The Hero’s Journey: Integrating Jungian Psychology and EMDR Therapy

A new language of healing for EMDR

The hero’s journey made famous by Joseph Campbell and seen in countless iconic stories also offers a therapeutic map for healing, as psychologist and teacher Dr. Andrew J. Dobo reveals in The Hero’s Journey: Integrating Jungian Psychology and EMDR Therapy.

EMDR therapy, which uses bilateral stimulation to help clients process traumatic and troubling pasts, helps them live out their own hero’s journey and find their path to a new way of life. Dr. Dobo’s book shows how the stages of the hero’s journey offer a powerful parallel to the stages of healing in EMDR.

Through the lens of Jungian psychology, Dr. Dobo unveils how therapists can be companions on this hero’s journey by watching for crucial clues and gently guiding clients to healing. He shows how recognizing seemingly insignificant statements during sessions can unveil stunning truths about clients’ lives that will help them move past their pain and into the realm of hope.

In his knowledgeable, accessible style, Dr. Dobo demonstrates that by combining creativity, a new understanding of the language of the unconscious in the context of mythology, and Francine Shapiro’s standard EMDR protocol, therapists can learn to magnify their healing skills while discovering their own inner genius.