Gustavo Beck - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
I am a clinical psychologist and post-Jungian scholar. My area of specialization is imaginal or archetypal psychology, particularly the work of James Hillman. My interests range from psychoanalysis and psychotherapy to mythology, social science, anthropology, and political activism.
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Papers by Gustavo Beck
American Journal of Qualitative Research
This article presents original research on the dreams of adults during the first COVID-19 lockdow... more This article presents original research on the dreams of adults during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Mexico. Subjects went through a series of in-depth clinical interviews where they were asked to share their most recent dream and then explored the dream imagery in conversation with the interviewer to find meaning through an analytic, dialogical process. After gathering the data through the interviews, the authors proceeded to use the narrative method and grounded theory to process the findings. The fundamental objective of the article is to explore the advantages that a qualitative exploration of dreams offers over other methodologies of dream analysis. The article proposes that a qualitative approach has the benefit of validating the dreamer’s experience without generalizing it. This shifts the focus of dream research from the description of categories to the co-creation of meanings with the participants. Additionally, it constitutes an initial attempt to explore and understand t...
Lately, it feels as if a wall was erecting between my analyst and me. Even if our therapeutic all... more Lately, it feels as if a wall was erecting between my analyst and me. Even if our therapeutic alliance is perhaps stronger than ever, something seems to divide us. This paper is an exploration of this divide, and the argument is that this distance is not exclusively internal or psychological. My analysis occurs through the Internet. My analyst is American, lives in Indiana, and charges me in U.S. dollars; I am Mexican, live in Mexico City, and earn my living in Mexican pesos. Our sessions are in English, because he does not speak my language. As if this was not tense enough, a U.S. presidential candidate proposes to build a wall between our countries, and has already erected a colossal barrier of fear between Mexicans and Americans with his hateful rhetoric. The following paper is an exercise in politicizing (exteriorizing) my own analysis in order to privatize (interiorize) into psychology the tense contemporary political context in which such analysis occurs. I argue that the Jung...
Routledge eBooks, Dec 5, 2022
Mythological Studies Journal, Jun 6, 2010
This essay explores the way in which the epic genre serves as a restorer of narrative flow. Using... more This essay explores the way in which the epic genre serves as a restorer of narrative flow. Using Homer’s Odyssey as a model, it will be argued that epic has a fathering function over stories, giving them their patterns and their place in the world. Focusing especially on the relationship between Odysseus and Telemachos, this article will utilize the post-Jungian notions of the senex and the puer to explain what a good father, or in this case a good epic, looks like. Like Telemachos and Odysseus, one too young to defend his kingdom and the other too far to combat his enemies, plots can be caught up in stagnant puer or senex storylines. Stories that are caught in the puer archetype are energetic but lack direction, while stories that are caught in the senex archetype have structure but lack movement. In both cases, the story goes nowhere. Epic literature acts like a father, heals the split between the puer and senex aspects of stories and thus weaves (like Athena, Odysseus patron goddess) the energy of the puer with the structure of the senex. It is the integration of these two narrative aspects—solid structure and youthful impetus—what allows a plot to flow in a meaningful way. *Editorial support was facilitated by: Morgaan Sinclair
American Journal of Qualitative Research
This article presents original research on the dreams of adults during the first COVID-19 lockdow... more This article presents original research on the dreams of adults during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Mexico. Subjects went through a series of in-depth clinical interviews where they were asked to share their most recent dream and then explored the dream imagery in conversation with the interviewer to find meaning through an analytic, dialogical process. After gathering the data through the interviews, the authors proceeded to use the narrative method and grounded theory to process the findings. The fundamental objective of the article is to explore the advantages that a qualitative exploration of dreams offers over other methodologies of dream analysis. The article proposes that a qualitative approach has the benefit of validating the dreamer’s experience without generalizing it. This shifts the focus of dream research from the description of categories to the co-creation of meanings with the participants. Additionally, it constitutes an initial attempt to explore and understand t...
Lately, it feels as if a wall was erecting between my analyst and me. Even if our therapeutic all... more Lately, it feels as if a wall was erecting between my analyst and me. Even if our therapeutic alliance is perhaps stronger than ever, something seems to divide us. This paper is an exploration of this divide, and the argument is that this distance is not exclusively internal or psychological. My analysis occurs through the Internet. My analyst is American, lives in Indiana, and charges me in U.S. dollars; I am Mexican, live in Mexico City, and earn my living in Mexican pesos. Our sessions are in English, because he does not speak my language. As if this was not tense enough, a U.S. presidential candidate proposes to build a wall between our countries, and has already erected a colossal barrier of fear between Mexicans and Americans with his hateful rhetoric. The following paper is an exercise in politicizing (exteriorizing) my own analysis in order to privatize (interiorize) into psychology the tense contemporary political context in which such analysis occurs. I argue that the Jung...
Routledge eBooks, Dec 5, 2022
Mythological Studies Journal, Jun 6, 2010
This essay explores the way in which the epic genre serves as a restorer of narrative flow. Using... more This essay explores the way in which the epic genre serves as a restorer of narrative flow. Using Homer’s Odyssey as a model, it will be argued that epic has a fathering function over stories, giving them their patterns and their place in the world. Focusing especially on the relationship between Odysseus and Telemachos, this article will utilize the post-Jungian notions of the senex and the puer to explain what a good father, or in this case a good epic, looks like. Like Telemachos and Odysseus, one too young to defend his kingdom and the other too far to combat his enemies, plots can be caught up in stagnant puer or senex storylines. Stories that are caught in the puer archetype are energetic but lack direction, while stories that are caught in the senex archetype have structure but lack movement. In both cases, the story goes nowhere. Epic literature acts like a father, heals the split between the puer and senex aspects of stories and thus weaves (like Athena, Odysseus patron goddess) the energy of the puer with the structure of the senex. It is the integration of these two narrative aspects—solid structure and youthful impetus—what allows a plot to flow in a meaningful way. *Editorial support was facilitated by: Morgaan Sinclair