Jean Shinoda Bolen, A Courageous Spirituality
Jean Shinoda Bolen is a physician, psychotherapist and professor of psychiatry at the University of San Francisco. In recent years it has become a reference point for female psychology thanks to its analytical approach with a Jungian imprint. His numerous books are a world-famous literary phenomenon, as well as having revolutionized the psychological approach towards women.
Shinoda Bolen’s work is a reflection of her personal and professional evolution. From a very young age she had found profound deficiencies in various psychological approaches, especially of the psychoanalytical type, in the analysis phase of the conflicts typical of the female universe.
This prompted her to develop a new perspective starting from Jungian psychoanalysis. Let’s see in this article what it is.
His professional career
Jean Shinoda Bolen was born in Los Angeles in 1936. Her family is of Japanese origin, hence the interest in the universe of spirituality, always present in her life.
She graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Medicine. Later she did an internship at the General Hospital of Los Angeles and specialized at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute of San Francisco (USCF). Right here she became a professor of psychiatry. In addition, she specialized in Jungian analysis at the CG Jung Institute in San Francisco.
Shinoda Bolen is a distinguished member of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the International Association of Analytical Psychology (IAAP). While undergraduate she was a fan of Professor Joseph Campbell’s lectures on applied mythology and psychology. Despite being passionate about his theories, she found her approach to female psychology unsatisfactory.
Curious Fact: Shinoda Bolen attacked Campbell during an interview about this very topic. The professor replied that the woman does not need the hero’s journey because, quoting her own words: “the woman is what men want to reach”.
Somewhat disappointed by this argument, JS Bolen decided to develop a new way for Jungian analysis, starting from the mythological basis on which Campbell had based and focusing it, in turn, on a personal and therapeutic experience.
His books
In 1984 Jean Shinoda Bolen published The Goddesses Within Woman, a book that helps women become aware of their qualities and characteristics through the stories and personalities of different mythological deities.
Thanks to these characters, Jean Shinoda Bolen was able to define specifically feminine archetypes that are activated in women. According to the author, recognizing these archetypes allows women to more easily discover their present, their past and identify their limits and strengths.
He has published more than a dozen books of undisputed publishing success, translated into eighty-five languages. He has also collaborated with several anthologies.
His bibliography focuses on the unique qualities of women, her wisdom and her urgency for emancipation. After the publication of The Goddesses Inside the Woman , titles such as
and The Gods within man .
Jean Shinoda Bolen today
Close to feminist movements and an activist for peace and human rights, Jean Shinoda Bolen was a supporter of the V World Congress on Women convened by the United Nations. He also promoted the initiative of Il Milionesimo Cerchio. Finally, he is the permanent representative of the UN NGO S enderos para la Paz .
At the age of 49 she divorced and embarked on a mystical journey to discover Europe, visiting its sacred places. This journey was particularly intense for her, so much so that it influenced her subsequent publications.
Shortly after his return, he wrote Goddesses in Older Women (Dee della Donna Matura), a work that introduces the third phase of women’s life from a point of view completely different from the clichés of the moment. Subsequently, titles such as Passage to Avalon and S
.
With his life and works, Jean Shinoda Bolen sent an urgent message to all women in the world : let’s save the planet, society, the economy and, therefore, ourselves.
