 'I have chosen one method -- that of active imagination-which deals with images and is based on the fact that we must trust such images, which arise from the depth of the psyche. This method presupposes that truth resides in the unconscious -- not only on a personal, ego level, but as a profound historical truth-and is manifested in archetypal images arising from the collective unconscious. The central archetype which Jung called the 'Self' is of special importance as a healing factor. It has a regulating, stabilizing function, compensating for any imbalance that might arise. It could also be called one's inner wisdom and guide; I like to call it the 'creative source.'...' Since the image precedes the word, we can through images(as well as through body movement) evoke unknown aspects of the psyche and bring them to the light of consciousness; this results in understanding and often healing. For healing to take place, however, we must take the consequences of what we have understood and bring our understanding into the reality of lived life.' 1
1 Wallace, E. Healing Through the Visual Arts. In J.A. Rubin (Ed.), Approaches to Art Therapy. Brunner/Mazel, 1987.
Edith Wallace (1909 - 2004) took her two degrees M.D. and Ph.D. in Europe where she was born. She began practicing Jungian analysis in New York in 1951. She received her Jungian training in New York and also in Zurich with Mrs. Emma Jung and C.G. Jung. She started the work that lead to her book, How It All Began; How It Continued; No End! in 1970 in England at the school of her second great teacher J.G. Bennett. Her workshops have taken her all over the U.S., to Canada and Europe, and are now held annually in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Her work has been of interest to art therapists and she often presented at their yearly conferences. She taught at the Pratt Institute Summer course in New Hampshire and also at the Jung Foundation and Jung Institute. She was on the staff of the Institute for Expressive Analysis and is editor emeritus of the Journal for the Arts in Psychotherapy. Her first book of collage work, A Queen's Quest was published in 1990. Her chapter on Active Imagination appears in: Approaches to Art Therapy edited by Judith Rubin.
Among her honors is the "Creative Edge Award" from the American Art Therapy association. Her present day preoccupation is expressed in two articles: What Does the Face of the Modern Day Shaman look like? and It is Not Only the Face, both published in the journal Impressions. In her workshops, Edith communicated her unique insight and approach to psychology, spirituality and the creative life. She passed away in April of 2004.
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