Depth Musicology

General Psychology

As the discipline of psychology emerged in the late 1800s, Sigmund Freud, C.G. Jung, and many other researchers were working toward a “general” psychology—refining ways for people to help themselves live psychologically healthy lives. Today, we feel a similar attitude in holistic practices like meditation, martial arts and yoga.

The tragedy of this general psychology, lives ironically in another image Freud and Jung gave us: that of the broken patient lying on a couch or sitting in a chair, receiving something called psychotherapy from a psychologically “whole,” expert doctor-type. This angle, etched into our culture, begs the question, “Are we are even capable of caring for ourselves?”

The Myth of Analysis

In 1993, amidst a growing number of psychotherapists, James Hillman observed, “We’ve had a hundred years of psychotherapy and the world is getting worse.” He took aim at our culture’s blind spot, reflected in the psychoanalytic community: what Jung saw as over-prioritized “thinking function”—marked by our tendency to analyze, evaluate, and rationalize. Hillman’s book, The Myth of Analysis, is a radical, refreshing look at what (and whom) mainstream psychology overlooks.

Stay with the Image

Hillman offers that since psyche’s expression is fundamentally imagistic and mythic, we fail ourselves with interpretation. Trying to translate the mythopoetic into something rational, quantifiable, diagnosable, denies the individual and the very nature of the unconscious, by derailing deeper connections with self, and trumping what Hillman called, “thought[s] of the heart.”

In answer to the riddle, Hillman instructs us to “stay with the image” (of our dreams, neurosis, fantasies & wakened life) instead of searching for hidden meanings and investigating symbolic potentials. Hillman’s work, imaginative and rebellious, succeeds in showing us how tending an image closely, viewing it from many aspects—without evaluating or interpreting—can shift perspective, soften attitudes, and open us to creative possibilities. From this vantage point, psychological health is about engaging psyche with respect for, and attention to, psyche’s way. Many creatives affirm this idea in-dialogue with the muse.

Coming to the field of depth psychology as a musician, songwriter and arts educator, Hillman resonates strongly. I imagine my own work to be a process of attending images sprung from the unconscious—over and over again. Every time I practice or compose a piece, teach, or learn someone else’s work I’m forced to “stay with the image” of the song. As soon as I start thinking about it, trying to make it sound “good,” considering what I “should” do, or fearing my audience’s rejection, I lose the groove, I fall out of grace—out of dialogue with parts of myself which sense, feel, intuit, and express without control or evaluation.

Cultivate Attention

Grammy Award winning bassist, Victor Wooten, encourages us to “try easy.” This is because when we try “hard” we have a goal in mind and thus are no longer tending the image. We’ve left our hearts for will and reason—plotting, often fearfully, for success or survival. The ancient Greeks’ practice of notitia, close noticing, and the Buddhists’ attention to mindfulness are relevant to Hillman’s work, and affirm its relationship to the artist. Master pianist Kenny Werner concurs, “Mental health is restored as [we] learn to stay in the moment.”

In the words of Buddhist contemplative, Thich Nhat Hanh, “Peace is every step.” His prescription for harmony in life connects the work of the psychologist to the musician. As members of a band we have an obligation to something other than ourselves, our job is to serve the music, to stay with the image at every moment. When we do this, Music shows us the way. At the 2019 Roots Rock Revival in upstate New York, Master Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band/Dead & Co.) said, “Get in the groove and let the groove show you.” On a similar note, Bob Weir, songwriter and founding member of The Grateful Dead, sings of moments when, “The music plays the band.”

Serve the Music, Serve Soul

Growing up in a musical family, musical conversation became a sacred activity, a primary form of expression. When times were rough in middle and high school, tending the music became a ritual where I held conflicts, unjudged—expressing feelings of angst, anger, depression, love, longing, loneliness, jealousy, sadness, isolation and dismemberment, to name a few! Though it was an unconscious form of protection at the time, connection to this ritual led to my vocation and ultimately a study depth psychology.

The ancient Greeks, who gave us the major scale & musical modes (a highly differentiated system of feeling-expression) also gave us the word psyche, which likens the human soul to the transformative process of a butterfly. In this colorful light, psyche is creative process and psyche refers to soul. At its roots therefore, psycho-therapy translates as “care of the soul,” or care of soul’s creative process.

Relationship & Homecoming

In response to the question, “Are we … capable of caring for ourselves?” I believe “psychotherapy,” isn’t as much about the psychotherapist as it is learning to recognize and engage psyche’s creative expressions. Sometimes we do this on our own, and sometimes we get help from others along the way.

Talking to someone, feeling heard and unjudged, is a transformative experience. Even though Hillman deconstructed the myth of analysis, he regarded relationship in the therapy room as something sacred—where rapport and respect between two souls bring “Hestian” consciousness. Hestia being the goddess of hearth and home: warmth, safety, a centered sense of “place” and connection from which self-care and general psychological practice may emerge.