PSYCHE AND REBIRTH.
Item
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Title
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PSYCHE AND REBIRTH.
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Identifier
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AAI8629749
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identifier
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8629749
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Creator
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TIEN, STEPHEN SLADE.
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Contributor
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Vera Paster
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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This is a study of rebirth as it concerns the process of self-renewal in the lifetime of the individual. This work contends that the "rebirth process" can be seen in terms of phases which, in addition, provide a theoretical framework for a psychological analysis of renewal. First of all, the idea and experience of rebirth is discussed in its various metaphorical nuances. This leads to a presentation of the general literature on rebirth; symbolic, ritual, mythic, mystico-religious and literary, covering its archaic, Oriental, Classical, Levantine, European and modern expressions. The third portion of the study undertakes a review of the rebirth metaphor as it appears in the domain of psychology; covering dreams, psychopathology, development, and psychotherapeutic process. Rebirth as renewal is shown to be a recurring pattern resonating through myth and psyche, concrete experience and abstract representation, instinctual processes and environmental impasses. Traced from its preliterate expressions to its emergence in modern depth psychology, a consistent form can be demonstrated. It appears that renewal occurs in response to self-crisis of a radical nature. Overcome by the "world" and its own inadequacy, the self must "die" and separate from its critical impotence (phase one, obstruence). This results in a contractive inward turning of the self which leads to a lowering of energy for external purposes (phase two, descendence). From this state, the self enters a period of inner labor and search for new sources of vitality in order to confront the obstacles from which it previously had shrunk (phase three, experience). If successful in this reintegration, a new self, in terms of its capacity to live more fully, is brought forth to reencounter life in its everyday vicissitudes (phase four, emergence). This overall pattern, the study contends, is best expressed today in terms of dynamic depth psychology. The study concludes with a review of the phases of renewal, offers suggestions about their connection to metapsychology and discusses some clinical implications.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
