Embracing Uncertainty Using Soul-Centered Psychological Perspectives (2-3-minute read)

September 23, 2024 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.Leave a comment

a soul-centered perspective can provide the strength and fortitude to stay calm in the midst of chaos, holding space for oneself and the world, not falling into panic

Life’s uncertainties can be overwhelming, causing fear and anxiety. But what if we could find a way to embrace the unknown and transform it into an opportunity for growth and self-discovery?

This thought-provoking article explores the wisdom of spiritual teachings and psychological insights to help us navigate uncertainty and find deeper meaning in our lives. From confronting our inner shadows to accepting paradoxes, this captivating read highlights the importance of managing anxiety and embracing ambiguity. Discover how uncertainty can be a transformative crucible, leading us towards wisdom and ultimately a more meaningful existence.

Leaning into Your Soul’s Calling: Self-Discovery and Your Inner Essence

August 28, 2024 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.Leave a comment

For millennia, wisdom traditions have beckoned us to pause, reflect, and delve into the deeper questions that govern our lives. In today’s fast-paced world, where the external often takes precedence over the internal, the concept of leaning into your soul’s calling offers a powerful path to rediscovering what truly makes meaning in life. This short article is inspired by a fireside talk I delivered on New Year’s Eve 2020, where I had the privilege of exploring these profound themes with a live audience whom I invited to consider one of C.G. Jung’s most essential inquiries: “The decisive question for man […]

Depth Psychology in Daily Life: Unconscious Projection in Work, Money, and Relationships

May 17, 2023 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.Leave a comment

Jungian psychology uses the idea of projection to describe how we use pre-conceived biases and lenses to manage or project our expectations onto others

Blog post by Dr. Bonnie Bright and Dr. James Newell Watch the Replay: Depth Psychology in Daily Life: A Community Conversation” with Dr. Bonnie Bright and Dr. James Newell Read Part 1 of this Blog series: Depth Psychology in Daily Life: Making the Unconscious Conscious in Work, Money, and Relationships Depth psychology is a field that explores the unconscious aspects of the human psyche, seeking to understand the underlying motivations and patterns that guide human behavior. By bringing these unconscious motivations, beliefs, and behaviors to light and integrating them into our conscious awareness, we can achieve greater self-awareness and personal growth. Because the […]

Childhood, Trauma, Personality: How our Coping Mechanisms Affect Us Unconsciously

November 15, 2022 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.Leave a comment

How and why do our personalities develop the way they do, and what do they have to do with our wounding? Dr. Gabor Mate’ was born in Hungary in 1942 during the Nazi occupation. His grandparents were both killed at Auschwitz and his father was carted off to a forced labor camp, leaving his mother alone with her newborn son. To hear Dr. Mate’, now a medical doctor based in Canada, tell the story, his mother called the doctor at one point and asked him to come because her baby (Gabor) just wouldn’t stop crying and she didn’t know what […]

Seeking Personal Transformation? Soul-Centered Coaching Psychology Offers Powerful Possibilities

November 9, 2022 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.Leave a comment

Try soul-centered coaching free of charge - Jungian, Transpersonal, Archetypal and Depth Psychology - Learn to overcome obstacles and tap into more freedom, creativity, and joy

Feeling called to experience soul-centered coaching and to create more meaning and joy in your life? Contact us today to see if free sessions are available through Advanced Student Practitioners pursuing certification through the Institute for Soul-Centered Psychology and Coaching The word “psyche” actually means “soul” in Greek (Hillman, 1989), and the Greek philosopher Heraclitus posited the importance of the soul as long as 2500 years ago (Hillman, 1995). C. G. Jung, widely acknowledged alongside well-known pioneers like William James and Sigmund Freud as one of the founders of the field of psychology, emphasized the importance of soul in his […]

Shamanic Initiation, Descent, and Learning through Direct Experience of the Sacred

January 29, 2020 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Shamanic initiation is a metaphor for the way we can take a soul-centered approach to life's challenges

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION VIA YOUTUBE HERE (approx 7 mins) A common and compelling component of both shamanism and Jungian or depth psychology is that each seeks to treat soul loss by retrieving and reintegrating vital essence that is missing. This must occur through direct experience; therefore, the underworld journey to retrieve the soul is one of necessity and initiation. Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung believed symptoms of soul loss, such as disorientation, lack of focus, or feelings of powerlessness, exist because a portion of psychic energy that is normally available to the ego has vanished into the unconscious; […]

Transpersonal Coaching Psychology: Bonnie Bright PhD Interviewed by Olga Ferreras

May 13, 2019 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Bonnie Bright interviewed by Olga Ferreras about Transpersonal Coaching Psychology

As a certified Transpersonal Soul-Centered Coach and Mentor who uses archetypal, shamanic and and depth psychological perspectives, I am passionate about helping clients navigate the process of spiritual awakening through dreams, imagination, and somatic sensibilities. People I meet in my work are seeking a variety of creative solutions to help integrate psychedelic, breathwork, or meditative experiences; to move through creative blockages and limiting beliefs; to make (or deal with) significant life changes; and to open their lives to joy and transcendence. Huge thanks to Olga Ferreras for interviewing me about transpersonal soul-centered coaching here! Check out this relatively short (22 […]

A Revision of One’s Calling: A Journey through Embodied Experience—An Interview

May 11, 2018 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

At age six, Elizabeth Wisniewski was diagnosed with a rare eye disease, and when her retina detached at 14, she lost vision in her right eye. At age 21, while undergoing her 30th eye surgery, everything went terribly wrong, and she lost almost all her vision in her left eye as well. Though she was devastated by her future without sight, Elizabeth’s natural curiosity and passion for learning led her to pursue a degree in political science and environmental studies and then, in a significant shift, to earn a degree as a doctor of chiropractic. She also became a yoga teacher and […]

Depth Psychology: Empowering Multicultural Women in the Wider World—An Interview with Media Mogul Nely Galán

April 5, 2018 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Depth Psychology: Empowering Multicultural Women in the Wider World As a Latina and a self-made media mogul who has produced hundreds of television shows, headed a TV network, and generated a significant amount of income, Nely Galán ironically felt an odd sense of relief when the economy crashed in 2008, bringing many of her projects to a halt. In hindsight, Galán believes she had been feeling incongruent in her career because she was in a field where much of the focus was on achieving success, and where individuals were not valued for being their authentic selves. By that point in […]

Epigenetics, Ancestors, and Living Your Calling

February 22, 2018 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Jungian analyst, Robert Johnson’s work on “Living your Unlived Life” has been deeply inspirational to Heather Beck, author of Take the Leap: Do What You Love 15 Minutes a Day and Create the Life of Your Dreams. Beck is also earning a Ph.D. in the Somatic Studies program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Beck has recently become interested in epigenetics, the study of heritable changes in gene function that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence*. She believes that we are born “fully locked and loaded” with gifts that we ourselves have determined before our birth. However, the moment we are […]

How Memory Tending Can Transform You: An Interview with Dr. Daphne Dodson

September 20, 2016 Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

You may have donated that Times of Your Life Paul Anka 8-track to charity when it didn’t sell at the last neighborhood rummage sale, but the words to “Good Morning Yesterday” live on. Sometimes it is hard to find the “memories you left behind” as Anka sang in 1976. Sometimes, as Freud argued, those memories sink below the level of our consciousness, but continue to work on us in various ways even decades later. Sigmund Freud even formulated a term “return of the repressed” to explain where neurotic symptoms originate, writing that illness is …characterized by the return of the repressed memories […]