Hags and Heroes: A Feminist Approach to Jungian Psychotherapy with Couples

Claude A. Guldner is a professor of family studies at the University of
Guelph.

This is not just a book but is really a story about storytelling. It catches one’s interest and fascination on the first page and maintains it until the last page. It is a story about relationships between men and women and what makes them work and what factors keep them from being successful. The author is a Jungian, writing from a feminist perspective. As a psychotherapist who has had a good deal of training in Jungian theory, I read a lot of books written by the Jungian group. Generally, one must have a thorough understanding of Jungian psychology to do justice to their interpretation. That is not the case with this work. Any therapist, and the book is written essentially for therapist, and most lay readers will be able to read this book with adequate understanding of the ideas the author is using. She avoids jargon, and, when she does use it, she carefully explains concepts and terms. The author is not a pure Jungian, for she has interest in the interpersonal theory of Harry Stack Sullivan; in one chapter she creates a fascinating dialogue between Jung and Sullivan. This is a very innovative interweaving of their similarities and differences. This ground work enables the author to look at couples from the bases of complexes (that is, what is taking place inside the person) as well as transactionally (what is taking place between them). She has thus created a framework for marital therapy that has a rhythm of self-searching and shared interaction. The last part of the book is a step-by-step guideline for the therapist and a good discussion of the place of co-therapy work with couples. This book will be a welcome addition to the library of marital therapists, yet it can equally be recommended to all men and women searching to be authentic within the self and in relationship to each other.