Jungian and Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Christmas

By examining its history, traditions, symbols, and representation in the arts through the lens of three major schools of depth psychology, Kendrick L. Norris, a Jungian Analyst and minister, shows how better understanding of the promise of Christmas can allow us to discover what it is we long for most.

Kendrick Lyddon Norris, PhD, NCPsyA, IAAP, is a graduate of the C.G. Jung Institute of New York, past president of the New York Association for Analytical Psychology (NYAAP), and a certified Imago Relationship Therapist. Dr. Norris has worked at the Pastoral Counseling Center of St. Raphael's Hospital and Family Counseling of Greater New Haven, and has been in private practice for more than 30 years. He has three graduate degrees in clinical psychology and pastoral psychology, 40 years of parish experience, and is Minster Emeritus of the First Congregational Church of Guilford, Connecticut.

Introduction 1. Approaching Christmas from a Depth Psychology Perspective 2. Origins of the Feast of the Nativity 3. Pagan Synergy 4. The 12 Motifs of Christmas 5. Christmas and the Oedipal: Freud 6. Christmas and Mirroring: Kohut 7. Christmas and Regressive Peace/Progressing Wholeness: Jung Conclusion Appendix. The Biblical Description of Jesus as Twin Selfobject and Idealized Selfobject Bibliography