Cinema and Psyche in Analytical Psychology

Individuation as a Pathway to Love

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by Joanna Dovalis and John Izod

Type: Studies
Subject: Sociology
Keywords: psychology, perception
Publishing date: 2025 (April 14, 2025)
Publisher: Routledge
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 172 pages
6 ¼ x 9 ½ inches (16 x 24 cm)

ISBN

978-1-032-89944-2

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Book Presentation:
Peering into the unconscious through cinema can give audiences an uncanny feeling about what lives in the beyond, something alien to consciousness. This book creates psychological interpretations of films that lend themselves to the depths, and investigates the personal and cultural appeal of cinema as a powerful art form.

The selected films examined in this book circle around the process of individuation, focussing on different aspects of intellectual and emotional life from a Jungian lens. The first group of movies centres on three films, following plotlines that extend beyond the norms of routine drama, delving into alien territory. The second group presents three more films that, by comparison with the first, can be seen as typical dramas that focus on motifs of relationships. In the final chapter, the authors reflect on their own individuation journeys and life experiences that have informed the productive nature of their work together.

This book will be of interest for therapists, students, and academics working in film studies, looking to engage in psychological studies in depth, as well as film goers who want to explore their relationship to the screen.

About the authors:
Joanna Dovalis, PhD, is a Depth Psychotherapist and Jungian Analyst with a professional private practice for over 30 years in Southern California. In addition to numerous articles and chapters in professional journals and books, she was the co-author of Cinema as Therapy: Grief and Transformational Film (Routledge 2015) with her writing partner John Izod.
John Izod, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Screen Analysis at the University of Stirling. He has published several books, including Screen, Culture, Psyche: A Post-Jungian Approach to Working with the Audience (Routledge 2006) and Cinema as Therapy: Grief and Transformational Film (Routledge 2015) with his co-author Joanna Dovalis

Press Reviews:
"In Cinema and Psyche, the authors demonstrate yet again the joy of imagination when inspired, in-spirited, by a Jungian interpretation of films. Beautifully written, this book digs deep into the troubles and mysteries of the twentyfirst century by showing films as diverse as Arrival and Far From the Madding Crowd to be both revelatory and numinous. Anyone who wants to know about film criticism with or without Jung, start right here."

 

Susan Rowland (PhD), Pacifica Graduate Institute, author with Joel Weishaus of Jungian Arts-Based Research and the Nuclear Enchantment of New Mexico (2021)

"It is a particular delight when the sequel is even better than the original, and so it is with Cinema and Psyche. Building on the considerable success of Cinema as Therapy, this new book explores the complex interactions between films and their viewers. In doing so, Dovalis and Izod offer fresh insights into how cinema takes us to the depths of our unconscious selves, enriching both our lives and the films we watch."

Luke Hockley: Honorary Professor, University of Essex; Professor Emeritus, University of Bedfordshire

See the publisher website: Routledge

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