Counseling Commons^™

For Love Of The Father: An Archetypal Exploration, Elizabeth Hall

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Great stories articulate the movement of the individual and collective psyche and withstand the tests of time, location, cultural and gender distinctions. Through the study of myth, we recognize our shared humanity and the particularities that inform a life. As a depth psychotherapist, I come to archetypal stories with expectancy, hoping to re-cognize myself and my clients within the action of the other. The Biblical story of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-35) offers the scholar boundless opportunity for theological, ethical and historical analysis. However, this story of familial relationships requires of me a different kind of telling. This essay is …