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OUR HISTORY
For seven decades, the Jung Society of Washington (Jung Society) has served the Washington, DC metropolitan area with educational programming and publications that engage a diverse community with topics related to Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). Dr. Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in analytical psychology and in fields connected to personal growth. Today, the Jung Society continues its devotion to providing the highest quality educational content to cultivate and nourish the quest for personality integration, which Jung describes as individuation, a process of psychological differentiation.
The early history of the Jung Society centers on Dr. Elined Prys Kotschnig (1895-1983), the first Jungian analyst in Washington, DC. Dr. Kotschnig draws interested community members together to discuss topics at the intersection of psychology and religion. Kotschnig develops ties with the Quaker community and helps to found the Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology. She expresses her interests in psychology and religion by publishing a subscription series, “Inward Light,” and she organizes gatherings of like minds, which kindle the intellectual spark of what becomes the Jung Society of Washington in 2007. Kotsching’s access to a global network of thought leaders in psychology and religion bolsters the quality of the conversations and attracts people with an affinity for the work of Carl Gustav Jung’s analytical psychology.
Throughout the 1960s, Elined Kotschnig works with Rev. Robert Marston, senior pastor, Christ Congregational Church in Silver Spring, MD, and others with interests in common, to organize gatherings that both appeal to local communities and attract internationally known speakers. Marguerite Fogel, psychologist and director of Washington’s Human Sexuality Institute, stimulates interest in finding a home for library resources on Analytical Psychology. Fogel establishes the C.G. Jung Library and Information Center, “The Philanthropon House,” in her residence in Washington, DC. Additional supporters contribute to the group’s momentum, including psychology professionals: Fred Risser, Robert Pierce, Louise de Leeuw, Christine Lynn, and Jacob Goering. In 1967, Marston helps Kotschnig start a local chapter of C.G. Jung Working Group to disseminate Jung’s ideas on psychology and psychiatry.
From the C.G. Jung Working Group, a Steering Committee emerges. The Steering Committee plans and executes the Group’s activities and draws new vitality from increased participation by its members, both practicing psychology professionals and interested members, including: Christine Lynn, Patricia-Dunn Fierstein, Carl Fierstein, Tom Peterson, Cindy Peterson, Ann Bohnet, Richard Bohnet, Oscar Reed, Lucy Eddinger, Judith Duerk, Katherine Dickson, Roger Lyons, Mary Lyons, Virginia Hoover, Bill Stockton, Nancy Kosinki, Jerome Bernstein, Anushka Lewandoska, and David Williams. The Rev. Marston assumes the responsibility of program planning and continues to offer his church as a venue for Jung-related study groups and programs.
As the decade begins, Rev. Marston continues to play a leadership role upholding the early commitment to programming true to the Jungian point of view. The Jung Working Group incorporates on January 1, 1984. The Swiss Embassy in Washington, DC becomes a venue for events. The group welcomes author and poet Robert Bly as a speaker. The C.G. Jung Working Group names its first president, David Williams. Elined Kotschnig dies and the Group accepts the bequest of her personal library of 1,500 items of Jungian-related materials and complete collection of “Inward Light.” Additional books arrive from Elizabeth Brodel of Friends House and the collection of Florence Walker.
The 1990s attract additional psychology professionals and Jungian analysts to the roster of lecturers and leaders, including Julie Bondanza, Michael Conforti, Melanie Starr Costello, Bonnie Damron, Roger Lyons, Janice Quinn, and psychiatrist Erminia Scarcella, MD. In 1991, in addition to producing a season of programs, the WSJP publishes its inaugural volume of “Members’ Book Review” edited by Richard P. Sugg, and it offers the publication as a benefit of membership. Members, who come from a variety of professions, including psychology, medicine, religion, arts and humanities, and business, contribute reviews of Jungian-related books of their choice.
With its new centralized location, the WSJP provides programs throughout the week. Psychologist and author Gregg Furth provides the first Jung Memorial Lecture of the decade: “The Use of the Symbol as a Healing Agent.” Leadership responds to the tragedy of September 11, 2001, by providing relevance in its program offerings. In Fall 2001, physician and Jungian analyst Irene Gad presents, “Betrayal/Self-Betrayal, and in Fall 2002, she contributes a program, “Black: Symbol of Evil and Good.” For Spring 2002, the WSJP invites noted Jungian author and analyst James Hollis to present: “Relationships: The Psychodynamics of Self and Others” and Professor Nathan Schwartz-Salant to deliver his work, ”The American Psyche After September 11.”
From the C.G. Jung Working Group, a Steering Committee emerges. The Steering Committee plans and executes the Group’s activities and draws new vitality from increased participation by its members, both practicing psychology professionals and interested members, including: Christine Lynn, Patricia-Dunn Fierstein, Carl Fierstein, Tom Peterson, Cindy Peterson, Ann Bohnet, Richard Bohnet, Oscar Reed, Lucy Eddinger, Judith Duerk, Katherine Dickson, Roger Lyons, Mary Lyons, Virginia Hoover, Bill Stockton, Nancy Kosinki, Jerome Bernstein, Anushka Lewandoska, and David Williams. The Rev. Marston assumes the responsibility of program planning and continues to offer his church as a venue for Jung-related study groups and programs.
Each year, Jung Society of Washington is proud to offer:
Our Vision for the Jung Society's Future
We envision Jung Society of Washington as a full service center with building, modest to moderate endowment, support of training process, several outreach programs, paid full time staff, libraries, spaces for expressive art classes and art exhibits, well-established community and online presence.
Artists often describe their art in terms of what it will do for the viewer, that it will inspire, heal, transport, etc. The Jung Society Virtual Gallery, on the other hand, features artists who share with us what creating art does for their own psyches--what the win is for them in their art. The Virtual Gallery is a natural showcase for “expressive” art, but it also welcomes artists whose experience demonstrates that even the quietest piece can speak volumes.
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Richard Dana
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Nancy Jackson
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Toni Lane
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Malekeh Nayiny
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Patricia Silbert
One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,
but by making the darkness conscious.
- Carl Jung, Alchemical Studies, Vol 13
