Elisabeth Pomès
Psychotherapist
Jungian Analyst
Toronto
Seminars & Papers Menu
Below is a list of seminars and papers.
Please contact me if you would like me to give a presentation.
Phone: 416-769-8511
Email: contact@elisabethpomes.com
Public Program Seminars:
The body-mind-spirit connection: a Jungian approach
October 2nd 2011: 2-4.30 p.m. Location TBA.
The day starts with a long list of things to accomplish; we have barely time to write down a dream, let alone explore it, that we are out of the door ready to perform our tasks in the outside world. In a life of doing rather than being, how can we be present to our inner life and honor its needs? How can we learn to breathe through life rather than “catch our breath” before moving on to the next thing to do? How can we learn to remain in our body?
This seminar will explore the body-mind-spirit connection. It will offer restorative yoga (gentle stretches that can be done sitting or lying down on a mat), breathing exercises as well as short meditation sessions. These exercises will be interspersed with moments of self-reflection and self-discovery. The seminar will also present some of C.G.Jung’s writings on the body-mind-spirit connection.
Please wear loose comfortable clothing.
Elisabeth Pomès is a certified yoga instructor (Kripalu Center, Massachussetts) as well as a Jungian Analyst.
Length: 2 1/2 hours. Maximum number: 10
Public Program Seminars:
Jung at the Movies
The Individuation Process: An Exploration of the Movie
“Central Station”. (Walter Salles, 1998)
November 6th 2011: 10-3 p.
In "Central Station" a cynical, joyless woman (Dora) crosses paths with a lonely boy (Josue) who is looking for his father. Together, they go on a long journey into places geographically and psychologically unknown to them.
After watching the movie, we will discuss themes found in the movie that relate to the Individuation Process: meeting with the shadow, answering the call, dealing with crisis, the manifestation of the transcendent, the renewal through the child archetype and the theme of sacrifice: finding the treasure and letting it go.
Limit: 15-20 people.
Public Program Seminars:
Jung at the Movies
Animus: An Exploration of the Movie
“Notorious” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
January 15th 2012, 10-3p.m
Alice Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), the American daughter of a convicted nazi spy, is recruited by government agent T.R.Devlin (Cary Grant) to infiltrate a group of Germans who have relocated to Brazil. The animus figures that Alice encounters range from loving, yet distrustful, to scary and utterly dangerous.
We will examine the different representations of the animus in the movie and look at the impact they may have on the central character and her mission.
A discussion will follow on the theme of the animus and its manifestations both in the movie and in real life.
Limit: 15-20 people.
Public Program Seminars
A Persona and Shadow: What You Show to the World,
What You Hide from the World.
Saturday, February 27th 2010. 11 a.m - 1 p.m.
Public Program. Jung Foundation.
223 St Clair West. Toronto.
Registration Required: 416-961-9767 or info@cgjungontario.com
Persona and shadow are both complexes and archetypes; as such they are ubiquitous and inevitable. They act like two siblings, one public, one hidden; what is accepted by ego-consciousness falls into Persona, what is rejected falls into Shadow. Persona belongs to consciousness and Shadow to the Unconscious.
Persona is the usually ideal aspect of ourselves that we present to the world. It is a psychological and social construct adopted for a special purpose. In this seminar, we will look at how the persona is built and what purpose it serves, at a personal as well as at a social level. We will look at the positive purpose that persona may serve as well as the dangers of identification with the persona. Is there a way that the socially acceptable can be balanced with the genuine?
Shadow exists both on the subjective level, in the personal unconscious, and on the objective level, in the collective unconscious. On the subjective level, it is everything a person has no wish for: “the hidden or unconscious aspects of oneself, both good and bad, which the ego has either repressed or never recognized.” (D.Sharp, C.G.Jung Lexicon). On the objective level, the archetypal shadow is evil, the archetype of darkness, the absolute counterpart of the absolute light of God.
How does one become aware of shadow? How can one deal with shadow?
The integration of both persona and shadow is essential to the individuation process. How can one deal with those two powerful complexes?
The seminar will offer two parts: first, a lecture and discussion of the different topics and then, some exercises in self-reflection and personal exploration.
Public Program Seminars: Thesis Sharing
Pathological Gambling: Misstep on the Path of Individuation.
Friday, January 8th 2010. 7.30 - 9.30 p.m
Public Program. Jung Foundation.
223 St Clair West, Toronto
Registration Required: 416-961-9767 or info@cgjungontario.com
Whenever I mentioned the subject of my thesis, I would invariably be told of a horror story of some sort; my interlocutors always knew of “someone who had lost everything,” someone “who had lost his soul.” This is a topic that does not leave anybody indifferent and this very fact points towards the presence of an archetypal field. A Google search for “pathological gambling” produced 479,000 hits! I chose to focus my thesis on casino gambling.
In this mini-lecture, I will explore the theme of addiction to casino gambling in three different ways: Escape, Abaissement du niveau mental (lowering of consciousness) and ego inflation.
- Ego isolation - escape from the responsibilities of the present,
- Ego dissolution - Abaissement du niveau mental - the casino as the womb-like paradise (music, symbols, hypnosis...)
- Ego inflation - playing at being God.
All these themes of life represent missteps on the path of individuation.
Testimonies of pathological gamblers (interviews, dreamwork...), excerpts from F. Dostoevsky’s, The Gambler, and excerpts from movies will be used to support the thematic analysis. Discussion will follow the mini-lecture.
Seminar For Training Candidates
Working with Symbols: The Bird
September 18th, October 16th, November 20th 2011. 10-12.30 a.m
223 St Clair West.
This series of seminars will look at the symbol of the Bird in literature, visual art, music and Fairy Tales.
Seminar 1: The Nightingale, with a special emphasis on Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale, and Igor Stravinsky's opera, of the same name.
Seminar 2: The Firebird, with a look at the Folk Tale, and the ballet - Music by Igor Stravinsky.
Seminar 3: The Raven, as it appears in Edgar Poe's poem and its different illustrations, in fairy tales of different cultures and in cinematography.
Seminar For Training Candidates
The Space Within: Yoga, Meditation and the Path of Individuation.
February 19th: 10-4 p.m. Space TBA
The seminar will combine an exploration of C.G.Jung's writings, particularly The Secret of the Golden Flower and The Psychology of Eastern Meditation, with an experiential approach to the subject through some yoga and meditation sessions.
The Individuation Process is the process of becoming oneself, whole, indivisible and distinct from other people and from the collective. Necessary steps in this process are to access the Space Within, then to pause in that inner space in order to experience awareness of the body and stillness of the mind. Yoga and meditation help us to be present to ourselves, to be aware of our body and mind and to partake in Kairos rather than Chronos.
The seminar will offer several short yoga sessions, a body scan and several meditation and breathing exercises - sitting, eating and walking. The sessions will be easy with no previous knowledge of yoga or meditation necessary. Please wear loose comfortable clothing.
Seminars for Training Candidates Only:
Anatomy of the Animus
Sun, Feb. 20, Mar. 20, April 17, May 15, 201
Jung Training Program. Jung Foundation
223 St Clair Ave, W.
Toronto
What is the Animus? How does it come into being? How does it manifest in our lives, both positively and negatively? How can we dialogue with the Animus? The seminars will look at what has been written on the subject of the Animus - the writings of C.G.Jung as well as those of Jungian analysts, particularly women. The seminars will also explore the manifestation of the Animus in art and literature.
Format: The first seminar will be a lecture. In the following seminars, candidates will be invited to do a short presentation.
Seminar For Training Candidates
The Individuation Process: An Exploration of the Movie
“Central Station.”
Sunday, January 24th 2009. 10 a.m - 3 p.m
Jung Training Program. Jung Foundation
223 St Clair West, Toronto
In “Central Station” a cynical, joyless woman (Dora) crosses paths with a lonely boy (Josue) who is looking for his father. Together, they set off on a long journey into the countryside, into parts unknown to them both geographically and psychologically.
The seminar will start with viewing the movie. Then, a discussion will follow on themes found in the movie and related to the individuation process. Among those are: meeting with the shadow, answering the call, confrontation with the animus/anima, dealing with crisis, the manifestation of the transcendent, renewal through the child archetype and the theme of sacrifice: finding the treasure and letting it go.
Seminar For Training Candidates: Thesis Sharing
Pathological Gambling: Misstep on the Path of Individuation.
Friday, April 16th 2010. 8 - 10 p.m
Jung Training Program. Jung Foundation
223 St Clair West, Toronto
Ego isolation, ego dissolution and ego inflation: such is the world of the pathological gambler in the casino. This mini-lecture will deal with these three main themes, which can all be considered as a misstep on the path of Individuation.
-Ego isolation: escape from the responsibilities of the present. (Puer/Puella archetype)
-Ego dissolution: Casino as the womb-like paradise (music, symbols, hypnosis..)
-Ego inflation: playing at being God.
PAPER: A Study of the Individuation Process:
Walter Salles’s Movie, Central Station. (2007)
The Individuation process is a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. I see this journey thematically illustrated in the movie, Central Station. Dora, a cynical, joyless woman, crosses paths with Josue, a lonely young boy who is looking for his father. Together, they set off on a long journey into the countryside, into parts unknown to them both geographically and psychologically.
PAPER: Pathological Gambling:
Misstep on the Path of Individuation.
Thesis. (2008)
Human beings on the path of Individuation search for meaning and wholeness. C.G.Jung describes Individuation as the process through which a person becomes whole - “an undivided and indivisible unity.” What happens to the psyche of a pathological gambler? How does pathological gambling affect the Individuation Process?
Please contact the author for more information.
PAPER: A Study of a Gambling Addiction:
Jacques Demy’s Movie, Bay of Angels (La Baie des Anges). (2006)
Jean Fournier (Claude Mann) is a young bank employee who is encouraged by his friend Caron to take an interest in gambling. After winning money in a game of roulette he decides to vacation at the casino in Nice, where he falls in love with Jackie (Jeanne Moreau), divorced and mother to a child she rarely visits. Though Jackie also enjoys Jean's company, she constantly warns him that her passion for gambling will always be greater than her love for him.
PAPER: Icebergs: Numinosity and Transcendence. (2004)
The image of my first iceberg became embedded in my memory as the boat got closer to it and that image will be with me until I die. It brought words of Jack Kornfield to my mind: “In undertaking a spiritual life, what matters is simple: We must make certain that our path is connected with our heart." The iceberg definitely has a relation to my heart and spirit - it holds Numinosity and Transcendence.
PAPER: Shamanistic Rituals and Techniques of Ecstasy
in the Caves of the Paleolithic. (2003)
In my late teens, I reluctantly agreed to go and visit the caves of Lascaux. Nothing could have prepared me for that profoundly moving experience. As I entered the caves, the silence inhabited me; I was in awe. Now, I contemplate these paintings as I would universal sources of lyric poetry, or, as a reflection of the deep abiding archetypal source of form in the human mind.