Lara Newton – LMNewton@mac.com
Marilyn Auer – BloomsB@aol.com
Sandy Dixon – sdixon@du.edu
Sharon Coggan – Sharon.Coggan@ucdenver.edu
Jane Kopp – dvscdnvr@msn.com
Lois Harvey – westsidebooks@qwestoffice.net
See detailed info below.
Lara Newton, M.A., L.P.C., is a Diplomate Jungian Analyst in private practice in Denver. She has been president of the C.G. Jung Society of Colorado since 1996, and is Coordinator of Admissions and Co-Coordinator of Training for the C.G. Jung Institute of Colorado. She has a passion for the exploration of dimensions of the psyche through deep introspective study of archetypal material in our world. Over the past several years, her main focus of study and teaching has been centered on Jung’s work with alchemy. In addition, she has taught classes on the basic fundamentals of Jungian psychology, fairytale interpretation, dream interpretation, and film interpretation. As an active member of the Jung Institute Board and the Inter-regional Society of Jungian Analysts, Lara participates regularly in the training of Jungian Analysts – interviewing, teaching, supervising, examining and evaluating analytic candidates at all levels of their training.
Over the years of her involvement with the Jung Society, Lara has presented many lectures both individually and with panels. In 1993, just after graduating from Jungian training, she presented her first Jung Society lecture on the brother-sister relationship. In fall 1995, she was part of a panel discussion, titled: “The Spirit: Alive and Well in Modern Times?” Her co-presenters were Karl Kopp, Gary Toub, and Debra Bowman. In fall 1997, she presented a lecture titled: “STAR TREK: AN EXPLORATION OF OUTER AND INNER SPACE.” In spring 1999, she presented a lecture titled: “SUFFERING AND REDEMPTION: FEMININE AND MASCULINE PERSPECTIVES,” which was a psychological exploration of Russian and Irish images. In fall 2003, she was part of a five-analyst panel discussion, titled: “REFLECTIONS ON A WOUNDED WORLD.” Her fellow analyst presenters were Jean Carlson, Glen Carlson, Galin McGowan and Gary Toub. Most recently, in fall 2004, she co-presented a lecture with Nancy Ortenberg, titled: “Honoring Joseph Campbell.”
In the spring of 2007, Lara’s first book will be published by Spring Publications. It is a work on the brother-sister relationship, titled: BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Discovering the Psychology of Companionship. This has been a work in progress for over ten years. Lara has plans for other publications, and promises herself that she will not let them take as long. LMNewton@mac.com
Sharon L. Coggan, Ph.D. earned the B. A. degree from the University of Denver, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from Stanford University, and the Ph,D. in Religious Studies from Syracuse University. She teaches at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, where she serves as Director of the Religious Studies Program, a program that she created in 2000. The program features a full range of classes on religion, including World Religions, Eastern and Western religion, ancient and contemporary, religion in history, politics, art and literature, the philosophy of religion, sociology, anthropology and psychology of religion.
This last connection allows us to bring in both Freudian and Jungian material. The two provide an excellent set-up for study, since on the subject of religion, they are diametrically opposed. Freud thought religion is a symptom of neurosis, an infantile regression to perpetual dependency on the father-figure in the sky. But Jung thought that a person needs to have some form of spiritual expression in life to be fully healthy, to be whole. Jung defines religion/spirituality as consciousness which has been transformed by the experience of the numinous. It is clear from his Collected Writings how profoundly important he believed this to be.
Through the Religious Studies Program at UCDHSC Dr. Coggan is able to offer a range of classes on Jungian thought, including Myth and Symbol, Classical Mythology, Perspectives on Dream Analysis, the Hero’s Journey and Spirituality in Contemporary Life. As developer and guardian of this Program, Dr. Coggan represents the academic side of Jungian thought as a complement to the therapeutic side represented by other members of the Jung Society of Colorado.
Certainly on her own life-long quest for truth, meaning and spiritual fulfillment, Dr. Coggan has studied most of the world’s great religious and spiritual systems. She says that everything fell into place for her when she discovered Jung. It was in the context of Chinese philosophy that she first came across the name Jung. Familiar with so many mono-syllabic names in the Chinese language, she thought at first that this Jung was another Chinese philosopher, a connection that seems funny and prophetic in retrospect. When she later discovered that he was a 20th century Swiss psychologist who had worked with Freud, a whole, surprising and intriguing new field opened up for her to explore. The brilliant insights and illuminating connections which marked Jung’s special genius impressed Dr. Coggan profoundly. His theories offer an overarching perspective, and act as a kind of lynchpin for so much in Religious Studies. And at the same time, the field work in religious beliefs, images and practices conducted in Religious Studies help provide a body of evidence in support of Jung’s hypotheses. Dr. Coggan continues to feature Jungian themes in her own academic research. She is privileged to be afforded the opportunity to introduce the brilliant and extraordinary insights of C. G. Jung semester after semester to open, inquiring minds. Sharon.Coggan@cudenver.edu
Jung Society of Colorado 