Newsletter 2008

Threshold Experiences:

The Archetype of Beginnings

Michael Conforti

Brattleboro, Vermont, Assisi Institute Press, 2008, 168 pp.

When I first sat down to write this review I was at a loss where to begin. I had a lot of strong reactions to the book and some were clouding my judgment. Having recently undertaken some significant changes in my life, I was keenly interested in a book that promised to examine these important transitional phases. I was disappointed at first, both by the style and the content and needed some time as well as a second reading to gain a more balanced perspective.

Some of the stylistic errors, such as changes in voice from first person narrative to third and back again are very distracting. I did take into account that the text served as Michael Conforti's graduation thesis from the C. G. Jung Institute of New York and also formed part of his doctoral dissertation. The style and tone are entirely in keeping with the context in which the text was written more than twenty years ago. I also took note that the apparent lack of editing was, according to the editor, by design “… in order to preserve the energy and the style of the original thesis.” (p. 21) Granted, this “hands-off approach” to editing honours one of the key premises of the book and gives us an unadulterated view of his ideas as they were initially elaborated without the benefit of revisions that hindsight might have suggested. However, as laudable as this approach may be, I think that a few stylistic corrections by the editor could have made the present text much more readable without compromising any of its originality.

Dr. Conforti's stated aim was to “zoom in on a particular constellation: the critical moment of transitions from one phase to another … on the initial condition of a process …” and to gain an “understanding of the crucial importance of initial conditions in determining the complete fabric of the process that follows,” (p. xii) especially in psychotherapy. While this topic is not exactly new (we all know the importance Jung attached to the first interview and the initial dream), Conforti maintains that very little had actually been written about it, hence the reason for this book.

One of Conforti's central tenets is that the psychotherapeutic process is “an archetypally derived mode of cure, encoded into the collective unconscious.” (p. 28) His research led him to the conclusion that

There is an archetype of the healing relationship, complete with its own set of unconscious dictates and mandates, and we now find that a study of these practices sheds light on the archetypal dynamics of healing and the current therapeutic relationship. (p 28)

He refers to ancient healing traditions such as those found at the Greek sites dedicated to the god Asklepios as discussed in Karl Kerenyi's works. Kerenyi points out that

Although unique approaches to cures differed from region to region, a number of central practices are shown to have been used universally, including the careful selection of the healing site, purification rituals and the invocation of a higher force to induce the cure. (p. 28)

Having visited the site at Epidaurus just before reading this text and recalling how profoundly it had moved me, the truth of these assertions resonated within me. Modern psychotherapy springs from the same impulses as those that drove the ancients who built, maintained and were drawn to these sites. The words “depth” and “gravitas” come to mind.

While I agreed with Conforti's assertions about the importance of maintaining the integrity of the therapist/patient relationship, I did not understand why he did not mention Jung's writings on the “temenos” or the parallels between psychotherapy and alchemy. And while one cannot argue with Conforti's assertions about the need for the therapist to be aware of his or her own complexes that are constellated by the patient/therapist encounter, this ground seems to have been well documented by others in their writings on transference and counter-transference.

Conforti does make some interesting comments and observations on these phenomena based on experiences he has had with patients. He re-examines some of Jung's interpretations of patients' initial dreams. While Jung wrote only about what the dreams had to say about the dreamer's psyche, Conforti maintains that they reflected as much or more about Jung. While this may seem speculative given the paucity of information that is available, it is possible that those dreams revealed Jung's own blind spots, as he maintains.

Even though he rarely uses the terms, many of the phenomena discussed by Conforti can be understood within the context of transference, counter-transference and synchronicity. Nevertheless, some defy easy categorization. For example, he finds that some patients have an uncanny ability to “… reflect issues and events current in my life outside of therapy … [and] circumstances known only to myself.” (p. 115) Here he suggests that it might be tempting to explain this experience as due to telepathy, but rejects it because his patients were unconscious of the process. Not everything can be labeled.

His comments on the possible dynamics between the individual and collective psyche are bold and interesting:

This understanding is not only more compatible with Jung's conceptualization of the archetypes, but can serve to render some of Jung's ideas operable in another realm of discourse. Such a translation becomes important when attempting, for example, to discuss the effects of an archetype that appears to be linking individual psyches in the service of a larger collective priority. Quantum theory and its biological derivatives operate from the perspective of the larger field, and require no leap of faith to assume collective effects whose source is the individual mind. (p. 113)

Not only are these comments exciting and refreshing, they are in keeping with Jung's research on the parallels between physics and psychotherapy.

Michael Conforti's early mentors laud this book as a blueprint for much of his future work. The editor states: “this first major work sits like an index intuitively cataloguing Dr. Conforti's future accomplishments …” (p. 21) For those who are already familiar with him and are fascinated by his theories, this text may provide an interesting glimpse at those ideas while they were still in a germinal stage. For those who, like me, know little about Michael Conforti and his work, this book is an intriguing introduction to a very interesting practitioner in the field of depth psychology.

​ —Roman Rogulski

Roman Rogulski works for a leading reinsurance company but has been interested in and reading about depth psychology, dreams and all things Jungian for many years.