Evil is a ubiquitous, persistent problem that causes enormous human suffering. Although human beings have struggled with evil since the dawn of our species, we seem to be no nearer to ending it. In this book, Lionel Corbett describes the complexity of the problem of evil, as well as many of our current approaches to understanding it, in ways that are helpful to the practicing psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, or Jungian analyst. Psychotherapists often work with people who have been the victim of evil, and, occasionally, the therapist is faced with a perpetrator of evil. To be helpful in these situations, the practitioner must understand the problem from several points of view, since evil is so complex that no single approach is adequate. Understanding Evil: A psychotherapist’s guide describes a range of approaches to evil based on Jungian theory, psychoanalysis, social sciences, philosophy, neurobiology, mythology, and religious studies. The book clarifies the difference between actions that are merely wrong from those that are truly evil, discusses the problem of detecting evil, and describes the effects on the clinician of witnessing evil. The book also discusses what is known about the psychology of terrorism, and the question of whether a spiritual approach to evil is necessary, or whether evil can be approached from a purely secular point of view. In Understanding Evil, a combination of psychoanalytic and Jungian theory allows the practitioner a deep understanding of the problem of evil. The book will appeal to analytical psychologists and psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and academics and students of Jungian and post-Jungian studies. It will also be of great interest to researchers approaching the question of evil from a variety of other fields, including philosophy and religious studies.

At a time when psychotherapy seems to be a purely secular pursuit with no connection to the sacred, The Sacred Cauldron makes the startling claim that, for both participants, psychotherapeutic work is actually a spiritual discipline in its own right. The psyche manifests the sacred and provides the transpersonal field within which the work of therapy is carried out. This book demonstrates some of the ways in which a spiritual sensibility can inform the technical aspects of psychotherapy. "The Sacred Cauldron is truly a book to be read by both therapists and non-therapists, for it offers a thoughtful, intelligent, sensitive passage through the spiritual quarrels and complexities of our time and addresses our common summons, which is to treat the life of the spirit with the respect, the gravity, and the centrality it deserves. This book is instructive to all, for Corbett not only marshals a wealth of scholarship and clinical experience, but also expresses challenging insights through a calm, reasonable, and commonsense appeal. After this book, the reader will be more thoughtful, more considered, more sophisticated, more appreciative of the importance of therapy as a vehicle for healing and for engaging the numinous." --James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst and author of What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life Dr. Lionel Corbett trained in medicine and psychiatry in England and as a Jungian analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. He is currently on the core faculty of Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, and the author of The Religious Function of the Psyche and Psyche and the Sacred, as well as various professional articles. His main interest is in the religious function of the psyche and the ways in which this function expresses itself through the structures of personality.

The Soul in Anguish: Psychotherapeutic Approaches to Suffering presents a variety of approaches to psychotherapeutic work with suffering people, from the perspectives of both Jungian and psychoanalytic psychology. An important theme of the book is that suffering may be harmful or helpful to the development of the personality. Our culture tends to assume that suffering is invariably negative or pointless, but this is not necessarily so; suffering may be destructive, but it may lead to positive developments such as enhanced empathy for others, wisdom, or spiritual development. The book offers professionals in any helping profession various frameworks within which to view suffering, so that the individual's suffering does not seem to be random or meaningless. Cognitive-behavioral approaches, the approach of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric association, and the promise of evidence-based strategies may or may not be applicable to the unique circumstances of the suffering individual. These approaches also ignore the unconscious sources of much suffering, its implications for the ongoing development of the personality, and the nuances of the therapeutic relationship. We cannot objectify or measure suffering; suffering is best viewed from within the individual's perspective, because people with the same diagnosis suffer in unique ways. The Soul in Anguish is a groundbreaking, meticulously researched study from an outstanding Jungian analyst and scholar. It provides illuminating ways into the transformative potential of suffering and how it can be dealt with in the consulting room. Charting the soul's agonies with great compassion and profound sensitivity, Dr. Corbett skillfully delineates clinical, philosophical and spiritual concepts of suffering that testify to the endurance of the human spirit. This book is an enlightening read for anybody with a passionate concern for the human soul. - Ursula Wirtz, PhD, Jungian Analyst, Author of Trauma and Beyond: The Mystery of Transformation With extraordinary candor The Soul in Anguish brings its readers face to face with one of the most difficult topics in life, suffering. This remarkable exploration of the range of suffering, especially as encountered in psychotherapy, mines for meaning and finds both its positive and negative expressions. Transcending the categorical, pathological descriptions of the DSM, The Soul in Anguish reveals the archetypal nature of the experience of suffering. Dr. Lionel Corbett offers healing to mind, soul and body, in this uplifting engagement with what is usually either avoided in most treatments or only touched upon, i.e., anguish. This book reimagines our pain and anguish to bring about the possibility of a true psychological and soulful grasp of suffering. No therapist should miss the opportunities of Dr. Corbett's rich study. - Joe Cambray, Ph.D.,Past-President IAAP,Author DR. LIONEL CORBETT trained in medicine and psychiatry in England and as a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. His primary interests are: the religious function of the psyche, the development of psychotherapy as a spiritual practice, and the interface of Jungian psychology and contemporary psychoanalytic thought. Dr. Corbett is a professor of depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He is the author of numerous papers and three books: The Sacred Cauldron: Psychotherapy as a Spiritual Practice, Psyche and the Sacred, and The Religious Function of the Psyche. He is the co-editor of: Jung and Aging, Depth Psychology, Meditations in the Field, and Psychology at the Threshold.

This book presents an approach to spirituality based on direct personal experience of the sacred. Using the language and insights of depth psychology, Corbett outlines the intimate relationship between spiritual experience and the psychology of the individual, unveiling the seamless continuity between the personal and transpersonal dimensions of the psyche. His discussion runs the gamut of spiritual concerns, from the problem of evil to the riddle of pain and suffering. Drawing upon his psychotherapeutic practice as well as on the experiences of characters from our religious heritage, Corbett explores the various portals through which the sacred presents itself to us: dreams, visions, nature, the body, relationships, psychopathology, and creative work. Referring extensively to Jung’s writings on religion, but also to contemporary psychoanalytic theory, Corbett gives form to the new spirituality that is emerging alongside the world’s great religious traditions. For those seeking alternative forms of spirituality beyond the Judeo-Christian tradition, this volume will be a useful guide on the journey.

This book describes the development of images of God, beginning in antiquity and culminating in Jung’s notion of the Self, an image of God in the psyche that Jung calls the God within. Over the course of history, the Self has been projected onto many local gods and goddesses and given different names and attributes. These deities are typically imagined as existing in a heavenly realm, but Jung’s approach recalls them to their origins in the objective psyche. This book shows how Jung’s approach avoids many of the philosophical problems produced by traditional anthropomorphic images of God and describes the myriad symbolic ways in which the Self may appear, independently of doctrinal images of God. By focusing on the empirical, psychological manifestations of the Self, Jung’s approach avoids arguments for and against the existence of a metaphysical God.

This book describes some of the major psychological processes that underpin various biblical stories and some of the theological speculation to which they have given rise. Psychological biblical criticism, as described here, is suggested as an alternative or supplement to historical-cultural, textual, philological, literary, and other types of biblical criticism. Using a combination of Jungian and psychoanalytic theory, Corbett shows how some biblical material arises from human psychodynamics, while some originates in the archetypal level of the psyche and is further elaborated as it passes through the human level of the psyche. The author addresses some of the traditional anxieties about psychological approaches to biblical stories. He views Jung’s approach as an evolving mythology of the sacred that offers an alternative to purely theological approaches to the Bible and to the traditions that emerged from it. This book will be of value to practicing psychotherapists and analysts, particularly those who treat patients with a religious background, as well as trainees, clergy, and graduate students in this area.

‘Jung’s Philosophy’ explores some of the controversial philosophical ideas that are both explicit and implicit within Jung’s psychology, comparing the philosophical assumptions between this and other psychotherapeutic traditions. Within this book, Corbett provides a useful introduction to the philosophical issues relevant to the practice of analytical psychology, and how these are viewed by different psychotherapeutic traditions. Most of the disagreement between schools of psychotherapy, and much of the comparative literature, centres around differences in theory and technique. This book takes a different, more fundamental approach by comparing schools of thought based on their underlying philosophical commitments. The author discusses the philosophical basis of various worldviews such as idealism and realism, beliefs about the nature of the psyche and the unconscious, and the mind-brain relationship, and focuses on the way in which Jung’s psychology addresses these and related issues, including the possible relevance of quantum mechanics to depth psychology. This text will be of value to practising psychotherapists and Jungian analysts, individuals undertaking the relevant training, and students in depth psychology.

Traditional concepts of God are no longer tenable for many people who nevertheless experience a strong sense of the sacred in their lives. The Religious Function of the Psyche offers a psychological model for the understanding of such experience, using the language and interpretive methods of depth psychology, particularly those of C.G. Jung and psychoanalytic self psychology. The problems of evil and suffering, and the notion of human development as an incarnation of spirit are dealt with by means of a religious approach to the psyche that can be brought easily into psychotherapeutic practice and applied by the individual in everyday life. The book offers an alternative approach to spirituality as well as providing an introduction to Jung and religion.

那些與生活緊密相關的痛苦是無法迴避的。 或說，沒有痛苦，就沒有意識的覺醒。——榮格 希望趨吉避凶、離苦得樂乃人之常情，所有以「治療」為名的工作也不外乎是為了減除人類的痛苦，但現實卻是，苦痛無所不在、難以迴避，直面痛苦是我們人生的永恆課題。 以深度心理學為長的科貝特，透過本書從方方面面檢視受苦經驗，引我們洞見其中深刻的轉化意義。科貝特認為，每個人的受苦經驗都是獨特的，因此梳理苦痛的意義非常重要──有些痛苦可以緩解、有些需要撫慰，但有些需要臣服、接受命運，甚至有時候還須享受痛苦。科貝特呼籲，我們不能只單薄地以負面眼光看待痛苦，僅視之為要消除的病態。 身為心理治療師，科貝特尤其認為痛苦是人們尋求心理治療的核心問題，心理助人者必須不斷與之交戰。科貝特指出，除了緩解痛苦，「我們也許應該將某些類型的痛苦視為正常，並將涵納痛苦的能力視為人類整體的一個面向，有時甚至是發展所必須。」 由古至今的許多學問都在幫助人們面對痛苦──心理學、醫學、哲學與宗教神話，甚至經濟學……，在本書中，科貝特為我們做了精采的整理。在物質科技至上的當代，他強調以靈性眼光看待痛苦，才能化苦難為轉化的力量。轉化過程必定艱辛，卻能幫助我們活出生命的意義。 《受苦的靈魂》提供了痛苦的轉化潛力，以及如何在心理諮商中處理痛苦的方式。在本書中，作者科貝特博士細緻描繪了靈魂的苦痛，並巧妙勾勒出痛苦於臨床、哲學與靈性上的概念，而這些概念皆見證了人類精神上的堅韌不拔。——烏蘇拉．沃爾茲（Ursula Wirtz），《靈魂謀殺》作者 本書特色 ◤ 延續《理解邪惡》的論述風格，科貝特博士此次以心理學、醫學、哲學與宗教神話，甚至經濟學……等的觀點，通盤爬梳痛苦的定義，進而引領心理治療專業人員與一般大眾，深入了解痛苦與受苦的面向，試著認識自己、理解他人。 ◤ 寫給心理治療師至一般大眾的備忘錄，不斷提醒人們觀看苦痛的角度不能過於單一、簡化；當我們能試著探究痛苦的深層原因時，就能更靠近心理治療關係中的核心。 誠摯推薦 王浩威｜精神科醫師、作家 吳佳璇｜遠東聯合診所身心科主治醫師 許德謙｜私人職業精神分析師、牧師、靈修導師 劉紹華｜人類學家 盧郁佳｜作家 鐘 穎｜心理學作家、愛智者書窩主持人 （按姓氏筆劃排列）