Mark Jones on the Therapeutic Potential of Astrology

• 9 years ago

In this episode I talk with astrologer Mark Jones about his new book titled The Soul Speaks: The Therapeutic Potential of Astrology.

In the book Mark uses his background as a psychotherapist to help teach astrologers some useful skills for doing counseling.

He makes the point that no matter what type of astrology you practice, once you start interacting with individuals on a one-on-one basis as part of your practice you are engaging in counseling, and so it is both useful and important to be able to identify and understand some of the dynamics that can arise from that interaction.

During the course of the show we talk about Mark’s background and interest in the Psychosynthesis approach to psychology that was developed by Roberto Assagioli, the relevance of psychology for astrologers, and some different types of dynamics that can arise between astrologers and their clients.

You can order a copy of Mark’s book either through his website at PlutoSchool.com, or through online retailers such as Amazon.com.

Outline of the Episode

Below you will find an outline of some of the different topics that we touched on during the course of the show, followed by links to download or stream the recording.

• Mark’s background, training, and motivation for writing the book.
• Psychological astrology as a method versus counseling skills being applicable to any type or tradition of astrology.
  • The reader doesn’t need to adopt a certain type of astrology in order to find the book useful, as that’s not what it is about. It is about understanding different types of counseling dynamics.
• Preconceptions that clients will approach consultations with, and how that perception affects both client and astrologer.
• Assagioli’s development of Psychosynthesis as a spiritual psychology
• Assagioli and Jung’s interest in astrology, and their influence on Dane Rudhyar.
• Interactions between Assagioli, Rudhyar, Jung, and Freud.
• Different defense systems that people have when they see counselors.
  • Reaction formation, projection, transference, countertransference, etc.
• What is the therapeutic potential of astrology?
• Later chapters of the book on Saturn and the cycles of the outer planets.
• The primary ethical directive of astrologers who see clients.

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 42 transcript

Listen to This Episode

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