What is it about?
Jungian psychoanalysis Rosemary Gordon suggested that masochism may mask an innate need to venerate and worship an object of divinity. I spell out her argument and propose some further extensions.
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Why is it important?
Masochism is a topic of wide contemporary interest, witness the success of the novel and now the film 'Shades of Grey.' For clinicians, masochism may prove puzzling; for practitioners of it, it may feel like an unwanted affliction, or a source of pleasure. The question is: does this behaviour and the feelings it evokes have a deeper meaning than appears on the surface?
Perspectives
I find this to be an exciting topic, and quite unusual for a Jungian to tackle.
Dr Murray W Stein
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Read the Original
This page is a summary of: When symptom is symbol: some comments on Rosemary Gordon's, ‘Masochism: the shadow side of the archetypal need to venerate and worship’, Journal of Analytical Psychology, August 2015, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/1468-5922.12167.
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