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Psychology And Fairy Tales

A photo of Sigmund Freud (L, front row) and Carl Jung (R, front row) in 1909 when they came to Massachusetts to host a series of lectures at Clark University.
Flickr/ David Webb
A photo of Sigmund Freud (L, front row) and Carl Jung (R, front row) in 1909 when they came to Massachusetts to host a series of lectures at Clark University.
A photo of Sigmund Freud (L, front row) and Carl Jung (R, front row) in 1909 when they came to Massachusetts to host a series of lectures at Clark University.
Credit Flickr/ David Webb
A photo of Sigmund Freud (L, front row) and Carl Jung (R, front row) in 1909 when they came to Massachusetts to host a series of lectures at Clark University.

Clinical psychiatrist Steve Buser talks about psychology and fairy tales

  

Fairy tales have been around in various forms for hundreds and likely thousands of years, and many scholars argue that they’ve stood the test of time because they speak to many of our most deep-seated beliefs and struggles. 

Some psychoanalysts following in the footsteps of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung also believe that fairy tales can be a helpful tool in understanding the human mind. They argue that by closely examining fairy tales we can better understand both individual challenges and larger cultural struggles. 

Host Frank Stasio talks to Steve Buser, a clinical psychiatrist who co-founded the Asheville Jung Center and is the chief publisher at Chiron Publications, about what these lasting stories can illuminate about the human psyche. The Center is presenting a live webinar about the psychology of fairy tales this Saturday from 12-1:30 p.m.

Copyright 2014 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.