I’ve always had a complicated fondness for Carl Jung.
He feels like a wise—and deeply flawed—ancestor. Someone who helped carve out space for imagination, myth, symbolism, and meaning in psychology… and someone whose work also carries assumptions that deserve to be questioned, updated, and reworked.
Depth psychology, as I understand it, lives in that tension.
Not as something fixed or historical—but as a living conversation. One that continues to evolve as we bring in new perspectives, challenge old frameworks, and expand who gets to be included in the story of the psyche.
*** Interested in depth psychology? Check out my other posts about it!
What Depth Psychology Actually Is
Depth psychology isn’t a single method. It’s an orientation—a way of understanding human experience that takes the unconscious seriously.
Rather than focusing only on thoughts, behaviours, or symptoms, depth-oriented approaches ask:
- What’s happening beneath the surface?
- What patterns are repeating—and why?
- What might be trying to emerge, rather than just be resolved?
This perspective is rooted in early psychoanalytic thinkers like Sigmund Freud and later expanded by Carl Jung and others, but it has since influenced many modern approaches that see humans as meaning-making beings—not just problem-solvers.
People are often drawn to depth work when surface-level strategies stop feeling like enough. Not because those strategies are wrong—but because something deeper is asking to be understood.
What Makes Depth Work Different
Most therapeutic approaches aim, in some way, to reduce distress.
Depth psychology includes that—but it also asks a different question:
What is the meaning of this experience?
Instead of immediately trying to eliminate a symptom, we might explore:
- what it’s connected to
- what it protects
- what it expresses
- what it interrupts
This doesn’t mean we glorify suffering. But we don’t treat it as meaningless either.
Over time, this creates a different kind of relationship with your inner world—one that’s less about control, and more about understanding.
If you’ve ever felt like your experiences have a kind of internal logic—even if you can’t quite name it yet—you’re already brushing up against this way of working.
Common Depth Psychology Practices
There isn’t a single “depth psychology technique.” But there are a number of practices that tend to open a dialogue with the unconscious.
Here are a few you might encounter:
Dream Work
Dreams speak in metaphor, not instruction. Rather than asking “what does this dream mean?” in a literal sense, depth work approaches dreams as symbolic expressions.
For example, a dream about falling, being chased, or encountering a stranger might not be about the event itself—but about a feeling, a transition, or a part of the self coming into awareness.
A simple way to begin:
- Write down a dream when you wake up
- Notice the emotional tone
- Ask: Where does this feeling exist in my waking life?
You don’t need to decode it perfectly.
The value is in staying in relationship with it.
Shadow Work
The “shadow” refers to aspects of ourselves that were pushed out of awareness—often because they weren’t safe, acceptable, or supported in our early environments.
This can include things we judge, fear, or feel ashamed of… but also things like desire, anger, creativity, or power.
A gentle entry point:
- Notice a strong reaction to someone else
- Ask: What about this is hard for me to tolerate?
- Then, more slowly: Where might this live in me, even in a small way?
Done with care, this kind of work expands self-compassion rather than increasing self-criticism.
***Interested in Shadow Work? Check out my other post about it!
Archetypal Exploration
Archetypes are recurring symbolic patterns—often expressed through story, myth, or character.
They can help loosen rigid identity.
Instead of: “This is just who I am”
We begin to explore: “What energy or pattern is moving through me right now?”
You might notice yourself in:
- the caretaker
- the rebel
- the seeker
- the one who holds everything together
Working archetypally gives you a bit of space from those roles—and opens the possibility of relating to them differently.
***Interested in Archetypal Psychology Check out my other post about it!
Active Imagination
Active imagination is a way of engaging directly with inner experience.
This might look like:
- dialoguing with a part of yourself
- imagining a safe or supportive figure
- revisiting a memory with new resources
- exploring an image or symbol that feels charged
The goal isn’t to escape reality—it’s to expand it. To bring more of your internal world into conscious relationship.
Why Depth Work Can Be Challenging Alone
Depth work invites you into unfamiliar territory. And while there’s a lot you can explore on your own, there are also real limitations to going it alone.
It’s easy to:
- move too quickly from insight to insight
- get caught in interpretation without grounding
- or become overwhelmed by what surfaces
Working with a therapist creates a different kind of container.
Someone to help:
- slow things down
- stay connected to the body and present moment
- notice patterns you might not see on your own
- and support integration, not just discovery
This is especially important when depth work intersects with trauma, attachment patterns, or nervous system responses—which it often does.
Where This Shows Up in Everyday Life
Depth work isn’t separate from daily life.
It shows up in:
- repeated relationship dynamics
- moments of burnout or disorientation
- creative blocks
- identity shifts
- emotional reactions that feel “bigger than the moment”
Rather than treating these as isolated issues, depth psychology invites you to see them as connected—part of a larger internal landscape that’s asking to be understood.
If you start paying attention, you may notice how the same patterns echo across different areas of your life.
Why Depth Psychology Still Matters
We’re living in a time where many people feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure of where they fit.
There’s a lot of information. A lot of advice. A lot of pressure to optimize. But not always a lot of meaning.
Depth psychology doesn’t offer quick answers. What it offers is orientation.
A way of relating to your life that allows for complexity, contradiction, and change—without reducing everything to something that needs to be fixed or solved immediately.
A Simple Way to Begin
If you’re curious about this work, you don’t need to start with anything complicated.
You can begin here:
- Notice something that keeps repeating in your life
- Instead of trying to change it right away, ask: What might this be connected to?
Or:
- Pay attention to something that evokes a strong emotional reaction
- Stay with the feeling a moment longer than usual
- See what unfolds
Depth work begins with attention. Not control. Not perfection. Just attention.
Depth psychology isn’t about becoming someone else.
It’s about developing a relationship with what’s already here—your patterns, your symbols, your longings, your contradictions.
Over time, that relationship becomes more flexible, more aware, and more alive.
And from there, change tends to follow.
Note: My work is influenced by depth psychology and Jungian ideas, among other approaches. I am not a Jungian Analyst; I work in ongoing, critical conversation with these traditions.
If this spoke to something in you, there are a few paths you can follow from here:
Work with Me
Personalized therapy (in Canada) and coaching (worldwide) for deep, relational support.
The Wolfskin Project
A growing library of free resources for self-exploration, myth, and everyday magic.
Each door leads somewhere different. It is my hope that all of them lead back to you.
<3 Rachel
What are your thoughts?