Tarot and Psychology

Minotauro

Yes... psychology isn't about "what's my disorder. how do I fix it". It's far more complex than that.


Also, regarding the comments about getting the querent to just read for themselves - remember this is about using Tarot as a psychological assessment and therapy tool, NOT about 'doing a reading'. So I'd suggest there are a myriad of ways to approach it. Bear in mind that many of us don't use Tarot as a divinatory tool - I for one don't feel that the cards are going to give my any special insight into a person all by themselves. It's about what we can discover together through the archetypal images.

well I find that their answer could at least tell me where their mind is at the time of the reading , or what they'd like to know ,for example someone saw the ,I think it was 8 of cups of the deviant moon tarot as a betrayal o_o it was a general reading , so I gently suggested another perhaps more specific reading n_n; haha


and I agree on what we discover together part I dont really think I can know everything about them by myself , maybe it is just inexperience or low self-esteem as I know many people around here can. but I generaly see the cards as a way of tapping into the collective conciousness and archetyper etc. I dont know Im still making up my mind around many tarot related things n_n
 

euripides

I dont really think I can know everything about them by myself , maybe it is just inexperience or low self-esteem as I know many people around here can. but I generaly see the cards as a way of tapping into the collective conciousness and archetyper etc.

Of course you can't know everything, but remember this question is about psychology, and the OP is studying psychology. We learn the right questions to ask, and learn about the many different causes, and different types of disorder from the minor and temporary through to serious illness.

The collective unconscious and archetype is one approach and a useful one, especially if you're interested in Jungian ideas, but it is only one approach among many.
 

The crowned one

Jung himself said that the tarot archetypes and his idea of such were at best very loosely related, he was mostly disappointed, and moved on from tarot, it was a project he had assigned to others.

That makes tarot no less or more after all it was not designed by psychology or Jung. They were merely testing the fit of a partial moral/life/belief lesson image based card game that came to be a divinary system.
 

dorfmeister

I'm very interested in this topic. I'm listening to a podcast featuring Mr Rosengarten right now.
 

Original Destiny

I've just spent a very interesting half hour reading everyones views and like all of you I find the topic very interesting. 10 years ago I took time out from the rat race (a sabatical) to complete my Counselling training. since then Ive used the tarot on quite a few cases and have found it a very useful tool. I started to develope my ownt tarot therapy at one point in time but I never saw it through. mainly because I got side tracked with my artwork.
I hope to hear more on the subject in the near future...great post
 

Mythic Silence

Greetings, I am quite sorry that I have not been back to this thread, and I appreciate the time everyone took to post their insights. :)

My paper from the fall turned out very well. I was able to find a plethora of interesting sources, thank you all for your suggestions! Inna Semetsky has written some very interesting articles on the subject, and some samples can be found on her site:

http://innasense.org/

I have not yet gotten to read her book, but hope to get my hands on it soon:

http://www.amazon.com/Re-Symbolizat...=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336779333&sr=1-6

For those with time on their hands, here is a supplemental story pertaining to this subject:

I took an art therapy course this spring that yielded a great, and rather intimidating, opportunity. I attend a small college in central Illinois, and there are only a few professors in each department. I am good friends with the professors in the art dept since one of my degrees is in art, and one of those professors was teaching this art therapy course (which was listed in the art curriculum and not psychology). Being a small college, the class had never been offered before. My professor was very open to the direction of the course, especially since she does not have a background in psychology. When I spoke with her about tarot cards as an image based therapeutic tool she was extremely receptive to the idea, and promptly asked me to make a presentation about my research for the class and bring in some decks.

Needless to say, as a student at a small university in a conservative rural town, I was a bit frightened to bring the tarot into the classroom. I am also a novice in psychology and tarot, which planted a lot of doubt in my ability to make a good presentation. However, my professor thought it would be a great way for the students to broaden their horizons (did I mention this is a liberal arts school?). Anyhoo, I did a presentation about Jung's theory and how it can apply to tarot, and I brought up a few other theoretical approaches that I have stumbled upon in my reading. I also brought a few decks in to show the class. Many of the students had never even seen a tarot deck in person before, and I'm sure their connotations were not entirely positive. Fortunately, at the end of my talk, they seemed quite interested and gathered around to look through my decks. I certainly am no expert on psychology, tarot, or art therapy, but at the very least, I think the experience lessened some fears and debunked a few stereotypes that my class had about tarot in general.

I hope I will get to continue researching the applications of tarot in this field next year as I wrap up the final classes for my degree. I think one of the most important things I've learned so far is that I know very little about therapy, psychology and tarot (and I mean that in a good way). Now that I have plunged into this area of inquiry and see how deep and wide it can be, I am both humbled and excited about continuing my explorations. :)

I'm taking another art class next spring, just for fun, and it is taught by the same professor who did the art therapy class. She has already told me she thinks it would be a great class to devote to working on my own deck.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I really wanted to share my findings and my little story. :)
 

fractalgranny

I did a presentation about Jung's theory and how it can apply to tarot, and I brought up a few other theoretical approaches that I have stumbled upon in my reading. :)


hi there - this sounds exciting! would love to see your paper, and have a more in-depth conversation about this. i am a counsellor/therapist and approach tarot from that angle, simply because my brain has been going that way for the last 20+ years :)

one of the things i'm interested in is to see what other theoretical approaches are being used. although i've enjoyed reading some of jung's books, i often cannot really connect with some of what present-day jungians say.

one of my thoughts is that in the end it's all about the human experience. there are many ways to look at it (as the tarot says) and sometimes looking at it through the lens of tarot is the way to go. and just as some therapists have decided to look at everything through the cognitive-behaviour lens, why shouldn't others decide to look at it through the tarot lens? many skilled and experienced therapists, however, use an eclectic approach and try to get a sense for what it is that will work for a particular client. i've started doing the same with tarot decks.

looking forward to hearing more from you!