+44 (0)7447 955 399 | nicholas@nicholastoko.com
Nicholas Toko
Jungian Analyst-in-training
What is a Jungian Analyst?
Welcome to my website.
My name is Nico. I'm a Jungian Analyst-in-training in private practice in London. I hope you find the information here useful, whether you're interested in Jungian analysis or exploring your therapy options.
So you might be thinking, 'What is a Jungian Analyst and is it right for me?...
Well, the short answer is a Jungian Analyst works much like a psychotherapist. Working with a Jungian Analyst offers you the opportunity to talk through worries, concerns, difficulties or needs with a distinct focus on your conscious mind and deeper aspects of the psyche or the unconscious.
The Analyst brings their specific expertise of working at depth to bear on the difficulties that you are facing. Working through issues with an Analyst may lead to a greater acceptance of aspects of yourself which have been difficult to acknowledge, releases you from negative ways of thinking or behaving, and gain new ways of living which might be experienced as an improvement in your wellbeing, an expansion or enhancement of your personality and an ability to cope with the ups and downs of life.
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or would like to hear more about my approach to Jungian coaching, therapy and analysis.
How can Jungian Analysis help you?
Why do people seek therapy or analysis? Many reasons may be given, but there is usually one underlying motivation: the sense that all is not right with one's life, that somehow a deeper meaning or purpose has been missed. Often the presenting symptoms are attempts to find the right path - a series of broken marriages or relationships, a recurrent pattern of difficulty with work or family, or simply an overwhelming sense that something is not right in life, that it is lacking in depth and significant goals.
It is hard to overcome difficult emotions, for example, to feel like life has no purpose or meaning, you might feel helpless, or face hurdles in your aspirations or in your relationship with others, or perhaps you are unable to express your emotions. Talking to a therapist can bring relief, however, to find a way to access your own inner resources is a life changing experience which frees you from emotional distress, at peace with yourself and others.
The unconscious is an untapped source of energy, it can help you to improve your resilience, better understand yourself and others, bring harmony to your personal and work-based relationships, find creative solutions to long-standing problems, and a source of inspiration, knowledge and wisdom. The unseen and unknown unconscious can also have unintended and less constructive, even damaging consequences for you, the people around you and the workplace.
Jungian analysis is an in depth form of therapy based on Carl Jung’s approach to psyche in which the analyst and analysand (client or patient) work together to increase the client's consciousness in order to move toward psychological balance and wholeness, and to bring relief and meaning to psychological suffering. The process can treat a broad range of emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety, and in addition it can assist anyone who wishes to pursue psychological growth. At the heart of a Jungian approach to analysis is a realignment of conscious and unconscious aspects of the personality with an ensuing potential for the creation of new attitudes and purposefulness.
Jungian Analysis is a talk and expressive therapy which brings the unconscious mind into conscious awareness as part of the treatment of a person's emotional issues. Analysis offers you an opportunity to talk through worries, concerns, difficulties or needs with a trained professional in a confidential setting.
Therapy can help to alleviate emotional suffering and to help you better cope with life's ups and downs. It is directed toward an exploration of the unconscious in order to alleviate emotional suffering which may be felt to be no longer tolerable because of its interference with living.
What is the goal of Jungian Analysis?
People often enter analysis following a crisis that plunged them into a state of confusion and disorientation. This is the starting point. And it is necessary, if the process is to be at all deep.
The goal of Jungian therapy is a movement towards wholeness by bringing together the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind. This means coming to terms with the unconscious, it's specific structures and their dynamic relations to consciousness as these become available during the course of analysis.
What can Jungian Analysis help with?
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Experiencing or unable to express difficult emotions
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Seeking purpose or meaning in life
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Upsetting or traumatic experiences
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Difficult life events or crises
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Life transitions
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Coaching
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An interest in Jungian analytical psychology or depth psychology for your own self development
I also work with clients facing specific issues such as:
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Depression
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Anxiety
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Navigating difficult workplace dynamics
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Sports professionals facing challenging performance related issues or transitioning out of a sports career
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Difficult family dynamics
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Childhood neglect and abuse
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Self-limiting beliefs
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Limerence
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Ambivalence
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Somatic and body symptoms
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Working with men particularly from African, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Asian backgrounds to help navigate emotional issues unique to their particular lived experiences and cultural circumstances
The unconscious is an untapped source of energy, it can help you to improve your resilience, better understand yourself and others, develop more effective personal and work-based relationships, find creative solutions to long-standing problems, and a source of inspiration, knowledge and wisdom. The unseen and unknown unconscious can also have unintended and less constructive, even damaging consequences for you, the people around you and the workplace.
Jungian Analysis is a talk and expressive therapy which brings the unconscious mind into conscious awareness as part of the treatment of a person's emotional issues.
Analysis offers you an opportunity to talk through worries, concerns, difficulties or needs with a trained professional in a confidential setting.
What happens in a Jungian Analysis?
Jungian Analysis is beneficial to all people regardless of their upbringing, nationality, culture, identity, and personal history. In fact, these factors play an important role in analysis.
It is an essential feature of Jungian Analysis that in working towards a healthy mind, the unconscious is given a central voice, for example, through the analysis of a person's dreams, fantasies or imagination, personality type, and even drawing, painting, and sand play.
We will work together on the problem that you are facing and within your personal and/or workplace context. My approach is to facilitate a meaningful, conscious, insightful and developmental relationship with yourself.
We will also work creatively together with all aspects of your psychological and emotional patterns which aims to develop your awareness and bring change as you come to terms with your limits and potential.
Analysis. a long-term process which is directed toward an investigation of the client's unconscious, its contents and processes, in order to alleviate an emotional condition felt to be no longer tolerable because of its interferences with conscious living.
Coaching. a professional practice which facilitates the individuation process in organizational settings. A person becoming him/herself, whole, indivisible and distinct from other people or collective groups.
Dream analysis. dreams are recorded and brought to therapy for interpretation and to understand the meaning within the context from which they have arisen.
Active imagination. a process of 'dreaming with open eyes', which facilitates the engagement of the unconscious into conscious awareness.
Expressive therapy such as drawing, painting, sandplay. other creative ways to facilitate the engagement of the unconscious into the conscious mind, a non-verbal, therapeutic process that makes use of an individual's drawings, paintings, a sandbox using figures, and sometimes water, to create images, pictures or scenes of worlds which reflect an individual’s inner thoughts, struggles, and concerns.
Personality or psychological type. to become aware of one's personality type and others, to better understand the dynamic nature of their personality, and to open oneself up to personal growth.
What you (the 'Client' or 'Analysand') can expect from Jungian Analysis
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Privacy and confidentiality.
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Trust and integrity.
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High standards of professionalism.
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Jungian Analysis requires long-term commitment and regularity. A minimum requirement is a weekly 50 minute session.
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It is difficult to initially predict the duration of analysis. In general, a longer analysis is preferable to a shorter, more intense analysis because the Jungian experience involves both analysis and life-long psychological development or 'individuation' which includes reactions to the flow of life experiences.
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Progress in analysis should not be judged over too short a time period. Approximately every six months is a good interval to reflect on whether the analysis is on what seems to be a proper course.
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Each session is held in-person at the Analyst's practice.
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An in-depth discussion about what brings you to therapy.
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Analysands (Client) will be asked to complete a Client Intake Questionnaire before the initial session.
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The initial visits with the Analyst may clarify the presenting problem, although in some cases that will become clear only during the course of analytical work.
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Cost of analysis, therapy or coaching is a fixed-fee payable after each session or on a monthly basis.
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The personal equation between the Analyst and Analysand (Client) is more important than the professional or theoretical background of the Analyst.
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Difficulties with the analysis should be discussed openly, since the Analyst and Analysand (Client) are co-workers in helping the Analysand with their own unconscious.