Christine Priola, a former occupational therapist (OT), was among the rioters that stormed the US Capitol Hill to protest the 2020 Presidential Elections. Authorities have arrested her for violent entry and disorderly conduct.
One important lesson from the January 6 riot is that you should not unleash your dark side in a destructive manner. According to psychologist Carl Jung, every person has a “shadow”, that dark side that consists of impulses that are socially unacceptable --- if not outright reprehensible. Helping professionals, in particular, have to suppress their aggression so they can attend to people who are in need. We have to stay calm and diplomatic even when clients challenge our work ethic and competencies because they’re struggling more than we do. We have to make compromises with colleagues even if we have our own ideas of how tasks ought to be done. We need to always look at the bright side of everything so that the people around us will never lose hope. Moreover, many of us have to deal with personal problems apart from work-related challenges.
Because of such expectations, we keep many of our negative thoughts and feelings to ourselves. We may even deny that we have them just so that we can fulfill our duties. Nevertheless, the destructive impulses remain seething underneath. Then before you know it, the aggression will manifest in unexpected destructive ways. Any event can trigger the sudden malevolence:
A snide remark from a senior therapist who’s critical of you
A parent questioning your effectiveness as a teacher
Being caught in heavy traffic on your way to work
A Facebook post insulting your favorite politician
A fellow protester goading you to engage in disorderly conduct
Erich Neumann wrote, however, that one’s shadow can be turned into a fountain of virtue and creativity once it has been acknowledged and channeled in an appropriate manner. Click the links below to discover how you can tame your shadow to use it for good.
Carl Jung, the Shadow, and the Dangers of Psychological Projection by the Academy of Ideas
How to Integrate Your Shadow: the Dark Side is Unrealized Potential by the Academy of Ideas
Why and How to Integrate Your Shadow by Jordan Peterson, clinical psychologist and best-selling author
FBI arrests former school therapist who reached VP’s chair in Capitol riot by Celine Castronuovo, contributor at The Hill
(Photo by Melissa Walker Horn)
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