Betsy Hall

Psychotherapy's Pilgrim Poet Betsy Hall

Psychotherapy's Pilgrim-Poet: The Story Within imaginatively describes the interior experience of the therapeutic client by utilizing the images of epic literature as an interpretive lens for the psychotherapeutic process. Through the characters, plot, and psychological landscape of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer's Odyssey, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, and Toni Morrison's Beloved, we look anew at the client's motivation to journey, their courage, affects, memories and wounds, the therapeutic bond, the encounter with the unconscious, and the act of story-telling. The author demonstrates that depth psychological work is a soulful pilgrimage characterized by a spiritual and heroic descent to the deep psyche in pursuit of wholeness and the authentic self. Although this book is theoretically informed, it is not intended to provide clinical explanations; rather, it aspires to describe the psychotherapeutic experience from an inside point of view, from the inner life of the client. The primary aim is to renew and deepen an understanding of the client's profoundly difficult and courageous psychological endeavor in depth psychotherapy. This book is a culmination of the author's experiences as researcher, teacher, therapist, enthused reader of epic, and most importantly, as client. It weaves together the author's personal stories with client vignettes, epic literature, depth psychology, mythological studies, and literary criticism.