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

Laurel Howe, M.A. is a private practitioner in Jungian therapy, working with adults, couples, and children between the ages of 5 and 12. She practices sandplay, dream interpretation, and other forms of talk therapy, depending on her client’s needs and preferences. Areas of focus include personal development, depression, anxiety, creative expression, and women’s issues.

Laurel is a diploma candidate at the Centre for Depth Psychology in Zürich, Switzerland, founded by Marie-Louise von Franz. She has lectured and is writing a thesis on feminine images in pre-Biblical Middle Eastern mythology. Other topics of interest include fairy tales, film, and the father-daughter relationship. Her poetry has been published in Psychological Perspectives.

While earning her Master's degree in Psychology from Naropa University, Laurel became engaged in Buddhist psychology and practice. She trained in sandplay with the International Society for Sandplay Therapy, founded by Dora Kalff, and teaches workshops for the Colorado Sandplay Therapist Association. She has studied dream interpretation and mythology based on the work of Carl Jung since 1986, when she initiated her own indepth analysis.

Laurel may be reached at her office, at Highlands Health and Healing (highlandshealthandhealing.com), 3441 Tennyson Street in Denver, 303-433-5006, or by email at laurelhowe@msn.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

Nancy Ortenberg, M.A., LMFT  is a Jungian oriented licensed psychotherapist with a private practice in Boulder, Colorado. She has been in practice for over 25 years, studied at both the Zurich and Los Angeles Jung Institutes, as well as with people like Joseph Campbell, James Hillman, and Marion Woodman.   She has been on the Board of Directors and has lectured for the C.G. Jung Society of Colorado.  In  2005 Nancy became a founding member of the Boulder Friends of Jung, and is currently the vice-president of their Board of Directors.  She has taught in the graduate psychology programs at Naropa and Regis Universities, developing courses like, “Jungian Dreamwork,” and “Introduction to Jung.” 

Nancy has a particular interest in working with dreams, myth, and the creative expression of the psyche through drawing, painting, sandplay, and writing.  In addition to individual and couples psychotherapy, for the past ten years she has been facilitating ongoing women’s dream groups.  Out of her private practice, as an instructor of therapists interested in Jung’s psychology, Nancy offers seminars on dreamwork and sandplay, as well as individual and group clinical supervision.

Nancy can be reached at: 3393 Iris Avenue, Suite 206 Boulder, Colorado  80301, 303-449-2011, nancyortenberg@msn.com.