Jungian depth therapy is for the questions symptom treatment can't answer: why the same pattern keeps repeating, what the depression is about, what your life is for now that the old story has collapsed. At Taproot Therapy Collective, two clinicians trained in the work of C.G. Jung offer it at our Hoover office, minutes from Birmingham, and by secure video anywhere in Alabama, integrated with the somatic and brain-based methods the rest of the practice uses.
What is Jungian therapy?
Carl Jung's analytical psychology treats the unconscious as intelligent rather than merely repressed. Dreams, recurring images and the parts of yourself you were taught to disown (the shadow) are messages, and the work is to read them. Jungian therapy uses dream work, active imagination and the study of archetypal patterns to move a person toward what Jung called individuation: becoming who you actually are rather than who you were shaped to be.
Who is Jungian therapy for?
Depression that isn't about brain chemistry so much as a life that no longer fits. Midlife, divorce and career collapse. Religious deconstruction and spiritual crisis. Creatives and clinicians who have run out of meaning. Burnout in high achievers who did everything right. And anyone who has finished trauma processing and wants to understand what the trauma made of them.
What happens in a Jungian session at Taproot?
You bring a dream, an image, a pattern or a question. Your therapist helps you follow it rather than interpret it away. When the material turns out to be held in the body, and it often is, we move into Brainspotting, EMDR or somatic work and come back to the meaning afterward. Sessions are 50 to 80 minutes, weekly at first and often every other week later.
How it works at Taproot
- 1Free 15-minute intake call
You're matched with Joel or Alice, in Hoover or by video.
- 2The material
Dreams, recurring patterns, images that stay with you, the parts of yourself you'd rather not look at.
- 3Following it
Dream work, active imagination and shadow work; when it's held in the body, Brainspotting, EMDR or somatic processing.
- 4Integration
Weekly at first, often every other week later, as the new orientation to your life takes hold.
Symptom treatment versus depth work
| Symptom treatment | Jungian depth therapy | |
|---|---|---|
| The question | How do I stop feeling this? | What is this feeling about? |
| Timeframe | Weeks to a few months | Months to a year or more |
| Material | Symptoms, triggers, skills | Dreams, patterns, shadow, meaning |
| Best for | Panic, a single trauma, a crisis | Depression that's about a life that no longer fits, midlife, deconstruction |
| At Taproot | Somatic and brain-based methods | Integrated with those same methods |
Is jungian depth therapy right for me? A 30-second check
Jungian therapists in Hoover
Studied comparative religion at Sewanee before social work; Jungian and existential depth work with EMDR, Brainspotting and ETT for complex trauma and religious deconstruction; host of the Discover + Heal + Grow podcast.
Jungian archetypal shadow work with EMDR and Brainspotting for dissociative disorders, spiritual crisis and religious abuse.
Cost, insurance and teletherapy
We accept Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama for most clinicians. Private-pay and out-of-network sessions are $250, with an income-based sliding scale, and we send a monthly superbill with the codes your insurer needs for out-of-network reimbursement. Secure video sessions are available anywhere in Alabama on the same sliding scale.
A look inside Taproot
Frequently asked questions
Is Jungian therapy religious?
No. Jung studied religion the way an anthropologist does, as the record of how humans have made meaning. Jungian work is used by believers, former believers and people who were never religious. For clients leaving high-control religion it offers a way to keep the depth without the dogma.
Do I have to remember my dreams?
It helps but it isn't required. Recurring life patterns, images that stay with you, and the parts of yourself you'd rather not look at are all Jungian material. Dream recall usually improves once you start paying attention.
Is this just talking? I thought Taproot did body-based work.
Jungian work at Taproot is integrated with somatic therapy, Brainspotting and EMDR. When a dream or a pattern turns out to be held in the body, we process it there, not just in conversation.
How long does Jungian therapy take?
It is slower and more open-ended than symptom treatment, usually months to a year or more, and clients typically move to every other week once the acute material has settled.
Start Jungian therapy in Hoover or online
Your first call is a free 15-minute conversation with our intake coordinator, who matches you with the right clinician. Our office is off I-65 at the Riverchase exit in Hoover, about ten minutes from Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Mountain Brook and fifteen from downtown Birmingham, with free parking at the door.
Book onlineCall (205) 598-6471