Category: Uncategorized

In this age of psychotherapeutic accountability, we therapists are forever obsessed with therapeutic outcomes.  And for addiction problems, the life or death outcomes become especially poignant because if efforts fail to stop a patient’s harmful use of substances- lives could be on the line.  And it is in this effort that I address resistance, transference and countertransference issues even though many in my field see these as useless anachronisms of a bygone psychoanalytic era no longer germane.

But it is to this literature and interventions that I return to again and again because they so often emphasize how difficult it is to develop therapeutic rapport with drug/alcohol addicts or abusers.  These encounters with patients are especially painful because they can engender feelings of failure in the psychotherapist when you cannot stop the self-abusive behavior; or control your angry feelings toward the patient when one has been lied to again and again on the slippery slope of patient resistance to stopping or slowing down abuse of substances.

Relationships with a drug is a form of attachment in which the drug user does not have to compromise, negotiate or make concessions.  It is a relationship with an object in which the fusion with a drug is superior to available human forms of contact because- it is reliable, always predicable and will produce results that are on a tissue level, immediately gratifying.[i]  Thus, through alcohol and drug use patients can be their own ‘Doctors’ using a drug to minimize symptoms of anxiety and depression in the short run.  They can use whatever dosage works to reduce feelings of despair and taper doses when their coping is going well.  However, patients become unreliable ‘practitioners’ when they attempt to use this coping method over time because, drug tolerance and physiological urgency when he is abstinent becomes a moving target.   As time goes on, they need more of the drug to achieve the same effect and then habituate their bodies to crave the drug of choice as they become physically dependent.   I have deep sympathy for addicts because they have found the exact answer to their dilemma of finding emotional equilibrium albeit in an illusionary attachment to their drug of choice.

This is especially true for premature infants who have been separated from their mothers for any length of time exceeding a month (in incubators, etc.); infants who are separated from mother for medical problems as infants; and those who were in foster care or an orphanage directly after birth.  Loneliness, fears of abandonment, issues of resentment for lack of attentiveness all represent a primary narcissism that is deprivation at a very deep level.  This is like a post traumatic stress disorder but the anxiety of being alone is more related to separation anxiety and borderline states.  The symbiotic phase of union with the mother had been disrupted in these cases and therefore, the symbolic separation from relationships actually causes a re-enactment of an abandonment depression with separation anxiety.

The gestational and birth experience of the child and bipolar dilemma of fusion or separation

I will use the development of the gestational fetus and birth of the child to illustrate the dilemma of alcohol/drug dependency.  And how, in many ways, the process of active addiction re-enacts the union experience in the womb with the ‘Great Mother’ and how birth is a separation from this oceanic experience into the cold reality of the world demanding more independence.  The trauma of the birth experience makes possible the separation from a state of physical/ psychological dependence on the mother.  In this the fetus’s development from womb to birth, the experience is a microcosm which encapsulates the dilemma of the human beings psychological/physiological dependence vs. independence.  This archetype is a universal conflict and is symbolized in the creation myths of all cultures.  For example, separation from the deity and reunion with God through redemption and forgiveness are from Christian stories; consider also the return of the prodigal son.

I will explain the bipolar nature of attachment/detachment from objects.  In the womb a fetus is in symbiotic contact with the mother.  In the process of such symbiosis, the fetus is taking in (introjecting) both good and bad sensations, emotions, and thoughts in a rudimentary state.  All these are associated with the fetal experience in the womb.  Is the experience full of loving assimilation with excellent nutrition, or toxic assimilation based on an illness in the mother?  Once contractions begin, the safe womb environment turns into a vessel which breaks apart that symbiotic state of attachment.  Passing through the birth canal is a terrifying experience for the fetus and represents a kind of descent into hell where breathing is suppressed, the child is covered with blood and secretions, and has to escape into a world where she has to take a breath for the first time. [ii]
This abrupt detachment from the merger from the mother can be traumatic.   This is an oversimplification of the experience of the fetus but it makes the point that in the womb assimilation can be both positive and negative.  And birth can be terrifying; It therefore sets the stage for both attraction/ repulsion toward objects of attachment in the human experience based on the unconscious memory of the fetal experience.

All relationships then, have degrees of both symbiosis with the object of attachment and complete detachment/separation as first exemplified in the birthing experience.[iii]  Consider new couples who seem to have a dependency with each other that excludes all other relationships. Then after the relationship matures, the couple becomes more distant and are not merged to the same degree.  This bipolar dynamic of relationships consists of attraction and repulsion toward the object of attachment whether it be a lover or a family member.  Metaphorically, a hit of heroin, a toke on a joint, or to get an alcohol buzz on attracts us to a temporal union of oneness as an undifferentiated being.  It is only later with continuous use of drugs that we find disenchantment and want to stop consuming the drug.  But with obsessional use for whatever reason, it becomes harder and harder to maintain control of the drug of choice.

So, the physical and psychological ability to deal with the ambivalence of fusion or separation in relationships becomes a recurrent theme in all relationships based on the birth experience. This is true for relations with humans and with drugs (objects).  And the intensity on a continuum from fusion with the person or thing to separation with the object intensifies the dramatic nature of all relationships.[iv]

Transference/Counter-transference

Transference includes patient’s unconscious thoughts and feelings rooted in the past parent figure.[v]  Counter feelings are thoughts and feelings which the therapist experiences in direct relationship to the patient’s presentation in which he/she is asked to validate, fulfill and participate in the acting out of the client’s transference projections. [vi] Projections are the attribution of feelings or thoughts of one’s self to another to whom one is in a relationship with usually based on a recapitulation of the feelings a patient had toward male and/or female parent figures.  It is an unconscious process and does not go away with either education or self-awareness.[vii]

When the therapist enters into a relationship with an alcohol or drug dependent patient, he/she enters the dramatized emotional state of ambivalence between wanting to be empathic and understanding vs. wanting to maintain an objective therapeutic distance.[viii]  The therapeutic goal for the psychotherapist is to help the patient recognize patient’s triggers that occur that predict behavioral acting out with the drug of choice and to reduce the harmful effects of abusing the drug of choice.  These goals occur simultaneously.    This is a re-enactment short of total union with the patient and the healthy separation that characterizes any nurturing relationship leading to independence from the patient’s presenting problem leading to successful termination.  If the transference behavior by the patient is positive; it is characterized by healthy defenses by putting off impulses that are destructive, focusing on identifying vulnerable triggers that consciously or unconsciously trigger relapse, a voluntary dependence on the psychotherapist while in recovery, building up constructive support systems of relationships, and finally wanting to self-rescue or get better (Eros).

Many theorists agree that drinking or drug use may represent an unconscious denial of separateness.[ix] With separateness can come rejection, abandonment and loneliness, if not fears of annihilation.  On the other hand, continuing a dependence on one’s drug of choice can ultimately lead to a fear of being devoured or merged with the drug like a puppet on a sting which is reflected in the love addicts have with their drug of choice.[x]   Often the defense of denial is so strong that the patient refuses to submit to these positive attitudes toward the psychotherapist.  He/she rejects efforts to get better due to inferiority, worrying about symptoms that occur such as anxiety or depression that rebound when he/she stops abusing the drug of choice, and traumatic factors that cause acting out angry behaviors. This then , can induce in the therapist counter-transference behaviors such as helping the patient to avoid negative emotional states for the sake of keeping the relationship going, ignoring the hostility on the part of the patient toward therapist for taking away such a reliable source of gratification, and experiencing guilt over not being able to help the patient.

Guidelines about neutralizing negative transference and negative counter-transference include the therapist reflecting on the induced feelings that result from negative transference;  setting boundaries limited to the therapeutic sessions; therapist reducing over-compensatory behaviors such as blaming the patient for the problem; being aware of therapist’s own subtle gestures to rationalize termination (i.e. the patient is not motivated); and involving support of the family to act as ancillary therapists between sessions designed to reduce self-harm as part of a safety plan.[xi]  

Therapist counter-transference when acted out can lead to sexual relations with clients; as one survey indicated (Mason 1983) 15% of therapists have sex with their patients.[xii]  A therapist acting on angry feelings rejects his patients often resulting in a closed case, transfer or referral.  The existence of these incidents is an iatrogenic aspect of psychotherapy and supervision is often warranted to reduce it incidence.  What is attempted here is to minimize negative reactions to patients that prevent patient’s needs from being met.

Compensation as a theory of a cause of drug and alcohol abuse:

I have made the point that there are opposite motives for the need for attachment and independence in the human psyche.  All human beings have a need to belong, to develop self-esteem and ultimately achieve self- actualization by being their own authority.  The process of individualization in western society involves maturing from child- like dependency to more mature independence as the needs to love and to belong co-exist with the needs for self- realization.   These needs remain relevant throughout the developmental life cycle. Attachment to drugs and alcohol through addiction is one side of the patient’s problem of physical/psychological ambivalence to merge with the object; addicts are struggling to be independent of their drug of choice.  Whether the defensive structure of the patient’s demand a delusion of the undifferentiated state or fear of being killed for being on one’s own; the problem is translated in the therapeutic encounter in ways that threaten the patient’s core of self-preservation.

Jung had illustrated that complexes in the unconscious are contained of opposite contents each with an emotional valence: i.e.  submission/dominance; expression/suppression; action/inaction; authority/disqualification; identification/disidentification, etc.  What he emphasized was that in dreams, we find compensations at the root for understanding the contra-position of the dream against the patient’s conscious attitude.[xiii]  What I find in the conscious attitude of the addicted patient is the unavowed need to remain dependent on an object.  However, the compensatory behavior they engage in consciously is quite the opposite bordering on social isolation and attitudes of extreme defiance of dependency on others.

Management clinically of patients who are addicted vacillate from session to session.  Positive transference toward the therapist can go on for months, then the patient can quit therapy all together.  What is behind this fluctuation is related to the defense mechanism of splitting.  “Splitting is the failure in a person’s thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole.”[xiv]  At one time he sees the therapist as good for his recovery and then he comes to the conclusion that he is an impediment for his mental health.  This is an inability to merge the good and bad traits of a person into their concept of the self and see the other as either all good or all bad. Splitting can bring to a halt a therapeutic process and needs to be discussed with the patient and brought to his/her awareness.

Hitting bottom and Recovery:

When a patient becomes dependent on drugs or alcohol, there are unmistakable symptoms that are used by the therapist to educate both the patient and the family..  They are as follows[xv]:

1. Alcohol abstinence syndrome: when not drinking urgency of first drink leading to relapses
2. Blackouts- yes; able to function but forgetting the events while intoxicated Emergence of the ‘sincere delusion’ which is not remembering how impaired one is when intoxicated.
3. Psychomotor rebound effect- drinks to quell anxiety/ depression and agitation but that does not work
4. Medical problems: e.g. belches a lot; esophageal varacies, gastric inflammation, ulcers, eventually hyponatremia, liver disease, etc.
5. Legal- citation with public drunkenness, dui, assault, etc.

1. Family worried about his drinking and concerned he seek treatment in rehab.
2. Abnormal changing tolerance- takes more and more hard stuff  or drug to achieve oblivion.

Once these symptoms are apparent the disease process is in full swing.  There are psycho-social losses that are compounded.  And in this process the patient may still deny the destruction and deterioration of his/her life style.  Losses include but are not limited to; legal issues and fines; occupational losses- time needed off work for recovery and poor work performance, losing jobs; loss of relationships- people who are scared or embarrassed by intoxicated patient’s behavior; hospitalization and other medical problems; acute  mental health problems; socialization only with peers who  get drunk or  high; self-care deterioration; suicidal behavior when intoxicated or high;  near death experiences or overdose

These kinds of losses lead to a phenomenon of hitting bottom when the patient realizes he cannot go on living with the obsession of drug abuse and seeks treatment.  Detoxification is a medical intervention and is recommended to occur in a hospital where one is observed for withdrawal signs and treated.[xvi]

Then comes a period of formal rehabilitation which can last 30, 60, 0r 90 days.  In this period, concentration on the following[xvii]:

1. Letting the brain recover from addiction requires assessment of medication and psychotherapy needed to lessen symptoms of an underlying mental health issues. Helping the patient cope with his losses and active mourning over the loss of the drug in his/her life and its purpose in maintaining the illusion of safety.  Taking care of physical losses incurred through addiction.
2. Learning to identify emotional states which the drug /alcohol masked; to express negative and positive emotions and learn to regulate them.
3. Dealing with the denial that the drug of choice compelled the patient to avoid the fact that separation from others actually made the problem worse. And that in early recovery, he/she  would benefit and sustain sobriety by fellowship.
4. Realize that fellowship such as AA or NA is a voluntary dependency and necessary for recovery long term. And it admits that the will of the patient is not enough to sustain recovery.  In fact, submission to a higher authority such as Divinity is a necessary component to ensure recovery.  Actively working on the 12 steps of recovery and admitting powerlessness over the drug of choice.  Going through a ritual initiation forgiving others for the wrongs that they have perpetrated on one, the betrayal, the power moves, etc.  and the desire to surrender one’s will to a higher power taking care to humbly recognize one’s dependence on others- getting a sponsor.
5. If recovery is to last, one has to recognize triggers that cause relapse and understand that relapse can be an educational event to eliminate from your life those persons, those activities, and those events or places that tempt one to lose focus and abuse the drug of choice again.
6. Continue throughout life to learn to grow psychologically and spiritually so that recovery is a continual effort.
7. Learning that alcohol/drug addiction is also a social problem in which in a capitalistic society, there are mores, customs and beliefs that sustain the abuse of substances to cope with the pressures of life. Learning that the historical tradition rituals of drinking and getting high is a natural part of cultural life but that the patient cannot participate in that ritual and come to no harm to him/herself.  One has to learn to substitute other cultural rituals to create a sense of cultural self-realization.

In summary, I have identified my theory of addiction and relied on traditional methods of recovery including psychoanalytic models and AA/NA for recovery.

References:

[i] Graham, Alan; Glickafus- Hughes, Cheryl “Object relations and addiction: the Role of Transmitting Externalizations”. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, March 1992, Vol. 22, Issue 1, pp. 21-23.

[ii] Grof, Stanislav, Healing Our Deepest Wounds: the Holotropic Paradigm Shift. Stream of Experience Productions, May 2012

[iii] Kernberg, Otto. Object Relations Theory and Clinical Psychoanalysis.  Jason Aronson, Inc. NY, NY. 1976

[iv] Searles, H.  Countertransference and Related Subjects. International University Press, Ny, NY. 1979

[v] Schwaber, J. A. “introduction in  The Transference in Psychotherapy: Clinical Management. International University Press. NY, NY, 1985

[vi] Valenstein, A. F. “A Developmental Approach to Transferences: Diagnostic and Treatment Considerations”, in
The Transference in Psychotherapy: Clinical Management, Ed. Schwaber, E. A. International U. Press. Ny, NY 1981

[vii] DSM 5, American Psychiatric Association. 2013. Arlington, VA. USA

[viii] Arlow, I. A. “Interpretation and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: A Clinical Illustration”. In Transference in Psychotherapy: Clinical Management. Ed. By E. A. Schwaber, MD. International University Press, Ny, NY, 1985 p. 107

[ix] Little, M. Transference Neurosis and Transference Psychosis, Jason Aronson, Ny,NY. 1981. P. 188

[x] Chetnik, Morton, “the Borderline Child”,  Nosbpitz, J. D. Ed. In Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry. Vol 11, Basic Books, NY, NY, 1979 p. 306

[xi] Racker, H. Transference and Countertransference, International U. Press, Inc. NY, NY, 1968, p. 144

[xii] Wray, H. “Has Therapy Gone Astray?”, Psychology Today, A book review. Oct 1988 p. 70

[xiii] Jung, C.G. Memories, Dreams and Reflections, Jaffe ed. Winston R. and Winston C. translators, Vintage Books, NY, NY,  1989. P. 133

[xiv] Kernberg. Op. cit. p. 176

[xv] Larson, E. “Stage II Recovery: Life Beyond Addiction- Self Defeating Learned Behavior”,  Videotape. 1988, Kinetic Film Enterprises. LTD. Buffalo, NY.

[xvi] Ibid.

[xvii] Ibid.

For centuries Western societies have framed the cultural definition
of mental health. The universal acceptance of English as the language
of science has created the psychological norms as to what constitutes
healthy individual adaptation. Further, the ability of United States
and Western Europe to dominate, with English spoken as the key to
business institutions, has enabled us westerners to dominate the economic zeitgeist
or ‘spirit of the times’. This has amounted to a monopoly  on universities’  curriculum, on collective banking and global markets 1 with a western bias.

But now that is breaking down, as the recent
dominance of Western societies is being challenged the world over.
We shall now evaluate on individual and collective levels what
have been the prevailing sociological trends that have captivated both
psychological man and his economics since the Enlightenment. And
we shall point out how they are breaking down in the face of the
equalizing effect of globalization and the universal internet. We are
searching for an answer to the dilemma facing modern man and need
to take him out of the illusion that the ego is the center of the psyche;
the answer is more comprehensive than the narrow view propagated
by academic psychology and economics.
When we survey Western models of treatment of the pathological
psyche, the academic and treatment focus is concentrated on building
ego strengths. The assertions and conclusions that are research based
are backed up by empirical studies and a medical model of pathology. Accordingly, psychotherapies emphasize statistically relevant truths. They are called ‘evidenced
based psychotherapies’.

Most psychotherapies are designed to build a healthy ‘executive
function’ of the ego through cognitive strategies.2
Healthy ego functioning is perceived by mental health professionals as the focus
of treatment. The norm is treating maladaptive behaviors that are the
result of poor ego development, such as confused ego identity, low ego
esteem and unhealthy defense mechanisms. This is appropriate for ego
development in youth and early adulthood. But this treatment focus 5
on ego building falls short when it is applied to the whole life cycle and to other cultures.

The underlying assumption is fallacious, because the ego strength model that
is important to survival at the youth and young adult stages of the life
cycle in the US and Western Europe, is increasingly not applicable universally. As this model is applied to the life cycle, it is irrelevant in mid-life, retirement and old age development.

How adaptive would it be for a 46 year old man to start an identity
search for the first time? Although mid-life crises at this age create the
desire to find a new identity, isn’t it based more on existential searches
for meaning; rather than finding higher status, a new wife or occupational
niche? For a woman aged 65, is it adaptive for her to concentrate on
her health concerns to lengthen her life and beauty to the exclusion
of finding the meaning and purpose of those culturally defined
desires?

I propose that this cognitive ego based intervention model is
unsound for the healthy psyche, putting too much emphasis on
youth and western societies without including the rest of the life cycle and the diversity of cultures in our world– especially when
ego energies wane and spiritual energies wax, as in later life. The
approach of the prevalent ego psychology ignores the symptoms of psychic
disturbances due to crises of a spiritual nature – on which it is silent
and ignorant.3

The value system of this Western psychological treatment approach
supports the beliefs that individualism is the end-all and purpose of
man in society. This view is supported by the clichés that ‘time is
money’ and one has to develop his/her ego potential and dominate
over others or else lose to competitors, ‘you have to take your chances,
you may not get another one’ and to be successful one has to possess
the conscious attitude of the all-important and ‘youthful’ approach
to life.
These views as applied on the world stage imply metaphorically that
capitalistic, imperial dominance of one country over another, usually
through military means, is the answer in the global competition for
limited commodities and resources. This view is an anachronism based
on Social Darwinism. To perceive that one nation state can dominate
others – exploit them – is no longer pragmatic in a global society
where the rights of sovereign states are supported by international
law and the United Nations. To survive today, we must learn global
cooperation or else we shall extinguish our existence by war, famine
and disease thus ending humanity as we know it on earth.

When the ego fails to serve our survival needs, when chaotic
losses enter into our lives, the ego breaks down – and all the support
which that psychic structure has given us fails. Futile attempts to
find reasons why bad events happen to us fill the case notes of many
psychotherapists. The suffering ego may cause us to avenge those 6
who are the ‘reasoned’ causes of our pain. We have borne witness to
the attacks on Afghanistan and then Iraq by former President Bush’s
administration in retaliation for 9/11 based on a faulty assumption that we could destroy militarily those who tried to kill us.  And 17 years later we are still fighting Isis and the Taliban, al qaeda and getting no where.

That outmoded path only perpetuates conflict. Profound self-examination is called for by our leaders and individuals in our society.
For that to happen, psychological insight into our spiritual roots
is needed so that assertive, not aggressive interventions may do for individuals and
nation states instead of hurting our people and our sovereignty. Thus a
spiritual journey awaits us and our leaders – and humility is called for,
not ego-bound self- righteousness. Reflecting on observing ourselves
and learning to be receptive to intuitive guidance is the answer – even
when doing so may on the surface seem to humiliate us and defy reason.4

This new paradigm can go a long way to creating a new world view to support the survival of humanity.
But these changes need to occur on both an individual and national
level to be fully implemented. Carl Gustav Jung in his last work The
Undiscovered Self, points to the problem:
“Our (collective) psyche is profoundly disturbed by the loss of moral
and spiritual values that have kept our life in order. Our consciousness
is no longer capable of integrating the natural afflux of concomitant,
instinctive events that sustains our conscious psychic activity. This
process can no longer take place in the same way as before, because our
consciousness has deprived itself of the organs by which the auxiliary
contributions of the instincts and the unconscious could be assimilated.
The organs were the numinous symbols, held holy by common consent.”5

Historically, conscious spatial perceptions in the West were
structured according to guarding and protecting land and property
rights. This had psychological implications creating vigilance and
mistrust toward our competitors. We still have the view that land we
bought with money is our possession. And thus we develop a collective
defensive attitude based on protectionism, exploitation of resources
and imperial power. In the last Iraq war, these assumptions came to
light as we intruded on a sovereign country to kill a terrorist regime,
to democratize them and to prevent the expansion of their  apparent nuclear
capability.  Also global warming phenomena has heightened our appreciation that we are accelerating carbon emissions to our own destruction and must cooperate internationally to curb these emissions.

On a macro-level ‘manifest destiny’ is just a global form of
egocentric narcissism. And the underlying, covert rationale for these
actions was the motive of taking resources that did not belong to us.

On a individual and national/collective levels the self-study of our unconscious as it influences our conscious make-up will help guide us thorough the labyrinth of concepts that have been identified by theoretical psychiatrists like C. G. Jung, E. Erickson and R. Assagioli; and astrological psychologists like Bruno and Louise Huber.

If we study our horoscopes, our dreams and recognize in humility our shadowy sub-personalities; we can navigate through relationships with mutual respect and awe at the wondrous majesty that is human kind.  But if we ignore this process, we are doomed to  perpetual conflict as we project our own ego’s as individuals and nations on a global stage.  That would result in a mere repetition of  the colonialism and social Darwinism of the past.  We must not  neglect to respect and seek justice for the cultural diversity of all peoples in this world of ours.   My book Dreams and Astrological Psychology  (Hopewell Publishing, Knutsford, UK, 2014 , is avaiable onAmazon.com) paves the way for a syncretic methodology of these concepts so that we can become our own psychologists and thrive in the 21 Century.

Note: This is an excerpt from my book listed above with minor modifications so references are not included here but are in my book.

Part I The Astrological Neptunian character

What is written here is an example of my life-long project to understand the effect and siren call of the planet Neptune in my natal horoscope.  The struggle I have had is nothing less than a battle with my own ego, first caused by the disillusionment that comes from recognizing the force of the Neptune energies in my chart and then going beyond the limitations of my own ego identifications to include a universe of possibilities that Neptune represents.  This amounts to nothing less than transcending ego consciousness and learning to perceive non-duality against the backdrop of my personal history of taking a stand against the chaos that comes in when I allow Neptune energies to influence me in negative ways.

When Neptune was discovered in 1846 there were synchronistic events on the world stage of technology with photography and moving pictures which paved the way for movies and the illusion of art imitating life.  Concurrently at that time, the study of the unconscious psyche was advanced by C. G. Carus.[i]

Steven Forrest in his Book of Neptune wrote that a “sextile between Neptune and Pluto took place during the 1940’s and this sextile will break up by 2030. This will continue to have the effect that all people living on the planet will have this aspect which… they will have (the energies of these planets) consciously integrated into the collective… and in sextile these planetary drives induce spirituality and psychology to excite one another…the synthesis of which is a relatively new development…having the consequences of inviting us as a people to move to the pole of consciousness that is opposite the ego.”[ii]

The Myth:

During the Etruscan era in the 8th to 2nd Century BCE, Neptune (Netphones) was associated with wells, rivers, springs, the ocean and was worshiped as a god. The god had two aspects: a tranquil water type and a gushing water type. He was the god of moisture and also of the sea.  Later in Greek myth, he was known as Poseidon and he was the god of the sea.  He had the qualities of striking his trident and with one blow could split rocks and cause earthquakes.  Later in Roman myth, he was known as a god with violent temper who could change forms ( shape shifting); he was charged with ruling over the Sea.[iii]

[iv]

To understand the nature of this planet we want to study the symbolism of Neptune in myth which was refined and condensed over the centuries.  Recently there are four psychic aspects of Neptune which Dr. Maureen Demot first identified.

1. Its psychological function was to create an affinity with the collective unconscious, the imagination, dreams, intuitions, and empathy.
2. The psychological processes in action were to transcend, to surrender, to sacrifice, to rescue, to envision, to inspire, to escape, to deny, to vacillate, to sabotage, to confuse, to mystify, and to deceive.
3. Psychological ego states are selfless love, unitive awareness, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, inspiration, GUILT, passivity, confusion, uncertainty, grief, sickness, victimization, helplessness, and delusion
4. Environmental events associated with Neptune are spiritual pursuits, aspire to ideal, rescuing or helping victims, victim of fraud and deceit, losses, endings, working with grief, use of the imagination, imagistic art forms. [v]

My Personal Journey:

Neptune is so prominent in my chart hitting with hard aspects to both my two ego planets, the Sun and the Moon.  Below is my horoscope where I shall explain how Neptune in my chart effects my character and psych.  Below is also a depiction of the glyphs of the Planets.  Neptune is in the bottom row, second from the left.

Look at the glyph of Neptune in my chart above.  Neptune the planet is near the top of my chart with a red line opposite another Glyph, that of the Moon.   That is called an opposition aspect with the Moon.  Any opposition aspect produces tension, repression and pressure.

According to the Huber Method, the Moon represents our emotional response: the spontaneous inner child, compassionate, sensitive part, reaching out for love and sympathetic understanding.  And it can be associated with the Mother as a caregiver but could represent any caregiver who nurtures and gives love back to the child reaching out for love.  It is associated with our ego needs for total acceptance and it is very sensitive to rejection. [vi]

Psychologically, Neptune represents transpersonal love, uncertainty and is associated with mysticism, paranormal and the selfless, non-ego state. In analyzing Neptune aspects to the Moon, it helps to consider that Huber designated hard and soft planets.  The hard planets are Mars, Sun, Pluto, Saturn and Uranus; the soft planets are Jupiter, Neptune, the Moon, Mercury and Venus.  Huber astrology determines that activating red lines to sensitive planets (like the Moon and Neptune) could irritate and lead to bad reactions of exaggeration, hypersensitivity.[vii]  Potentially, one could deceive oneself by over-identification with significant others in relationships; through empathy and compassion  one could rescue them from themselves.  These negative qualities of Neptune were more prominent with opposition and square aspects to my Moon and the Sun, respectively.

I have given you some of the astrological psychology principles above.  But now you will see how this horoscope was set up to influence my development.  Below is a figure of the House system, if you look at my chart, Neptune and the Moon are in the 10^th and 4^th houses respectively (At the MC and IC positions on my horoscope). It is called the individuality axis and has to do with the polar opposites of being an individual vs. belonging to the collective (family, tradition, society).[viii]

The opposition between the planets Moon and Neptune show a tension between tradition and the family vs. the authority that comes from individual development in American society.  So, I would have a tendency to overidentify with family members at times and then at others assert my individuality causing tension, repression and confusion in both areas.  As one area gets attention, the other area of life suffers.  You can imagine the cognitive dissonance these behaviors caused in myself and others as I vacillated between these environmental domains. 

Neptune also has a red square aspect to my Sun in the second house which is in conjunction to my Jupiter.  A square aspect has qualities of friction, stress and deployment of energy.  The Sun which is a hard planet and the focal planet of an achievement square (a T-square) is stimulated by Neptune; but the Neptune square can also deplete and sabotage the Sun’s need for egoic self-expression.  Assertive ego identity vs. a selfless identity within myself created friction for me as I tried to navigate my actions in the outer world and become self-supporting.  Jupiter also receives Neptune’s red square aspect too so it expands its energy to be generous to others which causes friction in the arena of personal resources and this generosity and kindness can deplete my resources.   (Jupiter in 2^nd house).  I could tend to promise others more than I could deliver; or attract people who would take advantage of me. 

Neptune opposed the Moon square my Sun and Jupiter slowed down the developmental achievement of leaving home because the complex created guilt and a sense of vacillation in going forward with my individualism process- becoming my own man.  Part II will cover in more detail the continuing working out of a  complex through dream work and self-analysis.

[i] Le Grice, Keiron, The Archetypal Cosmos, Floris books, Edinburgh, UK, 2010, p. 202

[ii] Forrest, Steven, The Book of Neptune, Seven Paws Press, Borrego Springs, California, 2017 pps. 23, 24, 37

[iii] Mythology.net, Neptune by Professor Geller, 2017

[v] Demot, Maureen, in Dreams and Astrological Psychology, Grove, John, Hopewell Publishing, Knutsford, UK, 2014, p. 107

[vi] Hopewell, Barry editor, Astrological Psychology The Huber Method, Hopewell Publishing, Knutsford, UK. , Cheshire, WA 2017, p. 33

[vii] Huber, Bruno, Louise, Michael, Aspect Pattern Astrology,

[viii] Huber, Bruno and Louise, The Astrological Houses, A Psychological View of Man and His World, Samuel Weiser, Inc. , York Beach, Maine, 1978, p. 85

Today I was interviewing a couple when Mary asked me…”Why do I hold back from people and not communicate but push information that is unpleasant back in my mind and let it just sit there? ”

Mary was explaining that she has a split between what negative feelings she has and does not communicate to others vs. what she thinks others want to hear.  These two versions of reality are not comparable, not compatible.

Then I introduced the concept of subpersonalities and self-expression.  In a course by Will Parfitt, I learned that of “all the contributions of psychosynthesis, the sub-personality model is the most well-known.”

I asked Mary to consider first how she likes to come across to others.  She said the behaviors she shows is as a confident, determined and a non-dramatic person.  She said she dampened down her emotional side, thought of it as weak and not useful to show her vulnerable side to others either in her work or with her family.

The psychosynthesis model looks at the start of the subpersonality patterns of interaction being set up in the family of origin.  (Parfitt, Will. Sub-Personalities and Self Expression, Lesson 3, page 3, Course I Elements of Psychosynthesis)

One example , Mary traced her behaviors back to her family of origin as a child when she knew her father had extramarital affairs and she addressed it with him once but then stopped.  She stopped because her inner child felt she would not be loved and be censured when she contacted her father if she kept telling him things he did not want to hear.   She risked rejection from him if she continued.  So, a pattern was started way back in which she buried aspects of herself that she found unacceptable and unable to show for fear of being unacceptable to others in some way or another.  So, it happened that her feeling, vulnerable side was buried and repressed and formed a sub-personality of its own sabotaging her relationships by holding back important negative information about herself.  But Mary’s subpersonality was unconscious not available to her conscious scrutiny.

Then she met Gus.  Gus grew up in a family newly migrated from United Kingdom.  His father was a self-employed businessman in the technical field. Gus was taught never to lie.  He expressed one episode in which in 3rd grade, he lied about doing his homework.  He would tell his parents every school day that he left the homework at school.  This behavior resulted in the pattern that he never did it the whole year-long.  When Gus’s parents had a parent-teacher conference and they found out that Gus never once handed in his homework that school year.  Gus’s father came home with all his unfinished homework and told him that he had all weekend to do it and he would sit beside him the whole time while he was finishing it.  Gus worked all weekend with his father looking on and on Monday, took his finished homework back to the teacher. He anticipated the shame he would feel in giving the teacher the homework and by that act was admitting that he lied to everybody.  Gus was vomiting when he got to school that Monday morning, he was so anxious.  Thus, Gus developed a sub-personality to never lie about anything and he learned to hate this behavior in others.  It was so conscious of a pattern of behavior that it was like a laser in the most formative part of his awareness.  And yet there are hidden parts of Gus that form a shadow subpersonality.

When Gus and Mary got together, they formed a relationship based on emotional intimacy except in one area.  When Mary could not communicate negative facts that did not fit into her self-concept, Gus would eventually find out and see Mary as lying which would infuriate him.  Mary was in fact not lying but withholding information that was negative because that information seemed to her to risk their continued relationship.  At one instance,  she even told a court judge that she had school loans paid off so she and Gus could move away with the custody of her son; when in fact she did not pay them back. When the judge found this out, she was not allowed to move out of the area.  Gus was furious and felt that major trust issues were broken by Mary because she lied.

The shadow is defined as an unconscious part of the psyche that we don’t want others to see.  Mary had conjoined her emotional, feeling side of herself with the shadow part of the psyche because she saw emotional vulnerability as negative to her self-concept; thus, she kept hidden an important part of her feeling side and when Gus repeatedly found out these patterns, he called it lying and told Mary he did not trust her.

I have the goal with this couple of freeing Mary’s sub-personality from her shadow and tampering down Gus’s self-righteous sub-personality which is joined with rage so he can stop projecting onto Mary that she is lying when in fact she is dealing with a splitting of her feeling side into her unconscious which she is not aware of.

Here is an example of Mary and Gus’ subpersonalities:

Mary’s Astrological Psychology natal chart

Mutable shaping : “Such people live for the present and , are happy with a changing world, and easily adapt to situations of crisis.  They can be creative and have the ability to transform their surroundings.”  (Astrological Psychology, The Huber Method, edited by Barry Hopewell, 2017. p. 59).

According to the shaping of Mary’s chart we see a mutable triangle figure encompassing what is known as a dominant learning triangle.  Mary is motivated to be dynamic , able to adapt and is capable of  being change-oriented all in the service of learning life-long lessons and gaining a new perspective on a recurrent problem which is presented by Mary’s Pluto. (Astrological Psychology, the Huber Method, Hopewell, Barry editor, p. 82).  Pluto in the first house is compelling transformation of Mary’s personal outlook which is at first resisted but she is forced to change by a square with (Saturn in the 4th house) challenging her family patterns which make her avoid responsibility yet want to escape from binding ties to her family that burden her.  Her understanding and the slow process of change (Quincunx Saturn and Moon) involves her to think about her inner child (the Moon) which as the tension ruler of her chart, (in Cancer) wants to  resolve these stubborn family insecurities to find freedom and emotional release.  She can realize that her guilt over being independent from her family, only prevents her from finding significance in her life and keeps her constantly depressed.

Mary’s moon is the tension ruler or singleton of her chart.  The can be indicated as the inferior function (Internet Cafe Astrology, Singletons)  and  a sub-personality which is repressed and unconscious.  The Moon as inner child who wants contact with others for love and understanding does not want to be independent from the family and resists.  Thus this understanding to take responsibility and stand on one’s own is delayed but it is such a driving force, it cannot be ignored.  The  resistance to change puts Mary in a situation that causes resentment when she can’t strive for independence. (Pluto 1st house and Saturn in 4th house square).  Yet her dependency on her family and the need to be taken care of are jeopardized by her independence.  It is as if all the energy of the stellium (6 planets in one sign) in Capricorn telling her to be aloof, a manager and independent is thrown up against an extremely dependent inner child who wants to belong and is not emotionally ready for independent thinking.

Gus’s chart:

Here we have  a pattern of a quadrangular shaping in which he is looking for making things stable, balanced and secure.  In addition he has a Leo ascendant which brings a goal of wanting to be in charge and to express himself fully without limitation.

He has a stressed Sun before the 10th house which according to Hubers:” the ego is strongly emphsized…The cardinal energy wants to be expressed at all costs.  Sometimes the ego is inflated and asserts claims of uniqueness.  Other people who can not keep up may be viewed as rivals, pushovers, idiots”.  Gus’s focus is so much on individual competence that he cannot accept anything but his best” so he sees others as competitors or dummies when they cannot shape up. “( Huber, Bruno and Louise; Transformation, 2008  p. 56)  This subpersonality can engage in actions of power expression when setbacks occur. Then he goes all out to win; and he sometimes wins and sometimes suffers defeats.  Gus can attract a crisis which then brings about a change in his consciousness. Gus has the potential to put his power and will into a more spiritual perspective submitting to a higher power.

Gus has another subpersonality in which he sacrifices his assertiveness for the sake of helping others.  His aggression can be masked by a subpersonality which experiences a passive dissatisfaction in life.  He can take on the persona of the “Incredible Sulk”, a victim who vicariously enjoys violence toward others  through dreams and fantasies of a destructive nature.  This energy can be expressed in deceptive and shocking ways, unconsciously in his shadow personality.
Gus has a trapeze aspect pattern which involves his need for security, his need for love in contact with others and his need for expression of his will which makes him a dominant quadrilateral personality.  “It is an impregnable kind of figure which is like a knight holding two shields.  Such people can be models of self actualization as they tower above others due to their stable, work on the foundations of their personality, and show deep wisdom.” (Aspect Pattern Astrology, Huber, 2006, p.   But this may not show if he does not remain true to himself aligned with his inner convictions.  Thus he can adapt to the outer world without becoming internally dependent. Gus wants to start his own business and he could develop this task depending on a balancing of internal ego issues that would want to be transcended and addressing his shadow side that would beg for understanding.

Taken from Psychosynthesis: the elements and beyond by Will Parfitt, PS Avalon, Gastonbury, UK,2003

1. Within the person there are many sub-personalities which clashes with one another.

“Our subpersonalities know what they want and are determined to get it.  They really look out for themselves.  This can be all right in itself, but problems arise when what one subpersonality wants is in conflict with the wants of another one.” P. 35

For example, part of Mary wants to be independent yet part of her won’t let that happen because her desire to be loved and popular with everyone so she can’t say anything that increases her separation from others and jeopardizes her popularity.

And Gus wants to be free to be truthful and make decisions on his own but his self-sacrificing subpersonality puts others wants before his

We receive qualities and inspiration from the transpersonal level:

Courage to be independent

Humanitarian help to people in need through service

Morally honest with others

But these qualities become degraded by the use of subpersonalities which always engage our egos.

Courage becomes foolhardiness

Humanitarian help becomes enabling and self- pity

Truthfulness becomes blunt superiority

Many of the conflicts of subpersonalities both within the individual and between couples in disagreement happen as they act out the dynamic between Love and Will.

1. 2. Conflicts between subpersonalities among individuals

Between people the sub-personality of one person can conflict with the sub-personality of another person; for example,  Mary may act out her need for love and to be taken care of by suppressing any contradictory thought; that would , her subpersonality believes, jeopardize her  want to be included, listened to and be taken care of.  Gus wants to be able to choose, at any given moment, and express his desire for truth and not be restricted from any decision he feels is right.  Yet when he comes up against what appears as lying by another; his Righteous subpersonality kicks in with a bluntness and blame toward the other person that takes on a superior tone.

To harmonize the wants of different subpersonalities, it is necessary to get behind them to a deeper level of needs.  Needs are more inclusive than wants.  “I want you to love and respect me right now” (Mary); I want you to stop lying and tell me the truth even if it hurts. (Gus)”.

Use the hierarchy of needs by Maslow as an aid to determine the real needs behind ego based, wants and desires:

What Mary needs is Love and belonging; and she is responsible for finding intimacy by being self-disclosing, taking risks and letting people hear what she says and still connect with her and accept her.

What Gus needs is self-esteem.   His ego desires for the other to accept his brand of honesty; it is an effort to control others.  What he needs is to recognize his need within for honesty as a form of self-respect rather than desire for others to give him his brand of honesty.

To focus on our own needs moves us to our true self rather than distorting and confounding our wants by expecting changes in others to meet our needs.

“To do subpersonality work, dialogue with each of the conflicting parts of yourself and realize the qualities of each subpersonality; use your will power to stop from slipping mindlessly into different subpersonalities so that you become the driver of the car rather than just the back seat driver. P. 36

This couple has benefitted by understanding their invisible motivations expressed through their sub personalities. This insight can postpone blame and negative judgements which can harm trust and the longevity of relationships. I hope to bring this awareness of sub-personalities to those caught in a web of conflicts so that they can resolve them.