Yvonne Smith-Tarnas, MFT, Ph.D., is a Jungian psychoanalyst, astrologer, and Marriage & Family Therapist in Larkspur, California.
She studied design at the University of Washington, and after a successful career as an art director went on to attend the Pacifica Graduate Institute in California, earning a master’s degree in counseling psychology with a dissertation on eating disorders as a wounded path toward individuation. She continued on at Pacifica, earning a doctorate in depth psychotherapy with the dissertation, “Destined Meetings: Synchronicity, Intentionality, and Archetypal Meaning in the Initial Therapy Session.”
Dr. Smith-Tarnas worked for many years as a Marriage & Family Therapist before training as a Jungian psychoanalyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco where she is now a clinical supervisor and instructor. She designed their curriculum on astrology for licensed therapy practitioners and continues to deliver lectures on psychology and astrology.
She has been practicing astrology since 1973, guided by the work of Dr. Liz Greene, Dane Rudhyar, and Dr. Robert Hand. In her full-time practice, she provides therapy and consultation for adults, couples, and adolescents, integrating depth psychology with astrology. She lectures for the Astrological Association of Great Britain, the Organization for Professional Astrology (OPA), and the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR).
She has presented her integration of psychotherapy and astrology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), the International Scientific Astrological Research Conference, and the Synchronicity: Matter & Psyche Symposium. She has taught for The Community Institute for Psychotherapy and lectured for the CIIS astrology study group, Coniunctio. Her article, Synchronicity, Intentionality, and Archetypal Meaning in Therapy, was published in Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche in 2015.
Earlier this month, I met up with Dr. Smith-Tarnas at the United Astrology Conference (UAC) here in Chicago and attended her presentation, Lost in the Wilderness and Becoming a Self.
This video interview was recorded on Friday, September 18, 2026. It’s 54:28 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 watch the video edition on our YouTube channel.
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SHOW NOTES
Note: She formerly published under the name Yvonne Smith Klitsner.
Lost in the Wilderness and Becoming a Self Her video presentation at the 2026 United Astrology Conference, available for purchase
Episode 39 with Jungian analyst James Scherer, D.D.S.
Pacifica Graduate Institute Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, California
The C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco offers a variety of training programs to licensed clinicians and clinicians-in-training. Their analytical training program, the only specifically Jungian program in the San Francisco Bay area, prepares licensed clinicians for certification as Jungian analysts. The Infant, Child and Adolescent Training Program (iCAT) offers advanced certification to analysts who are interested in specializing in work with children and adolescents.
California Institute of Integral Studies San Francisco, California
Strand Book Store Greenwich Village, New York City
Man and His Symbols Edited, with an Introduction by C.G. Jung
Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche Her article in Volume 9, Number 4 (November 2015)
Synchronicity, Intentionality, and Archetypal Meaning in Therapy Blog post by Yvonne Smith-Tarnas, Feb. 27, 2016
Jung’s Studies in Astrology: Prophecy, Magic, and the Qualities of Time (Volume 1) by Liz Greene, Ph.D., Jungian analyst
The Astrological World of Jung’s Liber Novus: Daimons, Gods, and the Planetary Journey (Vol. 2) by Liz Greene, Ph.D., Jungian analyst
Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil by Liz Greene, Ph.D., Jungian analyst; forward by Robert Hand, Ph.D.
The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption by Liz Greene, Ph.D., Jungian analyst
Patreon Post on Liz Greene (Sept. 10, 2026) Join our Patreon for full access
Jung: A Biography by Deirdre Bair (Includes details on Jung’s daughter Gret’s interest and career in astrology, as well as Jung’s “marriage experiments” in astrology.)
Marie-Louise von Franz Our dedicated page to her
Addiction to Perfection: The Still Unravished Bride by Marion Woodman, Jungian analyst
The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter: Obesity, Anorexia Nervosa & the Repressed Feminine by Marion Woodman, Jungian analyst
Prometheus the Awakener: An Essay on the Archetypal Meaning of the Planet Uranus by Richard Tarnas, Ph.D.
American Beauty Watch on Amazon Prime Video
ArchetypalPsych Her website
Transference and Countertransference: Results of a Berlin research group by Hans Dieckmann, M.D., Journal of Analytical Psychology, Vol. 21, No. 1, January 1976