Mackenzie Amara -Depth psychology, the hero, the heroine, & phenomenological psychedelic experience

Jungian depth psychology is presented as a framework for understanding the profound internal processes that occur during psychedelic experiences. Depth psychology suggests that all living things share an inherent instinct for wholeness, known as individuation, which is the process of making the unconscious conscious. Psychedelics can facilitate this by reducing ego consciousness and allowing users to access archetypal patterns within the collective unconscious. Two primary archetypal journeys are proposed to understand these experiences. The hero journey relates to the development of a healthy ego and authentic identity, while the heroine journey focuses on deepening the capacity for feeling, sensing, and embodied knowledge. Transformation is distinguished from simple behavior change, as transformation represents a complete surrender and rebirth while behavior change is merely an adaptation to external demands.