Symbolic and the Real

In this book the advanced conceptions of depth psychology are brought to bear upon the fundamental human problems of modern civilization. Dr. Progoff points out that one precondition for a significant development of creative personality is an expanded perception of reality beyond the current intellectual boundaries. It is not à question of ideas about what is real, but of the relation to reality that an individual can know in the depth and fullness of his personal existence. The focus of this book is a description and demonstration of how the capacities and sensitivities of modern persons can be enlarged so that they can relate their lives more fully to ultimate dimensions of reality.

Dr. Progoff’s work as psychotherapist and lecturer, as Director of the Institute for Research in Depth Psychology at the Graduate School of Drew University, and as Founder/Director of Dialogue House, has led to major new techniques which are used both in resolving social problems and in enlarging spiritual awareness. The core of his work is contained in a trilogy of basic books. The Death and Rebirth of Psychology, the first of these, crystallizes the work of the great historical figures in depth psychology and sets the foundation for a new psychology of personal growth; Depth Psychology and Modern Man presents the evolutionary and philosophical perspectives and formulates basic concepts which make creative experience possible; and the third book; The Symbolic and the Real, pursues the practical and religious implications of these ideas. Dr. Progoff is also the author of Jung’s Psychology and Its Social Meaning and Jung, Synchronicity, and Human Destiny.

“Dr. Progoff is not content with an analysis of the present crisis in human consciousness, but is more deeply concerned with the discovery of a way by which the individual may fulfill his responsibilities as a human being....This book is a frontier assault.”—Main Currents in Modern Thought