Myth… those age-old, archetypal stories that can conjure up strange rumblings inside us. Many communities, both ancient and present, have used myth to help guide us through the crossings and transitions of life. Sharon Blackie, Jung, Campbell, Bettelheim, Pinkola-Estes, many, many more writers, have contributed ideas of how myth and fairy tale can help us contain, connect and tend to our deeper nature… the troubled, forgotten, neglected, pockets of ourselves that lie in our unconscious depths, as well as inner resources, and new, nascent potentials.

As a therapist, I often work with people who feel fated in some way, trapped by self-defeating patterns, symptoms and stories, by unhelpful inner dialogues and rogue parts of the self; parts that trample, stifle and steal much needed energy and agency away. Dodgy power dynamics, family curses, difficult relationships, imposter syndrome and fighting fate, are all the stuff of myth and fairy tale. Myth can give us an alternative way into unconscious, unseen realms, a bridge or ladder, to bring back learning and insight.

As an arts psychotherapist, I help my clients tell their story and externalise relational dynamics, both inside and outside, though a variety of intuitive artmaking forms. Working with myth offers another creative, reflective tool for learning, by activating the imagination as ally, not foe. I read once that myths are living images. Anyone working therapeutically with images, will know how they can feel alive, shifting and changing, in response to the attention we give them. Images aren’t only visual, they can be heard, felt, smelt, touched, and help us connect to our full range of senses, to our embodied experiences.

What are our internal images, myths and metaphors? And have they become stuck, and/or one-dimensional, driving us, without us knowing? Often in times of transition, our usual ways of operating are challenged. Perhaps, herein lies an opportunity to revisit how we treat ourselves, to challenge old patterns, so we can bring to life new potentials and more helpful ways of being and relating.

Ancient myths, from Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, Japan, China, anywhere in the world, provide us with stories that can help us look at the darker edges of human nature, envy, rage, fury, betrayal, treachery, trickery, failure, loss, abuse of power, as well as patience, wiliness, flexibility, persistence, community, compassion. Myth can show us valuable ways through… how to sit with uncomfortable feelings, how to free and separate ourselves from unhelpful patterns, and activate new inner resources… so we can learn how to deal better with the inevitable challenges and obstacles we’ll encounter in work and life transitions.     

If you’re a therapist or coach, and interested in finding out how myth can serve as a creative, transformational tool, I’m running an in-person, evening CPD workshop, an introduction to Working With Myth, this coming Tuesday 11 March, 6:30pm-9pm, in Archway, North London. This CPD workshop draws upon a mix of theory and experiential activities taken from depth psychology, arts psychotherapy and transpersonal approaches.

The workshop take place in the airy, spacious, Studio 34, a purpose-built arts therapy room, with a full range of creative materials at hand, and panoramic views over London. Although the session will be experiential, working with image, story and metaphor, no artistic ability or talent is needed to benefit or take part.

CPD creative workshops for women therapists, coaches, facilitators

Other upcoming workshops and retreats  

• Navigating the Inner Critic, on Saturday 22 March, 10am-4pm.
• Monthly Rewilding Imagination women’s retreats, Tuesday evenings, 6.30-8.30pm, Tuesday 25 March, 29 April, 20 May, 17 June.