A Conversation with Mary Dougherty by Nora Swan-Foster

The making of visual responses to unconscious material along with active imagination have been consistently integral to Analytical psychology, as documented by the recent publication about the Picture Archives in Zürich1, Jung's Red Book, and the most recent book on the work of Emma Jung2. Many years ago, it was a significant moment of clarity when I had discovered that the first American female Jungian analyst, Beatrice Hinkle, had a tremendous influence on the mother of American art therapy, Margaret Naumburg, and her sister Florence Cane (Swan-Foster, 2018). This realization was emotionally satisfying, suggesting that Jung's approach to the unconscious had been a major influence on the evolution of American art therapy as a profession. Further, Jung's map of the psyche with his various theoretical concepts, in particular psychic energy, the transcendent function and the role of the collective unconscious, declared fresh historical meaning because these two maverick women each had several years of Jungian analysis during the same time that Hinkle was translating “Psychology of the Unconscious” into English. As we have always known, the impact of this publication was far reaching.

I want to preface this conversation with Mary by highlighting that there are very few professionally trained art therapists who choose to continue to become Jungian analysts, and yet, when they do, their original theoretical training offers a natural, intuitive bridge that supports their analytic training. And, for so many good reasons, Jung's model of the psyche offers a clarifying foundation and structure (Jung, 1960). Art therapists often enter Jungian training as well-trained working artists as well as experienced clinicians. Their skill and knowledge of art materials are extensive, including an understanding of the alchemical processes and ingredients and how they can be considered symbolically in clinical situations. Alth