone how to honour the source in the art of living soulfully.
In other words I’m interested in care of the soul and Carl Jung’s legacy, including the contribution of James Hillman, amongst many others, thoroughly respects the psyche of every person. Guides like these know that, as in the outer realm, there is a fathomless wealth of diversity in the inner earth and as many lodestars as one can see on a clear night; in depth, there’s a global compass, yes, but it is always — like you, dear reader — particularly configured. “Therefore I say to the psychotherapist,” writes Jung, “let no day pass without humbly remembering that everything has still to be learned.”
So, what’s in these letters? Needless to say that I’m not a psychotherapist, but I hope to be. What I want to do is share something of the arc of this journey with you. It will help me distill what I’m learning. You can expect musings, book reviews, interviews, et cetera. Subscribe, and every new edition goes directly to your inbox.
(If social media’s your poison you can find me on Bluesky and, to a lesser extent, Instagram.)
My profile picture is from an Alice Neel portrait of a doppelgänger named “Jose”; the pachyderm in the top left corner references the Hindu legend of Gajendra Moksha. The photograph of yours truly in Ayanda Mabulu’s studio is by Mads Nørgaard.
