{"id":554,"date":"2016-02-09T22:02:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T06:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/?p=554"},"modified":"2025-05-07T18:33:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T01:33:03","slug":"depth-psychological-approaches-to-suffering-audio-interview-blog-post-with-dr-lionel-corbett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/depth-psychological-approaches-to-suffering-audio-interview-blog-post-with-dr-lionel-corbett\/","title":{"rendered":"Depth Psychological Approaches to Suffering\u2014Audio Interview & Blog post with Dr. Lionel Corbett"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Listen to the full audio interview with
 Dr. Lionel Corbett here<\/strong> (27:12 mins)<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cOut of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.<\/em>\u201d \u2015 Kahlil Gibran<\/p>

We are all intimately familiar with suffering. And, while we might wish it away when it is painfully present, it is a normal part of human life, Dr. Lionel Corbett, M.D., Jungian analyst and professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute reminded me when I recently sat down for a depth discussion with him on the topic.<\/p>

\"Corbett-WebImage.jpg\"Etymologically, the word \u201csuffering\u201d comes from two Latin roots:\u00a0sub<\/em>\u2014meaning \u201cunder\u201d\u2014and\u00a0ferre<\/em>, meaning \u201cto carry or bear,\u201d as in \u201cto bear a burden.\u201d But suffering is not necessarily pathological, Lionel insists. The root of the word \u201csuffer\u201d is also the root of the English word \u201cfertile,\u201d so it is also related to the idea of bearing fruit. Psychologically, then, suffering can\u00a0produce<\/em>\u00a0something; it\u2019s not random or meaningless, nor merely something to get rid of. In reality, it can act as either a fertilizer or a poison. It can be harmful or it can be helpful,\u00a0but we need a framework by which we can understand it.<\/strong><\/p>

Dr. Corbett, whose recent book,\u00a0The Soul in Anguish: Psychotherapeutic Approaches to Suffering<\/em>\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>serves as a foundation for his\u00a0public workshop (February 12-14, 2016)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at Pacifica Graduate Institute, asserts that suffering can be developmentally useful, enabling wisdom and understanding we might not otherwise have had. Suffering can change our worldview, our values, and even reveal aspects of a person\u2019s character that were previously not known. It may also make us more empathic and compassionate, or more appreciative of everyday life.<\/p>

We might take depression, which is one kind of suffering or \u201cburden,\u201d as an example, Lionel noted. It is common to look at it through a clinical lens as a disorder, but if we engage a spiritual lens, depression may be regarded as a \u201cdark night of the soul\u201d which will eventually enhance our spiritual development. Depending on which lens one uses to regard it, we hold an attitude that will either tend to re-enforce and solidify our usual habits and patterns of thinking and doing, or else open us to change and transformation. Suffering (of any kind) may reveal great capacity for courage and resilience in an individual\u2014or it can result in resentment and bitterness. When we consider it using a depth psychological lens, it seems clear it is not a random process, but rather a critically important aspect in the development of the personality and of what C. G. Jung called \u201cindividuation.\u201d<\/p>

Dr. Corbett offers multiple frameworks for considering suffering; among them, the idea that suffering is a period of\u00a0liminality<\/em>\u2014a term anthropologists use to describe a\u00a0rite of passage<\/em>. Rites of passage in tribal cultures used to occur in three phases. The middle phase was the liminal on, or the phase of being \u201cbetwixt and between,\u201d a period of tremendous uncertainty. Considering that while we are suffering, we are simply between phases, may provide an archetypal context that can help situate us and provide meaning, giving us strength to go on.<\/p>

Suffering brings up fundamental and often painful questions about individual destiny and about the meaning of life, at times resulting in identity crises or \u201cspiritual emergencies\u201d that arouse questions like, \u201cWhy is this happening to me?\u201d or \u201cWhat have I done to deserve this?\u201d Jung suggested that searching for meaning in suffering ultimately makes bearable what would otherwise be unbearable, and pointed out the need to locate ourselves in a larger relationship to \u201cwhat is.\u201d \u201cThe decisive question for man is,\u201d wrote Jung (1961), \u201cIs he related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of his life. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interests upon futilities, and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance. \u2026 If we understand and feel that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, desires and attitudes change.\u201d (pp. 356-7)<\/p>

In mid-life, Lionel points out, many of us find ourselves living out the stereotypical scenario where we struggle to climb the ladder, only to find as we get to the top that the ladder has been leaning against the wrong wall. In times of intense suffering, our established lifelong spiritual traditions may fail to help. Questioning one\u2019s own religious or spiritual beliefs can be one of the functions of suffering, further amplifying the viewpoint that the way one has been living may suddenly seem rather pointless or hollow. This can cause tremendous regret or bitterness, but if one can have a direct experience of the transpersonal unconscious, what Jung refers to as \u201cthe\u00a0numinous<\/em>,\u201d it can open the door to a new personal form of spirituality.<\/p>

Where does suffering come from? Believing it is something that is \u201chappening to\u201d us is an egoic perspective, Lionel reminded me. Because the process of suffering comes out of the unconscious, we have no control over it. Jung would say that it comes from what he termed the \u201cSelf,\u201d sending signals from the unconscious that something needs attention. While suffering can result from a complex that has taken hold of us, we can consciously and purposefully engage in the process by inquiring into aspects of or own psyche that we have to grapple with. Lionel offered a compelling metaphor, that is to look at this situation as a boat where the sailor cannot change the wind, but he can adjust the sails. The wind is like the wind of the spirit, he notes: things happen that you can\u2019t control. The way you adjust the sails is your reaction to it.<\/p>

Is suffering optional? Can we avoid suffering altogether, or at least diminish it? Are some people more sensitive to suffering? Is there such a thing as secondhand suffering, where certain individuals suffer more themselves because of what they\u2019re witnessing? These are all questions I posed in our conversation, and some of Lionel\u2019s answers surprised me, but this final question truly brought me back to the implications of working with suffering in a depth psychological way. \u201cHow do therapists and helping professionals sustain their work with those who are suffering?\u201d I wondered aloud to Dr. Corbett, who is a seasoned analyst and clinician.<\/p>

There is a shamanic way of working with clients, he was quick to suggest, wherein the therapist takes on the suffering of the client, transmutes it, and then \u201cgives it back to them in a more digestible way.\u201d<\/p>

This, to me, is the blessing of depth psychology. Knowing it is paramount in our individuation process and having support from depth-oriented thinkers and therapists who can help us hold the suffering so it can transmute and transform us.<\/p>

\u201cSuffering has been stronger than all other teaching,\u201d famously wrote Charles Dickens in\u00a0Great Expectations<\/em>, \u201cand has taught me to understand what [the] heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but\u2014I hope\u2014into a better shape.\u201d<\/p>

Listen to the full audio interview with Dr. Lionel Corbett here<\/strong> (27:12 mins)<\/a><\/p>

Sources<\/strong><\/p>

Merriam-Webster online dictionary:\u00a0http:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/suffer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Corbett, Lionel. (2015).\u00a0The Soul in Anguish: Psychotherapeutic Approaches to Suffering<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>Asheville, NC: Chiron.<\/em><\/p>

Dickens, Charles. (2003).\u00a0Great Expectations<\/em><\/a><\/strong>. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Classics.<\/p>

Jung, C.G. (1961).\u00a0Memories, Dreams, Reflections<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>New York, NY. Pantheon,\u00a0<\/em>pp. 356-7.<\/p>

\"corbett-lionel.jpg\"<\/p>

Lionel Corbett, M.D.,<\/strong>\u00a0trained in medicine and psychiatry in England, and as a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. His primary interests are the religious function of the psyche, especially the way in which personal religious experience is relevant to individual psychology; the development of psychotherapy as a spiritual practice; and the interface of Jungian psychology and contemporary psychoanalytic thought.\u00a0Dr. Corbett is a professor of depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He is the author of numerous professional papers and four books:\u00a0Psyche and the Sacred, The Religious Function of the Psyche<\/a>;<\/strong>\u00a0The Sacred Cauldron: Psychotherapy as a Spiritual Practice<\/a>;<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and most recently\u00a0The Soul in Anguish: Psychotherapeutic Approaches to Suffering<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>He is the co-editor of\u00a0Jung and Aging<\/a>;<\/strong>\u00a0Depth Psychology, Meditations in the Field<\/a>;<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Psychology at the Threshold.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen to the full audio interview with Dr. Lionel Corbett here (27:12 mins) \u201cOut of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.\u201d \u2015 Kahlil Gibran We are all intimately familiar with suffering. And, while we might wish it away when it is painfully present, it is a normal part of human life, Dr. Lionel Corbett, M.D., Jungian analyst and professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute reminded me when I recently sat down for a depth discussion with him on the topic. Etymologically, the word \u201csuffering\u201d comes from two Latin roots:\u00a0sub\u2014meaning \u201cunder\u201d\u2014and\u00a0ferre, meaning \u201cto carry or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,40,1,39,42],"tags":[31,58,120,35,44,142,45],"class_list":["post-554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archetypes-2","category-clinical-psychology","category-depthpsychology","category-psychotherapy","category-trauma","tag-depth-psychology","tag-consciousness","tag-coping","tag-descent","tag-psychotherapy-2","tag-suffering","tag-trauma-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1310,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions\/1310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}