51社区

Minh 罢谤岷�n is in the Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices at 51社区. He is currently in the final writing and editing phase of his dissertation. I鈥檓 delighted to catch up with this dynamic scholar and hear about his travels and research.听听

Angela Borda: Hello, Minh! It鈥檚 wonderful to be speaking with you again. The last time we spoke, in 2021, you were a full-time Pacifica student and a practicing therapist, putting together research grant proposals for your dissertation topic, which you described as being about the 鈥渋ndigenous Mother-Goddess worship system of Vi峄噒 Nam.鈥� Update us, please, on where you are in your dissertation process and where in the world you are and why!听

Minh 罢谤岷�n: Hi Angela, great to see and hear from you again. For Fall quarter 2024, I am situated here in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a few months after the whirlwind European leg of the #SunMoonWorldTour! I had presented at two back-to-back IAAP (International Association for Analytical Psychology) conferences in Siracusa, Sicily, in late-August. Right now, I am putting the finishing touches on my dissertation manuscript with my team (committee members, participatory action research co-investigators, and recently a hire-on editor/proofreader). Buenos Aires has been known for over a decade now as the 鈥減sychotherapy capital鈥� of the world, with more psychotherapists per capita than any other major metropolitan on the globe. Psychoanalysis is a big deal here, and I鈥檇 like to connect with Jungians in this city while I鈥檓 here, as well as learn some Spanish!听

Earlier this year, I was traveling around Southeast Asia. A big part of my time in Southeast Asia this year was in northern Vi峄噒 Nam where, for 3 months, I was conducting ethnographic fieldwork for my dissertation topic. The research study asks: 鈥淲hat are the psychological mechanisms of spiritual and cultural healing in 膼岷�o M岷玼 T峄� Ph峄�?鈥� Prior to that, in Q1 of 2024, I was going back-and-forth between Denver, Houston, northern and southern California conducting State-side fieldwork with the 膼岷�o M岷玼 Mother-Goddesses communities in the diaspora as well.听

鈥疉苍驳别濒补: What are some of the experiences you鈥檝e had during the #SunMoonWorldTour that stick with you and what has been most unexpected about your travels?听

鈥疢颈苍丑: Well, firstly, the #SunMoonWorldTour is meant to be a place where all my travel journeys can be funneled and documented into one cyber space and easily searchable on social media, and yes, certainly a major part of that has been my fieldwork for this dissertation project. There鈥檚 been so many twists and turns carrying out fieldwork for this dissertation project; the Trickster gods have been after me all year! This included an unexpected financial crisis at the beginning of this year while I was conducting fieldwork in the U.S., which made it necessary to sleep at the Mother-Goddesses temples of my participatory action research co-investigators for extended periods. Of course, this also opened opportunities to deepen connections with my research communities and more opportunities to conduct semi-structured interviews with research participants, attend more temple ceremonies, and have rich autoethnographic data for my study. The crisis also delayed my fieldwork time in Vi峄噒 Nam, which in turn eventually led me to attend two additional UNESCO-recognized 鈥渋ntangible cultural heritage of humanity鈥� festivals in Vi峄噒 Nam, including that of the Mother-Goddesses, as well as the celebration of Th谩nh Gi贸ng. The Th谩nh Gi贸ng myth is what I had incorporated into my 鈥渟howprentations鈥� (musical lectures) at the IAAP conferences in Sicily at the end of August. The presentations used the myth to circumambulate the archetype of early-blooming/late-blooming.听

鈥疉苍驳别濒补: You鈥檝e described yourself as a 鈥渂oat person,鈥� so I can imagine that revisiting the places where your journey began might be emotionally impactful, in your case also, an intersection of personal history with your dissertation research. What revelations have come and has your relationship with the goddess and also depth psychology changed as a result?听

鈥疢颈苍丑: I was a Vietnamese boat person and took part in it at the tail end of that saga in human history, even though I was very young, this is true. My very first memory in this lifetime was conceived at the refugee camp on Pulau Bidong, an island off the coast of Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. My opportunity to revisit the old refugee camp in Malaysia after my field time in Vi峄噒 Nam felt so guided by the forces of mystery that I have been tearful every time I think about this revisit. When I was able to return to Pulau Bidong on August 6th, a second early-childhood memory came back to me while walking on one of the tropical island鈥檚 pristine beaches, where this memory had been conceived 35 years prior.听

Nothing this year has gone according to my ego鈥檚 plans, really, but everything has turned out much more than I (my ego) could ever have hoped for. As Jungian depth psychology reaches into the transpersonal, or spiritual, dimensions of human experiences, I could not be more humbled by the guiding hands of mystery, whether we call that the 鈥済ods,鈥� the 鈥済oddesses,鈥� or the 鈥渁utonomous unconscious.鈥� As a result, I have found myself feeling more mortal and yet more connected to the vastness of mystery than ever, just as long as I stay awake and aware in my everyday response to this unfolding mystery, of course.听

鈥疉苍驳别濒补: What has been the most unexpected experience of your travels so far?听

鈥疢颈苍丑: The trip to the old refugee camp was pretty unexpected, but additionally, I was not expecting that I would make some truly meaningful connections on the road, and especially during my time in Vi峄噒 Nam鈥檚 capital, H脿 N峄檌. As much as I can 鈥渢urn it on鈥� as a performing artist, I really am your typical introverted psychotherapist at heart, and to have been forced to extrovert so much and with Vietnamese people who trigger all kinds of family complexes in me and to still have met and formed some truly meaningful connections with other Vietnamese people, that鈥檚 nothing short of a personal healing and transformative experience to me as a nascent autoethnographer who has used his self as an instrument of research on this dissertation journey. Oh, and my semi-impromptu trip to Athens, Greece, where I got to visit the Temple of Dionysius at the Acropolis right after my theatrical 鈥渕usical lecture鈥� presentations in Sicily was super synchronistic too!

Part II of the interview with Minh 罢谤岷�n can be found here. To learn more about Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices at 51社区, click here.