Melissa Werner, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama. She joins us from Los Angeles, California the morning after BTS’ final Permission to Dance concert at SoFi Stadium.
(I’m going to warn you now that we’re both emotionally raw. Dr. Werner was at last night’s concert and I attended both the Saturday night and Sunday night shows in LA and watched last night’s concert via livestreaming.)
She holds master’s degrees in both early childhood education and community counseling and a Ph.D. in child development from the University of Alabama. In 2018, she completed her training as a Jungian analyst, earning a diploma in analytical psychology from the C.G. Jung Institute Zürich. Her thesis, “The Archetype of the Feral Child: The Feral Children of the Drug Epidemic,” is currently being prepared for publication.
Dr. Werner has been an early childhood consultant and early literacy expert across the United States and the Pacific Rim. She has taught at Native American reservations throughout the country and worked as an early childhood specialist serving over 200 Head Start programs in eight states.
For ten years she was a professor of early childhood education and has lectured on play therapy in refugee communities at the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on the Family. She continues to provide counseling to women and children, and is an adult and child analyst. She is currently the only practicing analyst for adults and children in Alabama.
Recently, she presented the paper, “Psychotherapeutic Interventions with Children and Adolescents: Contemporary Perspectives in the Practice of Child and Adolescent Jungian Analysis and Sandplay Therapy” at the First International Conference on Child and Adolescent Jungian Analysis in Moscow. Her other presentations include “Jung’s Map of the Soul: Persona, Shadow and Ego in the World of BTS,” “Coping with the Pandemic through Fairytales,” and “The Archetype of the Feral Child: Analytical Work with Children Whose Parents Are Addicts.”
She also works as a volunteer for the BTS ARMY Help Center. Please see our episode with their CEO, Carla Postma-Slabbekoorn, in Episode Q18 to learn more about what they do. Today, Dr. Werner and I will be discussing the impact that BTS has had on us both individually and collectively, as well as looking at it from a Jungian perspective.
This interview was recorded on Friday, December 3, 2021. It’s 58:16 long and 51.4 MB. You can listen to it right here in your browser (click the play button in the bar below) or download it directly to your computer. You can also listen to this episode on your Amazon Echo device. Simply say, “Alexa, play Speaking of Jung on Apple Podcasts.” Just be sure to pronounce Jung with a hard J.
SHOW NOTES
After the episode: The Spectacular Vindication of BTS: With four sold-out concerts in Los Angeles, the pop superstars proved their timelessness to critics, fans, and themselves by Lenika Cruz, The Atlantic, Dec. 16, 2021
Laura London on Twitter Please see my Twitter timeline for videos from the Nov. 27th and Nov. 28th shows. And we give away a book every Friday on Twitter.
Jung’s Map of the Soul: An Introduction by Murray Stein, Ph.D., Jungian analyst
Marie-Louise von Franz, Ph.D. Books available from Amazon (link fixed!)
BTS (방탄소년단) ‘소우주 (Mikrokosmos) BTS World Tour ‘The Final’ in Seoul, South Korea (official music video)
Speaking of Jung’s BTS Page You can hear Jungian analyst Murray Stein discuss BTS and their lyrics from a Jungian perspective in Ep. 42 (Map of the Soul: Persona), Ep. 53 (Shadow Interlude), Ep. 54 (The Ego), Ep. 55 (Seven), Ep. 67 (The Journey), Ep. 77 (BE), Ep. 92 (BTS at the UN)
BTS on V Live You can watch replays of BTS’ live talk sessions with English subtitles
BTS (방탄소년단) MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 ‘Interlude : Shadow’ Comeback Trailer Official music video for ‘Interlude: Shadow’
Speaking of Jung, Ep. 53: Shadow Interlude Dr. Murray Stein discusses Jung’s concept of the shadow and the BTS song ‘Interlude: Shadow’
Men’s Fall-Winter 2021 Show in Seoul with House Ambassadors BTS | LOUIS VUITTON Streamed live on Jul. 7, 2021
In the Soop 2 BTS version Season 2
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung
Matter of Heart: The Extraordinary Journey of C.G. Jung Into the Soul of Man DVD
Remembering Jung: A Conversation About C.G. Jung & His Work with Marie-Louise von Franz A series of 3 DVDs available from Amazon
Analytical Psychology of Football: Professional Jungian Football Coaching Edited by John & Nada O’Brien, Ph.D., Jungian analysts
BTS ARMY Help Center on Twitter
Ram Dass Books available from Amazon
‘Army Bomb’ The official BTS light stick is available from the Weverse Shop app
Speaking of Jung, Ep. 92: BTS at the UN with Jungian analyst Murray Stein, Ph.D.
[MV] BTS (방탄소년단) _ Boy In Luv (상남자) Official music video
BTS (방탄소년단) '작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy With Luv) (feat. Halsey) Official music video
BOOKS
Jung’s Map of the Soul: An Introduction ~ The original book by Jungian analyst Murray Stein, Ph.D., published in 1998 by Open Court ~ also available in Kindle and Audible
Map of the Soul – Persona: Our Many Faces ~ Vol. 1 ~ Includes a transcription of Ep. 44 ~ paperback editions available in Chinese, English, Korean, and Spanish ~ also available in Kindle and Audible
Map of the Soul – Shadow: Our Hidden Self ~ Vol. 2 ~ Includes a transcription of Ep. 53 ~ also available in Kindle
Map of the Soul – Ego: I Am ~ Vol. 3 ~ Includes a transcription of Ep. 54 ~ also available in Kindle
Map of the Soul – 7: Persona, Shadow & Ego in the World of BTS ~ Beyond summarizing the three volumes on Persona, Shadow and Ego in the Map of the Soul series, this latest book explores the entire BTS album, start to finish, revealing profound insights into the collective psyche of BTS. Also available in Kindle and Audible.