From Career to Calling: A Depth Psychology Guide to Soul-Making Work in Darkening Times

213 Pages·2020·2.307 MB·English

by  Suzanne Cremen

“This new work by Suzanne Cremen challenges us to stretch our imagination and
consider new perspectives on the making of career and vocation through calling.
The pathway to this new understanding is through a reconsideration of basic prin-
ciples and concepts from depth psychology. While one might question some of the
underlying assumptions, this is a journey that is well worth the effort! The book
is creative, stimulating and well written. It also has broad application to many of
our current psychological and ecological challenges.”
– Norman Amundson, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia,
Canada, author of Active Engagement, Essential Elements of Career Counseling,
The Physics of Living, Career Pathways and Guiding Circles
“The achievement of Suzanne Cremen’s book is to bring into conjunction two
areas of study which had not previously been linked with confident knowledge
and understanding of both. Traditionally, vocational or career advice focused on
the practical matter of finding and improving the individual’s employment in the
material world. In contrast, analytical psychology tended to concentrate on the
state and development of the individual’s psyche, so that the inner or non-ordinary
world takes priority. This book, in addition to being authoritative, is a delight to
read, advancing a rational case with the passion due in explorations of the psyche.
Dr Cremen reaches out tactfully to her readers with an impressive blend of ana-
lytical rigour and enthusiastic commitment to her topic.”
– John Izod, PhD, Emeritus Professor, University of Stirling, UK,
author of Cinema as Therapy: Grief and Transformational Film and
Screen, Culture, Psyche
“Many people struggle deeply with allowing and listening to the deeper call of
the psyche in relation to work and career path. Suzanne Cremen writes on the
subject of vocation in a way that is clearly connected to her own vocation. Her
passion for the subject is evident. Her work demonstrates strong scholarship and
engaging writing. A distinctive feature of this book is the gripping, raw and hon-
est examples of individuals’ descents into their personal nekyias which opened
them to new life and vocational paths. Adding weight is that the author is will-
ing to tell her own story. Exercises at the end of each chapter help the reader to
take the ideas further and personalise them. Highly recommended for anyone who
suspects there is much more to life and work than traditional outdated modes of
career and success.”
– Ana Mozol, PhD, Depth Psychoanalyst, author of A Re-Visioning of
Love: Dark Feminine Rising, and Founder and Director of Dreamwork
Theatre Inc. in Vancouver, BC
“From Career to Calling is engaging, alive, filled with clear explanations of con-
cepts used, stories that illustrate the issues at hand and a vulnerability from the
author in sharing her own stories. The book is grounded, drawing on more ortho-
dox career guidance foundations, but goes deeper, bridging into the field of depth
psychology. It is also distinctive, bringing theory, concepts and story together in a
way that is rich, practically helpful and challenging. As we enter an age of anxiety
around the future of work, this timely book is profoundly relevant. I couldn’t put
it down.”
– Peter Westoby, PhD, Associate Professor in Social Science and
Community Development, QUT, Australia, and author of Soul,
Community and Social Change
“Many readers will discover new hope with this book: for the professional, some-
thing akin to ‘this new process will really help Client X’, and for the layperson,
‘At last, here is a new way of understanding myself and the work that I am called
to do’. The author’s personal accounts, extensive excerpts from interviewees, the
pertinent reflective exercises and the depth of academic rigour make this a robust
and engaging resource.”
– Michelle Mearns, Career Transition Coach, New Zealand
From Career to Calling
Finding and following an authentic calling challenges us to bridge both the
intuitive, soulful and the hard-edged, material dimensions of everyday life. From
Career to Calling: A Depth Psychology Guide to Soul-Making Work in Darkening
Times opens new avenues for vocational exploration and career inquiry in an
imaginative way.
This unique book draws on insights from the field of Jungian and archetypal
psychology to reimagine our attitudes and approaches to work, money, vocational
guidance and career development. As people find themselves disillusioned with
or disenfranchised from capitalist notions of work and career, Suzanne Cremen’s
interdisciplinary approach illuminates how a creative, meaningful and influential
work-life can emerge from attending to the archetypal basis of experience.
Interweaving elements of her own journey, Cremen connects individual
experience with the collective in an original way, spotlighting depression in the
legal profession, marginalization of the feminine principle in work environments
and how understanding the roots of our cultural complexes can spark personal
callings which facilitate collective transformation.
Blending compelling real-life stories with robust scholarly analysis and
reflective activities, this book will help practitioners support individuals to
develop a sense of their soul’s calling and offer guidance on creating an authentic
vocational life within the constraints of the contemporary era. Additionally, it will
be invaluable to those in career transition, re-discovering their purpose at the end
of a career, or commencing work-life.
Suzanne Cremen worked in over 25 occupations including lawyer, screenwriter,
conference producer, publisher and career counsellor before earning her PhD
in depth psychology. She serves as faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute (USA)
and founded the Life Artistry Centre for Archetype, Imagination and Vocation
(Australia), where she teaches and consults.

From Career to Calling
A Depth Psychology Guide to Soul-Making
Work in Darkening Times
Suzanne Cremen
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2020 Suzanne Nanette Cremen
The right of Suzanne Nanette Cremen to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-44450-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-44451-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00983-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Dedicated to the ancestors, whose lives led us to this
moment, and to the more-than-human world, especially to
those species whose existence now depends upon human
beings heeding a deeper calling.

Contents
List of Figures xi
Acknowledgements xii
Preface xiv
Author Note xxvi
1 Job, career or calling? 1
2 A very brief history of approaches to vocational
guidance and career development 13
3 Vocation as soul’s opus: a symbolic perspective 22
4 A short interlude on the relevance of psychological type 32
5 A Jungian understanding of the psyche and vocation 42
6 The abduction from career to calling 59
7 Undercover shamans at work 79
8 Loving our fate so deeply it transforms into destiny 89
9 A rough and uncommonly devious footpath: complexes as
pathways to vocation 95
10 Unfinished business: callings arising from ancestral
and cultural wounds 105