Howard W. Tyas, Jr.
Jungian Analyst
He received his B.A. in religious studies from Austin College (Sherman, Texas). He then received his M.Div. and D.Min. from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Austin, Texas) in 1977. He served as the Presbyterian Campus Minister at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from 1977-82 and subsequently as the pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church, a progressive congregation in Dallas, Texas, from 1982-91.
During this time he also began working with the Guild for Psychological Studies in San Francisco. The Guild studies material from the fields of comparative mythology, religions and the arts to provide a framework within which individuals may be aided in their search for their own highest values and deepest awareness, honoring both conscious and unconscious processes. These seminars employ the principles of C.G. Jung’s analytical psychology.
In 1991, Dr. Tyas traveled to Zürich, Switzerland, to study at the C.G. Jung Institute, where he graduated with the Diploma in Analytical Psychology in 1996. (The Academic and Professional International Evaluations Service has deemed this diploma to be equivalent to a Ph.D. in Psychology here in the U.S.) In his practice, Dr. Tyas understands Jungian analysis to be a form of psychotherapy which places inestimable value on a person’s life story, with all of its triumphs and disappointments, its struggles and suffering, and its guilt and wrong-turnings. What makes Jungian analysis unique is that it values the wisdom and creativity of the unconscious. There is more to life than what we are aware of through our five senses or what we can rationalize with our minds. Through an honest exploration of the unconscious' expressions - one’s dreams, fantasies, and synchronistic life experiences - the analysand often discovers that current life crises come to further our unique story still unfolding. This is the individuation process at work: creating a dialectical relationship between the ego and the unconscious. There are times when Dr. Tyas uses the sand tray and its various objects and figurines (developed by analyst Dora Kalff), to provide another, more playful window onto one’s process.
In addition to his private practice, Dr. Tyas co-leads
seminars with his wife, Karen Hodges, also a Jungian analyst (Zürich
graduate). They have offered dream seminars entitled:
- Basics of Jungian Dream Interpretation
- Dream as Story
- Meeting the Shadow in Dreams
- The Seduction of the Dream
- Animal Wisdom in Dreams
- Dreams from Childhood
- Working with Archetypal Dreams
They also lead seminars which invite participants to explore for themselves images illustrating what Jung referred to as the individuation process, using the Legend of the Holy Grail, the Zen Buddhist Oxherder pictures, Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, Grimm’s fairy tales, the Major Arcana of the Tarot, the alchemical pictures of the Rosarium Philosophorum, and paradoxical sayings from various religious traditions. For those who enjoy working with their dreams within the context of a group setting, Dr. Tyas also facilitates dream groups which allow a gentle exploration of one’s dreams while drawing on the experience and insights of other participants.
Dr. Tyas is a member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology and the Association of Graduate Analytical Psychologists (Zürich). He is a charter member of the North Carolina Society of Jungian Analysts and a licensed Pastoral Counselor in the state of North Carolina.
Links to work on-line:
- Individuation, a lecture delivered to the Charlotte Friends of Jung
- The Golden Ball: Symbol of the Self, a lecture delivered to the Chapel Hill Friends of Jung
- All of Life Is a Projection, a lecture delivered to the Charlotte Friends of Jung, September 2002
- Guidelines for Dream Group Work, adapted from Jeremy Taylor's Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill
Dr. Tyas' Upcoming Seminar Speaking Dates and Cities with Cross Country Education
E-mail Howard Tyas at: htyas@jungiananalyticpraxis.com