Vampires and Art: Addiction and Treatment from a Jungian Perspective
Graduation Date
Fall 2004
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Granting Institution
Notre Dame de Namur University
Program Name
Art Therapy
Dean
Lizbeth Martin, PhD
First Reader
Richard Carolan, EdD, ATR-BC
Second Reader
Gwen Sanders, MFT, ART-BC
Abstract
This research paper investigates the historical meaning of the vampire as it relates to addiction, Jungian theory, and art therapy. Through gaining an understanding of the general meaning of the vampire in resources that have investigated the vampire cross- culturally and mythologically, an enhanced view of the prevalence and significance of the vampire in the present is established. The research design encompasses a historical and cross-cultural progression beginning in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, India, China, Mesopotamia, and Russia. It is then followed through time and culture until we are brought to Europe and finally America. The place of the vampire in Jungian theory bridges the past to the present. Jungian theory suggests the path we should follow in the future when dealing with vampires and addiction through art therapy, namely, the realm of the shadow.