Erik Goodwyn, MD

Dr. Goodwyn is the medical director for the Cody Regional Health Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Clinic as well as the inpatient Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation center for Cody, Wyoming, USA. He is adjunct professor of psychiatry through the University of Louisville, a veteran, and co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Jungian Studies. He has published in the fields of psychiatry, the psychology of religion, philosophy of mind, code biology, and behavioral sciences. 

Since the 1980s, cognitive psychology has increasingly become embodied from a variety of standpoints. This talk will show how the results of embodied cognition and spontaneous thought “demystify” many of the attributes Jung described in his archetype theory, making archetype theory not only more comprehensible but clinically applicable in addictions and other emotional challenges. Combining approaches suggests new avenues of inquiry for experimental research and enriches the psychoanalytic perspective.

Learning Objectives:

1. List the characteristics of spontaneous thought, as discovered by neuroscience and clinical presentation.

2. Identify the subset of spontaneous images that qualify as "archetypal" using clearly defined criteria.

3. Correctly interpret spontaneous images and narratives as innate embodied metaphors of one's current emotional state using clearly defined associations.