Valuing Type in a Virtual World
The 2020 conference of the Australian Association for Psychological Type
Thursday 5 November - Saturday 7 November. Online.
Dr Suzanne Cremen will present at the 2020 AUSAPT virtual conference on Saturday 7 November at 10:15 - 11:15am AEDT on the topic:
Soul-making Work in Dark Times: A Jungian View
The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is widely used in career guidance, matching individuals with known careers and occupations. However, traditional practices used in career development and approaches to the world of work tend to be biased towards Sensation and Thinking functions. This presentation engages with the MBTI model of type, but draws further on CG Jung’s influential work and theories about the psyche, including the personal and collective unconscious. It suggests that a good proportion of the population – and of our own psyches – is not sufficiently served by traditional approaches to vocational and career guidance.
Drawing on Jungian depth psychology, this session outlines a new approach to questions of work, career and calling in the current era, through engaging with symbol, metaphor and imagination. Traditional career development practices tend to be biased towards Sensation and Thinking functions. Bringing a symbolic perspective to work can awaken imagination and shift perception of the vocational journey as more than a paycheck, but an opus of the soul. Individuals with a preference for Intuition are particularly suited to a depth psychology approach which values the creative unconscious and imaginative potential, but at different life stages this approach may be valuable for all psychological types. A depth psychology approach will also help those who are wrestling with deeper questions of meaning and purpose, especially those in midlife and beyond where their inferior function is associated with Feeling or Intuition.
For further information about the conference, visit the Australian Association for Psychological Type website.
Dr. Suzanne Cremen worked in over 25 occupations including lawyer, screenwriter, publisher and career counsellor before earning her PhD in depth psychology. She serves as faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute (USA), founded the Life Artistry Centre for Archetype, Imagination and Vocation (Australia), and is the author of From Career to Calling: A depth psychology guide to soul-making work in darkening times (Routledge 2020).