The Shadow of Analytic Training
Book ticketsOrganised by:
Association Of Jungian Analysts
Description
In this talk Dr Phil Goss will draw on his extensive experience as a teacher and trainer, as well as his analytic work, to consider the sometimes-hidden dynamics at play in training as an analyst. He considers how shadow processes may subtly, or sometimes overtly, influence the training journey in regard to both personal and professional development.
Phil will also share some research he has undertaken at the University of Warwick into what he describes as ‘Learning Wounds’ – that is, the psychological wounds we all carry from our earlier learning experiences, from infant, primary and secondary schooling through to further and higher education. He will provide examples from his research of where unhelpful or harmful experiences of failure, criticism and shame can get carried forward, via activation of shadow processes, into later learning and training contexts. In this regard, Phil will consider the following questions with regard to Analytic training:
• Are the notions of a shadow side to learning and of ‘learning wounds’, helpful and relevant in thinking about the nature and challenges of analytic training?
• To what degree have our own learning wounds had a shadowy impact on our experience of training as an analyst (and how might this impact on our practice)?
• In what ways might those of us who teach on analytic teachings act – unconsciously or otherwise – through our shadow, to bring our learning wounds to bear on our teaching, and on candidate learning and development?
• If these ideas seem relevant to analytic training, what could we do to raise awareness of these and find ways to address the challenges thrown up by our efforts to make analytic training thoroughly rigorous as well as reflexive? In turn, how might these insights further support candidates to consolidate their holistic readiness for practice as qualified analysts?
Dr Phil Goss is a Jungian Analyst, a Reader & Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, and course Director of the UKCP accredited postgraduate integrative psychotherapy training. He also supervises PhD studies. He has published two books: “Men, Women and Relationships, A post-Jungian Approach: Gender Electrics and Magic Beans” (Routledge, 2010) and “Jung: A Complete Introduction” (Hodder and Stoughton, 2015). He also co-edited “Thresholds and Pathways between Jung and Lacan: On the Blazing Sublime” (Routledge, 2019) with Ann Casement and Danny Nobus. His latest book “Overcoming Learning Wounds: A Jungian Approach to Reflexive Educational Policy and Practice” is due for publication in 2026. Phil has also published on learning difficulties, spirituality, analytic work with men, and landscape and loss. He and Fiona Palmer-Barnes have a paper “Desire, Collusion and Power: Some ethical difficulties in practice” pending publication in the June 2026 issue of the Journal of Analytical Psychology. Phil has a clinical practice in the West Midlands.
